Where was Yitzhak after the Akeda & by his Mother's Funeral?

(א) וַיִּהְיוּ֙ חַיֵּ֣י שָׂרָ֔ה מֵאָ֥ה שָׁנָ֛ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְשֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֑ים שְׁנֵ֖י חַיֵּ֥י שָׂרָֽה׃ (ב) וַתָּ֣מָת שָׂרָ֗ה בְּקִרְיַ֥ת אַרְבַּ֛ע הִ֥וא חֶבְר֖וֹן בְּאֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן וַיָּבֹא֙ אַבְרָהָ֔ם לִסְפֹּ֥ד לְשָׂרָ֖ה וְלִבְכֹּתָֽהּ׃ (ג) וַיָּ֙קָם֙ אַבְרָהָ֔ם מֵעַ֖ל פְּנֵ֣י מֵת֑וֹ וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר אֶל־בְּנֵי־חֵ֖ת לֵאמֹֽר׃

Genesis 23:1-3

(1) Sarah’s lifetime—the span of Sarah’s life—came to one hundred and twenty-seven years. (2) Sarah died in Kiriath-arba—now Hebron—in the land of Canaan; and Abraham proceeded to mourn for Sarah and to bewail her. (3) Then Abraham rose from beside his dead, and spoke to the Hittites, saying,

בראשית כ״ב:י״ט

(יט) וַיָּ֤שָׁב אַבְרָהָם֙ אֶל־נְעָרָ֔יו וַיָּקֻ֛מוּ וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ יַחְדָּ֖ו אֶל־בְּאֵ֣ר שָׁ֑בַע וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב אַבְרָהָ֖ם בִּבְאֵ֥ר שָֽׁבַע׃

Genesis 22:19

(19) Abraham then returned to his servants, and they departed together for Beer-sheba; and Abraham stayed in Beer-sheba.

אבן עזרא על בראשית כ״ב:י״ט:א׳

(א) וישב אברהם. ולא הזכיד יצחק כי הוא ברשותו והאומ' ששחטו ועזבו ואח''כ חיה אמר הפך הכתוב

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 22:19:1

(1) 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.

רבנו בחיי, בראשית כ״ג:ב׳:ד׳-ה׳

(ד) ונ"ל עוד כי היה הכתוב ראוי שיאמר ויבא אברהם ויצחק לספוד לשרה ולבכותה, כי בודאי ראוי היה יצחק לספוד לאמו הצדקת ולבכות עליה, שהרי החיוב בו גדול מאד יותר ממה שהוא באברהם, ועוד שהיא אהבתו אהבה יתרה שילדה אותו על דרך הפלא, והיתה נפשה קשורה בנפשו. .See Rashi at this point

(ה) אבל יתכן לומר שלא ידע יצחק באותו הפרק שמתה אמו, כי לפי שמיתתה היתה בשבילו בשמועת העקדה, על כן העלימו ממנו מיתתה ולא הגידו לו. ומן הטעם הזה לא ראינו שיזכירנו הכתוב ליצחק כלל לא במיתתה ולא בקבורתה, גם מעת שנעקד על גבי המזבח לא ראינוהו, שהרי כשהלכו אברהם ויצחק להר המוריה כתוב בחזרה (בראשית כ״ב:י״ט) וישב אברהם אל נעריו, והיה ראוי שיאמר וישובו אל הנערים, ולא הזכיר חזרת יצחק.

Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 23:2:4-5

(4) I believe further that if Avraham and Yitzchak came from out of town in order to eulogise Sarah, etc, then the Torah should have written that “Avraham and Yitzchak came to eulogise, etc.” Yitzchak most certainly should also have eulogised his mother and wept for her. In fact, his duty to do so would have been even greater than Avraham’s seeing that he was her flesh and blood. In addition, the love Sarah must have lavished on Yitzchak whom she bore after waiting for him for 90 years must certainly have evoked reciprocal feelings in Yitzchak so that he would have eulogised her. (5) Perhaps, at this point in the story Yitzchak had not heard yet that his mother had died. Seeing that Sarah’s death had been attributed to the binding of Yitzchak, people might have tried to withhold the information from him as long as possible. This is most likely the reason why we do not hear a single word about Yitzchak in the whole paragraph, neither during the eulogy and weeping nor even during the burial ceremony. In fact, we have not heard a word about Yitzchak ever since he took part in the binding on the altar. Although Avraham had told the lads that both he and Yitzchak would return to them from the mountain, the Torah did not report that this happened. All we were told is that “Avraham returned to his lads” (22,19). We would have expected the Torah to write that “Avraham and Yitzchak returned to the lads.”

רש"י על בראשית כ״ג:ב׳:ג׳

לספוד לשרה ולבכתה. וְנִסְמְכָה מִיתַת שָׂרָה לַעֲקֵדַת יִצְחָק לְפִי שֶׁעַל יְדֵי בְּשׂוֹרַת הָעֲקֵדָה, שֶׁנִּזְדַּמֵּן בְּנָהּ לִשְׁחִיטָה וְכִמְעַט שֶׁלֹּא נִשְׁחַט, פָּרְחָה נִשְׁמָתָהּ מִמֶּנָּה וּמֵתָה:

Rashi on Genesis 23:2:3

לספוד לשרה ולבכותה TO BEWAIL SARAH AND TO WEEP FOR HER — The narrative of the death of Sarah follows immediately on that of the Binding of Isaac, because through the announcement of the Binding — that her son had been made ready for sacrifice and had almost been sacrificed — she received a great shock (literally, her soul flew from her) and she died (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 32).

גור אריה על בראשית כ״ג:ב׳:ד׳

וכמעט שלא נשחט. פירוש כמעט שלא גמר דבריו לומר שלא נשחט - פרחה רוחה, כך פירש מהרא"י, משום דהוקשה לו דאם המבשר אמר שלא נשחט - אם כן למה מתה. ואין מוכח כך בפסיקתא, והכי איתא שם - אמרה ליה ויי לברא דעלובתא, אלולי דאמר הקב"ה "אל תשלח ידך וגומר" (לעיל כב, יב) היית שחוט, לא הספיקה לומר דבר הזה עד שיצאת נשמתה, הכי הוא דאמר "ויבא אברהם וגו'", אלא נראה מפני ששמעה דכמעט נשחט, ודבר מועט היה שלא נשחט, לפיכך נבהלה, שכן דרך אדם להיות נבהל כאשר ישמע כי בדבר מועט היה נעשה לו ענין זה:

Gur Aryeh on Bereishit 23:2:4

...

בראשית רבה נ״ו:י״א

(יא)(בראשית כב, יט): וַיָּשָׁב אַבְרָהָם אֶל נְעָרָיו, וְיִצְחָק הֵיכָן הוּא, רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה בְּשֵׁם רַבָּנָן דְּתַמָּן, שְׁלָחוֹ אֵצֶל שֵׁם לִלְמֹד מִמֶּנּוּ תּוֹרָה.

Bereshit Rabbah 56:11

(11) "And the angel of Ad-nai called to Avraham a second time from heaven, and said: 'By Myself I have sworn" (Gen. 22:15-16). Why was this oath needed? He [Avraham] said to Him: ‘Swear to me not to test me ever again, nor my son Itzchak.’ This is similar to one who was saving his basin from being swallowed by the river, and his son jumped into it with him. Another interpretation: why was this oath needed? Rabbi Chama ben Rabbi Chanina said: He said to Him ‘swear to me not to test me ever again’ This is similar to a king who was married to a noble lady, she gave birth to her first son and he divorced her; [he remarried her and then she gave birth to] a second son, and he divorced her; a third son, and he divorced her; and when she gave birth to the tenth son, they all assembled and demanded of him: ‘Swear to us not to divorce our mother ever again.’ So too when our father Avraham was tested the tenth time, he said to Him: ‘Swear to me that You will not to test me ever again.’ Rabbi Chanin said: "Because you have done [asita] this thing" (Gen. 22:17) — it was the tenth [asiri] trial, and you say "because you have done this thing!" Rather, this is the last test, which was as weighty as all the rest together, and if he had not accepted to [do] it, all would have been lost. [A different version: all that he did would have been lost.] "I will verily bless you, etc." (Gen. 22:17) a blessing for the father and a blessing for the son. "And I will verily multiply"(Gen. 22:17) : increase for the father and increase for the son. "And your seed shall inherit the gate of his enemies"(Gen. 22:17). Rabbi said: This is Tadmor, happy is anyone who sees the downfall of Tadmor which took part in both destructions. Rabbi Yudan and R. Chanina — one of them said 'at the destruction of the first Temple it supplied eighty thousand archers.[A different version: truth tellers (?)] and in the second destruction it supplied eight thousand archers. "And Avraham returned to his young men (Gen. 22:19) And where was Itzchak? Rabbi Berechiah said in the name of the Rabbis from there: he sent him to Shem to study Torah. This is similar to a woman who became wealthy through her spindle, she said: ‘Since I have become wealthy through this spindle, it will never leave my hand.’ So too Avraham said: ‘All that has happened to me is only because I engaged in Torah and mitzvot; so I do not want it to ever depart from my seed.’ Rabbi Chanina said: He sent him [home] at night, for fear of the [evil] eye, because from the moment that Chananiah, Mishael, and Azariah came out unscathed from the fiery furnace they aren't mentioned anymore, and where did they go? Rabbi Eleazar said: They died through the spittle. Rabbi Yosei said: They died through an [evil] eye. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: They changed their place and went to Yehoshua ben Yehotzadak to study Torah, since it is written "Hear now, Yehoshua the high priest, you, and your companions that sit before you [for they are men that are a sign] (Zech. 3:8). Rabbi Chanina said: For this Chananiah, Mishael, and Azariah went down to the fiery furnace, that a sign should be done through them.

חזקוני, בראשית כ״ב:י״ט:א׳

1- ויצחק היכן הלך, אלא נטמן בגן עדן שלש שנים.

2- ד״‎א הלך לו לבית עבר ללמוד תורה.

Chizkuni, Genesis 22:19:1

וישב אברהם אל נעריו, “Avraham returned to his lads;” where did Yitzchok go? According to Midrash hagadol, quoted in Torah shleymah item 204 on our verse, he was kept in gan eden for the next three years until he married Rivkah. A different interpretation: he proceeded to study Torah during those three years in the academy of Ever. (B’reshit Rabbah 56,11)

זבחים ס״ב א:ה׳

מזבח מנא ידעי אמר רבי אלעזר ראו מזבח בנוי ומיכאל השר הגדול עומד ומקריב עליו ור' יצחק נפחא אמר אפרו של יצחק ראו שמונח באותו מקום ור' שמואל בר נחמני אמר מכל הבית כולו הריחו ריח קטרת משם הריחו ריח אברים

Zevachim 62a:5

how did they know the proper location of the altar?? The Gemara answers that Rabbi Elazar says: They saw a vision of the altar already built and Michael the archangel standing and sacrificing offerings upon it. And Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa says: They saw a vision of the ashes of Isaac that were placed in that location. And Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani says: From the entire House they smelled the scent of incense, yet from there, the location of the altar, they smelled a scent of burned animal limbs.

שבלי הלקט י״ח:ג׳

... כשנעקד יצחק אבינו על גבי המזבח ונעשה דשן והי' אפרו מושלך על הר המוריה מיד הביא עליו הקב"ה טל והחיה אותו לפיכך אמר דוד כטל חרמון שיורד על הררי ציון וגו' כטל שהחיה בו יצחק אבינו מיד פתחו מלאכי השרת ואמרו בא"י מחיה המתים.

Shibbolei HaLeket 18:3

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