There is a seeming disconnect, somewhat ostensible, between the selected Torah readings for Rosh HaShanah and some of the modern criticism of Yitzchok as a worthy patriarch of Bnai Yisrael. The Genesis texts clearly do not portray Yitzchok with the activism associated biographically with Avraham and Yaacov. Some have suggested that Yitzchok may have been emotionally scarred by the events leading to and at the summit of Mount Moriah. Yet, others have suggested that traumatic experiences can be transformational in positive ways. The selected text for the reading on the second day of Rosh HaShanah (Bereshit 22) clearly present Yitzchok as a passive, trusting and obedient son; but Talmud (Shabbat 89b) does not want us to think that Yitzchok was unchanged by his near-death moment. He remained trusting and obedient, but nothing about the balance of his Biblical biography suggests that he was forever and always passive. might be understated because what the Genesis narratives share about him tend to underwhelm. In fact, it could be argued, Yitzchok is the patriarch most relevant to Rosh HaShanah because of what happened on Moriah and how he responded.
Allow this Day of Judgement for all of us to consider our lives to be eminently akin to his. After what the last seven months have imposed upon us all, I think it is reasonably fair to say that what is true for most of us is this - the pandemic may have closed houses of worship, schools and businesses, but it has opened minds and eyes and hearts. There are reasons why we should pray for its end, but there are experiences and their accompanying lessons that have the potential to change all of us for the better. This pandemic should not be allowed to describe the totality of this moment or this time in our lives. May it be that the pages of history celebrate what emerged from the human spirit as a result of the activism and caring inspired by the suffering. Let us study together the passage of Talmud (Shabbat 89b) that describes the message that calls for our attention –
לְעָתִיד לָבֹא יֹאמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְאַבְרָהָם: בָּנֶיךָ חָטְאוּ לִי. אֹמֵר לְפָנָיו: רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, יִמָּחוּ עַל קְדוּשַּׁת שְׁמֶךָ. אָמַר: אֵימַר לֵיהּ לְיַעֲקֹב דַּהֲוָה לֵיהּ צַעַר גִּידּוּל בָּנִים, אֶפְשָׁר דְּבָעֵי רַחֲמֵי עֲלַיְיהוּ. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: בָּנֶיךָ חָטְאוּ. אֹמֵר לְפָנָיו: רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, יִמָּחוּ עַל קְדוּשַּׁת שְׁמֶךָ. אָמַר לָא בְּסָבֵי טַעְמָא וְלָא בְּדַרְדַּקֵּי עֵצָה. אֹמֵר לוֹ לְיִצְחָק: בָּנֶיךָ חָטְאוּ לִי. אֹמֵר לְפָנָיו: רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, בָּנַי וְלֹא בָּנֶיךָ?! בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁהִקְדִּימוּ לְפָנֶיךָ ״נַעֲשֶׂה״ לְ״נִשְׁמָע״ קָרָאתָ לָהֶם ״בְּנִי בְכוֹרִי״, עַכְשָׁיו בָּנַי וְלֹא בָּנֶיךָ?! וְעוֹד, כַּמָּה חָטְאוּ? כַּמָּה שְׁנוֹתָיו שֶׁל אָדָם — שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה. דַּל עֶשְׂרִין דְּלָא עָנְשַׁתְּ עֲלַיְיהוּ — פָּשׁוּ לְהוּ חַמְשִׁין. דַּל עֶשְׂרִין וְחַמְשָׁה דְּלֵילָוָתָא — פָּשׁוּ לְהוּ עֶשְׂרִין וְחַמְשָׁה. דַּל תַּרְתֵּי סְרֵי וּפַלְגָא דְּצַלּוֹיֵי וּמֵיכַל וּדְבֵית הַכִּסֵּא — פָּשׁוּ לְהוּ תַּרְתֵּי סְרֵי וּפַלְגָא, אִם אַתָּה סוֹבֵל אֶת כּוּלָּם — מוּטָב, וְאִם לָאו — פַּלְגָא עֲלַי וּפַלְגָא עֲלָיךְ. וְאִם תִּמְצָא לוֹמַר כּוּלָּם עָלַי — הָא קָרֵיבִית נַפְשִׁי קַמָּךְ.
It is destined that God will one day say to Abraham, “Your children have sinned against Me”. Abraham will respond, “Master of the Universe, if so, it is Your choice to punish them.” God will then say to Jacob (since he experienced the pain of raising children, perhaps he will ask for mercy on their behalf), “Your children have sinned.” Jacob will respond, “Master of the Universe, if so, it is Your choice to punish them.” Then God will say, “There is no reason in elders and no wisdom in youth. Neither Abraham nor Jacob knew how to respond properly.” God will then turn to Isaac, “Your children have sinned against Me.” Isaac will say to God, “Master of the Universe, are they my children and not Your children? At Sinai, when they said “We will do and we will listen”, did You not say of them, “My child, My firstborn son - Israel” (Exodus 4:22)? Now that they have sinned, are they my children and not Your children? And furthermore, how much did they actually sin? How long is a person’s life? Seventy years. Subtract the first twenty years of his life (for one is not punished for sins committed before the age of twenty. Fifty years remain for them. Subtract twenty-five years of nights (they spend half of life sleeping), and twenty-five years remain for them. Subtract twelve and a half years during which one prays and eats and uses the bathroom, and twelve and a half years remain for them. If You can endure them all and forgive the sins committed during those years, excellent. And if not, half of the sins are upon me to bear and half upon You. And if You say that all of them, the sins of all twelve and a half years that remain, are upon me, I sacrificed my soul before You and You should forgive them due to my merit."
When it came to the wellbeing of the vulnerable, to his children, Yitzchok emerged as an incredible activist. Even now, with all that we have endured. Even now, as the goal posts move and when the light at the end of the tunnel seems no closer than it was months ago, we can choose to be passive (as Yitzchok was before his encounter with fate on Moriah) or we can choose to be activists (as Yitzchok became when he allowed himself to be impacted by his experiences). The Talmud tells this story about Yitzchok to inspire us - to be helpers to the vulnerable, to be motivated more by valor than by victimhood; to break out of our self-imposed cocoons and become activists of outreach.
This aspect of Yitzchok’s personality is no where to be found explicitly in any Torah text, so why is Talmud determined that we know about this part of his character? The answer is because within every single human being there exists the capacity to plead the case of the vulnerable. Every human being has the capacity to protect someone weak, to be a positive force in someone else burdened by a struggle.