This sheet on Genesis 22 was written by Shira Hecht-Koller for 929 and can also be found here
Did Abraham do good in preparing to slaughter his son? Did he do right? Some ancient Jewish texts are not sure. The great 6th-century poet El‘azar be-Rabbi Qillir writes in a liturgical poem:
[Abraham] forgot how a father is supposed to have mercy on a son /
a prayer or plea he should have offered.
Other ancient poets went further in their criticism:
He stretched out his arm like a cruel person, to murder.
He should have beseeched You, to ask for mercy /
to spare his only child from a fire of coal.
These poems manage to express bewilderment, and even anger at the human father who would slaughter his son, without calling into question the religious value of such a sacrifice.
A similar note is struck by Nicole Krauss in her 2017 novel Forest Dark:
The very first Jewish child was bound and nearly sacrificed for something more important than him, and ever since Abraham came down from Mount Moriah, a terrible father but a good Jew the question of how to go on binding has hung in the air. … We bind and are bound because the binding binds us to those who were bound before us, and those bound before them, and those before them, in a chain of ropes and knots that goes back three thousand years, which is how long we've been dreaming of cutting ourselves loose, of falling out of this world, and into another world where we aren't stunned and deformed to fit the past, but left to grow wild, toward the future.
A terrible father but a good Jew. Can we make our peace with that?
[Abraham] forgot how a father is supposed to have mercy on a son /
a prayer or plea he should have offered.
Other ancient poets went further in their criticism:
He stretched out his arm like a cruel person, to murder.
He should have beseeched You, to ask for mercy /
to spare his only child from a fire of coal.
These poems manage to express bewilderment, and even anger at the human father who would slaughter his son, without calling into question the religious value of such a sacrifice.
A similar note is struck by Nicole Krauss in her 2017 novel Forest Dark:
The very first Jewish child was bound and nearly sacrificed for something more important than him, and ever since Abraham came down from Mount Moriah, a terrible father but a good Jew the question of how to go on binding has hung in the air. … We bind and are bound because the binding binds us to those who were bound before us, and those bound before them, and those before them, in a chain of ropes and knots that goes back three thousand years, which is how long we've been dreaming of cutting ourselves loose, of falling out of this world, and into another world where we aren't stunned and deformed to fit the past, but left to grow wild, toward the future.
A terrible father but a good Jew. Can we make our peace with that?
(ו) וַיִּקַּ֨ח אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֶת־עֲצֵ֣י הָעֹלָ֗ה וַיָּ֙שֶׂם֙ עַל־יִצְחָ֣ק בְּנ֔וֹ וַיִּקַּ֣ח בְּיָד֔וֹ אֶת־הָאֵ֖שׁ וְאֶת־הַֽמַּאֲכֶ֑לֶת וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ שְׁנֵיהֶ֖ם יַחְדָּֽו׃
(6) Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. He himself took the firestone and the knife; and the two walked off together.
Shira Hecht-Koller is the Director of Education for 929 English.
929 is the number of chapters in the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, the formative text of the Jewish heritage. It is also the name of a cutting-edge project dedicated to creating a global Jewish conversation anchored in the Hebrew Bible. 929 English invites Jews everywhere to read and study Tanakh, one chapter a day, Sunday through Thursday together with a website with creative readings and pluralistic interpretations, including audio and video, by a wide range of writers, artists, rabbis, educators, scholars, students and more. As an outgrowth of the web-based platform, 929 English also offers classes, pop-up lectures, events and across North America. We invite you to learn along with us and be part of our dynamic community.
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