פרשת וירא תש"ל - העקדה

"And he said: 'Here I am'"

"and bring him up there for a burnt-offering"

...And the content of this test, in my opinion, was in the coming of the prophecy to him in unclear wording; and that is that the Lord, may He be blessed, said to him, about Issac, "and bring him up him there for a burnt-sacrifice." And this statement can be logically understood to mean that he should slaughter him and offer him as a burnt-offering, and it can [also] be logically understood that he should bring him up there to offer a burnt-offering (with him), in order that Issac be trained in the service of God, may He be blessed. And the Lord tested him, whether it would be difficult in his eyes to do anything that the Lord would command him about [Issac], to the point that it would become the cause for him to understand this statement other than what is understood from it upon immediate consideration – meaning to say that [instead] it be understood from it that he should offer up another burnt-offering, not that he should slaughter his son.

...And behold the Lord intended with this statement that he should bring him up for the sake of a sacrifice; [by which] I mean to say, that Issac see there the sacrifice of a burnt-offering to the Lord, in order that he be trained in the service of the Lord, may He be blessed, and come to his perfection in such a way that he would be fit for the choice offspring to come from him – which the Lord, may He be blessed, designated for Abraham. And since the understanding from this statement is [also] that which is commonly understood from it – that he should bring up his son, Issac for a burnt-offering, when he slaughter him and burn him – the test to Abraham from the Lord was completed through this prophecy: If it would be easy in his eyes to do something that presents itself for the glory of the Lord – and in this case, if this was easy in his eyes – he would not search to understand from this matter anything beyond what is understood from it upon immediate consideration (meaning to sacrifice Issac). But if it was difficult in his eyes, he would seek a different intention for this statement than that what is understood upon immediate consideration. And behold, Abraham understood this prophecy according to that which is understood from it upon immediate consideration.

"and he saw the place afar off"

And he saw the place from afar off (Gen. 22:4). Abraham said to Isaac: "Do you see what I see?" "I behold a glorious mountain encircled by a cloud," he replied. Then he asked his young men: "Do you see anything at all?" "We see only desert,” they answered. "Then abide with the ass," he commanded, "for the ass sees nothing and you likewise see nothing" - a people (am) similar to an ass, "Abide ye here with (eem) the ass" (ibid., v. 5), for ye are like unto them,

And saw the place. He saw the cloud attached to the mountain and took it to be the fulfillment of Hashem’s statement, “which I will designate to you.” Alternatively, he saw ahead of him the land of Moriah, with which he was already familiar. (22:9) "And they came to the place that the Lord said to him" – now, it is Mount Moriah. For He said to him, "Behold, this is the mountain that I told you."

"that we spoke unto thee in Egypt"

אשר דברנו אליך במצרים [THE WORD] THAT WE SPOKE UNTO THEE IN EGYPT — And where had they said this? (Exodus 5:21) “The Lord look upon you and judge!” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:11)

...And it is likely that they said this to him in their leaving, while they were still in Egypt, when God made them detour through the Wilderness of the Red Sea. Or they said to him from the beginning, "To where are we leaving? If it is through the Road of the Philistines, it is better for us to serve Egypt than for us to die in the desert"...

"and he saw the place afar off"

(Rav Kook) S.v. And he saw the place afar off: These things are sealed and closed – the amazing events of the soul that happened to the forefather during the course of the three days of walking. It is impossible to elucidate these hidden things of the holy of holies. However that which appeared on the third day, when the holy light reached the height of its power – in place of that which should have been words of speech to designate the mountain – the appearance came as a vision of prophecy. As [his] soul had already climbed to the higher place where all stimuli unite – and as in all spiritual appearances, speech and sight also unite and join into a single perception. The speech, which was in the form of seeing, and the prophetic vision penetrated the soul of the giant forefather so much that his eyes – even being eyes of flesh – became the carriers of prophetic majesty. And before he yet came close to the place that was full of holy majesty, the fascination that connected the higher soul to the holy splendor of the place, already drew it close. [The place hence] already ascended in its significance in such a way that it was no longer possible to designate it with its natural superficial designation as "one of the hills"; but rather the special place to where all of the holiness in life, in the world and in experience are attached. "And he saw the place afar off" – he already saw the majesty of the higher glory that was hidden in the clouds of fog from descending into the hearts of people to give them eternal life. "What did he see? He saw a cloud attached upon the mountain."

"So Abraham returned unto his young men"

"And Abraham returned unto his lads" – but where was Issac? Rabbi Berekhia said in the name of the rabbis of there (Babylonia), "He sent him to Shem, to study Torah from him. There is a [relevant] parable about a woman who became wealthy from her spindle. She said, 'Since I became wealthy from this spindle, it will never again leave from being under my hand.' Likewise did Abraham say, 'Everything that has come to my hand was only because I have been occupied with Torah [study] and with the commandments. Hence I do not want it to ever move away from my offspring.'"

S.v. And Abraham returned: And it does not mention Issac, as he was under [Abraham's] purview. And the one that says that he slaughtered him and left him and he came back to life later has said the opposite of the verse.

וישב אברהם, there was no need to mention that Yitzchok accompanied him. Rather it mentioned Avraham because he was the principal.

(Rav Kook) After all of the sublime elevation that occurred to his soul, it did not have the impact of separating him at all from that great trait of influencing the world - his surroundings with all of their physicality. [Hence] he returned to his lads according to their station - he returned to those same lads that he left "with the donkey," to be available for them, to raise them up and improve them.