(ב) נָטַל אֶת יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ וְהֶעֱלָהוּ הָרִים וְהוֹרִידוֹ גְּבָעוֹת, הֶעֱלָהוּ עַל אֶחָד מִן הֶהָרִים וּבָנָה מִזְבֵּחַ וְסִדֵּר עֵצִים וְעָרַךְ מַעֲרָכָה וְנָטַל אֶת הַסַּכִּין לְשָׁחֲטוֹ, וְאִלּוּלֵי שֶׁקְּרָאוֹ מַלְאָךְ מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם כְּבָר הָיָה נִשְׁחָט. תֵּדַע שֶׁכֵּן, שֶׁחָזַר יִצְחָק אֵצֶל אִמּוֹ, וְאָמְרָה לוֹ אָן הָיִיתָ בְּרִי, אָמַר לָהּ נְטָלַנִּי אָבִי וְהֶעֱלַנִי הָרִים וְהוֹרִידַנִּי גְבָעוֹת וכו', אָמְרָה וַוי עַל בְּרִי דְרֵיוָתָא, אִלּוּלֵי הַמַּלְאָךְ כְּבָר הָיִיתָ שָׁחוּט, אָמַר לָהּ אִין. בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה צָוְחָה שִׁשָּׁה קוֹלוֹת כְּנֶגֶד שִׁשָּׁה תְּקִיעוֹת, אָמְרוּ לֹא הִסְפִּיקָה אֶת הַדָּבָר עַד שֶׁמֵּתָה,
20:2 He took Isaac his son and led him up hill and down dale, and took him up one of the mountains, built an altar, arranged wood and prepared the sacrificial array. He took the knife to slaughter him, and had an angel not called out to him from heaven, he would have been slaughtered already. Know that it is so, for Isaac returned to his mother, and she said to him, 'Where have you been, my son?' He said to her, 'My father took me and led me up hill and down dale ...' She said, 'Woe to the son of a woman drunk [with grief]! If it were not for the angel, you would have been slaughtered already?!' and he answered, 'Yes.' Thereupon she screamed out six cries, corresponding to the six [shofar] blasts. They said: no sooner had she done so, than she died....
Our reading of the Akedah (the binding of Issac) usually focuses on Abraham. How does it change when we focus on Sarah?
(ב) תְּרוּעָה זוֹ הָאֲמוּרָה בַּתּוֹרָה נִסְתַּפֵּק לָנוּ בָּהּ סָפֵק לְפִי אֹרֶךְ הַשָּׁנִים וְרֹב הַגָּלוּת וְאֵין אָנוּ יוֹדְעִין הֵיאַךְ הִיא. אִם הִיא הַיְלָלָה שֶׁמְּיַלְּלִין הַנָּשִׁים בֵּינֵיהֶן בְּעֵת שֶׁמְּיַבְּבִין. אוֹ הָאֲנָחָה כְּדֶרֶךְ שֶׁיֵּאָנַח הָאָדָם פַּעַם אַחַר פַּעַם כְּשֶׁיִּדְאַג לִבּוֹ מִדָּבָר גָּדוֹל. אוֹ שְׁנֵיהֶם כְּאֶחָד הָאֲנָחָה וְהַיְלָלָה שֶׁדַּרְכָּהּ לָבוֹא אַחֲרֶיהָ הֵן הַנִּקְרָאִין תְּרוּעָה. שֶׁכָּךְ דֶּרֶךְ הַדּוֹאֵג מִתְאַנֵּחַ תְּחִלָּה וְאַחַר כָּךְ מְיַלֵּל. לְכָךְ אָנוּ עוֹשִׂין הַכּל:
(2) This Teruah that the Torah discusses, due to the many years of exile, we are unsure what it is. It may be the wail that women wail amongst themselves whilst crying. It may be the sigh that one does, one after the other, whilst they are worried about a great stress. It may also be both together, the sigh followed by the cry, as it usually comes afterwards. This may be called teruah, as this is the way of a worrier, to first sigh, and then cry. We therefore do all options.
What are the types of crying described here?
Rambam suggests that we've forgotten the sound of the wailing because of exile. What does that mean, literally? What types of crying out have we lost touch with today?
ירושלים בנויה על יסודות קמורים
של צעקה מאופקת. אם לא תהיה סיבה
לצעקה, ישברו היסודות, תתמוטט העיר,
אם תצעק הצעקה, תתפוצץ ירושלים לשמים
(י. עמיחי)
Jerusalem is built on the arched foundations
of a held back scream. If there were no reason
for the scream, the foundations would be shattered, the city would collapse,
if the scream should be screamed, Jerusalem would explode into the heavens.
Yehuda Amichai, Translated by Steve Sager
Think about the Akedah. What does this scream have to do with Jerusalem, and Mount Moriah, specifically?
In Muslim tradition, Abraham sacrifices Ishmael, not Isaac, on Mount Moriah/Haram Al Sharif. What changes about our reading of the text if we hear Ishmael (and Hagar) wailing in Jerusalem?
דתני רב יוסף (דברים י, ב) אשר שברת ושמתם מלמד שהלוחות ושברי לוחות מונחין בארון
... דאמר ר"ל אשר שברת אמר לו הקב"ה למשה יישר כחך ששברת:
Rav Yosef taught: "which you broke [asher shibarta], and you shall put them" (Deuteronomy 10:1–2). This teaches that the tablets and the broken pieces of the tablets were placed in the Ark.
Reish Lakish says: "which you broke [asher shibbarta]”? The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses: May your strength be straight [yishar koḥakha] because you broke them.
How might the brokeness we feel during the sounding of the Shofar help us do teshuva?