Our tradition teaches that the Akeidah highlights the pinnacle of Jewish faith. God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, and the Torah tells us that Abraham was so eager to carry out God's command that he awoke early in the morning in order to carry out this unthinkable action.
Abraham's zeal is equally balanced with his love of Isaac. The Torah goes out of its way to remind us that Abraham loved Isaac. Abraham did not want to harm Isaac. This is one of the things that makes the Akeidah so powerful, God's command on one hand, and Abraham's love of his son on the other.
Writing under the pseudonym Johannes de Silentio, Soren Kierkegaard wrote Fear and Trembling as a theological study of The Akeidah. Kierkegaard focuses mostly on what he calls Abraham’s teleological suspension of the ethical. ‘Teleology' derives from the Greek 'telos' meaning 'end', or 'goal'. Abraham, normally a man of righteous deeds and loving action, places the obedience of God as the ultimate goal. As such, Abraham was willing to commit murder. This is the teleological suspension of the ethical.
Kierkegaard reminds us that law and ethical behavior are not one and the same. The same is true in Judaism. A Mitzvah is a commandment, not a good deed. While there are certainly many Mitzvot that are good deeds, most of them are amoral. Let's take the blowing of the shofar as one example. It’s a beautiful and inspirational ritual, but in terms of ethics, the Mitzvah is neither good nor bad.
But God asked Abraham to murder his son. This goes far beyond being amoral - it is immoral.
Indeed, Jewish law and ethical action are not one and the same. Our Torah is peppered with rules, stories and customs that range from anathema on one end to reprehensible on the other. God tells us that God will kill our enemies before entering the land of Israel. Exodus (21:7 ) sanctions the selling of your youngest daughter into slavery. Later in Exodus (35:2), the Torah clearly states that those who work on Shabbat shall be put to death. If you plant different crops side by side, you deserve the same punishment. More generally, if you're a woman, if you struggle with any number of physical handicaps, if you love someone of the same gender - for any of these, you are not allowed to do the same number of Mitzvot as us able-bodied men.
And according to tradition, we are supposed to follow these commandments that we find immoral because of what I like to call the theological adage of I told you so: That's what God commands. These aren't as horrible as killing your own son, but observance of these Mitzvot are also a suspension of the ethical.
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I do think that Abraham is our model for faith, but the example isn't from this morning's portion; it's is a few chapters before the Akeidah. God tells Abraham about the impending destruction of two cities, Sodom and Gemorrah. Abraham responds, Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked? ... Be it far from you to do this, to slay the righteous with the wicked. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Abraham's rebuke of God suggests that the world of ethics, the world of moral and righteous action and behavior - these outside of God. We should not follow prescribed laws solely because they are a rite (r-i-t-e) commanded by God. We follow them because they are right (r-i-g-h-t). Abraham decides that God saying I told you so. is not good enough.
Abraham models the kind of faith that is predicated not on law but on righteousness, not on the observance of ritual but the consistent actions of just behavior. He is a seeker of justice.
In this past year, have we sought justice?
These are just some of the issues that we need to fight for - women being able to pray and chant Torah at the Western Wall, Israeli rabbis being allowed to legally perform a Jewish marriage ceremony. Racism. The #metoo movement. The ability, the right, and the responsibility to be like Abraham and protest. I think about these issues and like Abraham, I say This is not good enough.
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Two of the most powerful words of Torah are found toward the end of the Akeidah. After three days of hiking with Isaac on Mount Moriah. Abraham places Isaac on the altar. He then stretches out his, taking the knife to slay his son.
And immediately, an angel of God screams down: Abraham, ABRAHAM! Abraham hears the voice - just in time. Isaac is narrowly saved, and a ram is sacrificed in his place.
Abraham is so focused and intent on following God's command that he doesn't hear the angel's exhortation. Indeed, he has suspended the ethical. The angel is forced to scream his name a second time, just before it's too late.
Abraham. Abraham.
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I want us to consider another interpretation.
The first exclamation from the angel is an attempt to get Abraham to listen. But what is Abraham supposed to listen to? To God, who told Abraham to do something horrible, wrong, and unethical? To Isaac, who is scared and unsure about what is happening? The angel screaming a second time begs Abraham to listen to himself! The angel says, Abraham, be like Abraham. Be like the Abraham who welcomed guests into his home with kindness and generosity. Be like the Abraham who fought with God over the pending destruction of two cities.
Faith is important. But only if that faith is coupled with discernment, with the knowledge that right behavior is more important and more urgent than commanded behavior.
If Abraham would have listened to himself, he would not have forgotten that authentic religiosity is not the blind adherence to law or authority.
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The angel screams to Abraham just before it's too late. Today, this same exhortation applies to us, because sometimes, our actions are too late.
A few weeks ago, the New York Times Magazine was solid black. In a faint outline was the headline, 30 years ago, we could have saved the Earth. Scary isn’t it? It sounds like the tagline of a summer science fiction movie, but it's not fiction. And climate change is only one issue that demands the urgency of now. While many of our country's politicians hide behind the law concerning immigration, hundreds of children have been inhumanely taken from their families. White supremacists are running for office and they have legitimate chances of winning elections in cities across our country. This morning, we can hear the angel screaming a second time. We need to listen. It's not enough that we agree that things are not good enough, it's not enough to agree that righteousness supersedes the fastidious observance of law. We must also do something about it. The angel is screaming.
We stand on the precipice today. The gates are open, but we can already hear them starting to close behind us. It can be too late, but today, it is not too late.
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Thankfully, Abraham heard the angel. We have this shofar because Abraham listened. And as we listen to the shofar's sounds and its echoes, let us continue to hear the angel's voice - to listen to the voice of justice and righteousness, to act on that voice, and to act now, before it's too late.
