Take your son, your only one, the one you love - Yitzchak, and... offer him as a sacrifice. So begins the final and most difficult of Avraham's tests of faith, known simply as the Akeidah - the binding.

So powerful was this event that every morning we read the Akeidah in our prayers to draw down the merit of the patriarchs. When standing before G-d in judgment on the High Holydays, we recall the Akeidah to stand in our merit in face of the prosecuting angels. And it was the Akeidah which imbued sanctity to the Temple Mount.

Tests were no stranger to Avraham. Avraham was subjected to 10 tests. These tests sought to challenge the sincerity and degree of his faith. He had been thrown into a fiery furnace for his beliefs. G-d had asked him to leave his homeland for an unknown destination - and on arrival forced down to Egypt due to famine. At the age of 99 he was required to circumcise himself, and he had just been asked to banish his son Yishmael. Yet only after this final does test does the Torah attest that Now I know that you are G-d fearing. What was so unique about the test of the Akeidah?

Avraham and Sarah had waited so long for a child: Avraham was 100 and Sarah 90. Their desire for a child was not just for nachas. More than anything Avraham hoped for an heir whom he could raise to perpetuate his beliefs and spread his teachings of monotheism. Finally having been blessed with a child, Avraham was instructed to take that very child and bring him as an offering.

For your average parent such a test would be too much to bear. The very idea poses many philosophical and ethical questions. But Avraham's faith infinitely exceeded that of the common man. So when G-d Himself directly issued this command to Avraham is there any doubt that he would not comply?

The Kabbalah metaphorically describes the Patriarchs as a chariot. A chariot has no independent will. It is completely subservient to the wagon-driver, going exactly where it is directed. Beyond that, our Patriarchs were so spiritually connected that they were implicitly in-tune with what G-d's will was, and acted in accordance. Their own independent will was completely put aside to the point that their very impulses were in alignment with G-d's designs.

Aware that every test presented to him was G-d's will, Avraham embraced these challenges with love. Without hesitation he submitted himself to the fires as he did with each subsequent test, knowing beyond a doubt what G-d wanted him to do.

The test of the Akeidah was different. G-d instructed Avraham to take his son as an offering, yet it was never G-d's intention for Yitzchak to be killed. Not once does G-d actually command Avraham to slaughter his son. All he is asked to do is to bring him up to be sanctified as an offering. So, being subconsciously in-tune with the Divine will, something inside of Avraham told him that he should not comply with G-d's command.

This put Avraham in a dilemma: On the subconscious level he felt that it was not necessary to carry out this request. Yet, on the conscious level he was being commanded directly by G-d to do so. To carry our G-d's command he would have to go against his own heart and instincts. Despite his reservations and the lack of spiritual feeling, Avraham submitted to G-d's word. This is what made the Akeidah the ultimate act of submission and the definitive proof of Avraham's faith; to carry out G-d's directive when he did not feel the inner motivation or sense its necessity.

Put in this light, most of us face the challenge of the Akeidah every - although somewhat differently. Whereas Avraham's inner instincts were aligned with G-d's will, out instincts seek our own pleasure and selfish pursuits. But like Avraham in the Akeidah, we also don't always feel the divine will and spirituality embedded in the Torah's commandments. Mitzvos may seem in conflict with our natural instincts, personal desires and lifestyle comforts. On the conscious level we know what we are supposed to do, but not sensing the spiritual high, we lack the motivation and inspiration. Sometimes we are in the mood to pray and other days we don't feel the need. Certain Mitzvos give us a spiritual buzz and others don't have the same appeal. Our test is also one of submission; putting our own desires aside and looking beyond our occasional lack of enthusiasm to do what G-d asks of us.

The purpose of tests is for growth, the word for test also means to raise up. Like Avraham passing the test of the Akeidah, deferring our physical desires to observe the commandments, we display that we are G-d-fearing rather than self-loving. This is our personal sacrifice and in response we will elicit bountiful blessings, true spiritual accomplishment and draw down the revelation of G-dliness into our lives.

 

~ Rabbi Yoni Johnson

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