D’var Torah for the Akedah, Va-yera, Genesis 22:1-17
September 13, 2007
by Rabbi Gerry Serotta

Rosh Hashanah Morning 5768

This text has something like 10,000 versions of interpretation in print. They range from serious theology, Søren Kierkegaard’s view of Abraham as the supreme “Knight of Faith” willing to sacrifice the two things most precious to him, his son and his sense of rationality and logic, of what is right and wrong, And, to what was meant as humor, may be equally serious—in Woody Allen’s take, Abraham complains to God that he can never tell when He's kidding. This year, with the lives of American troops and the future of our involvement in solving the overlapping crises of Middle East conflict, hanging in the balance during these Days of Awe, I thought first of the interpretive words of poet and songwriter, Leonard Cohen. His “Song of Isaac“calls out to

You who build these altars now
To sacrifice these children,
You must not do it anymore.
A scheme is not a vision
And you never have been tempted by a demon or a god.

Of course, we read the story of Akedat Yitzhak, the Binding of Isaac, two times, on the Days of Awe and as a regular portion. When we read this story during the year, perhaps we can read it as a story of Abraham’s failure to argue with God on behalf of his son in the way he argued with God to save the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah.

However, on Rosh Hashanah, perhaps we should try to try to read it as most of the rabbis (and Kierkegaard) read it—as the ultimate proof of Abraham’s faith and loyalty. The power of the faith with which we try to reconnect at this time of year defies all logic, like the story of the binding of Isaac. It is not logical to say that we can achieve results that seem objectively impossible simply through faith.

But, our work on behalf of Tikkun Olam, world repair, sometimes seems equally impossible. I was impressed by these words shared by the head of Rabbis for Human Rights in Israel, Rabbi Arik Ascherman. Speaking of their work in support of human rights for Israeli Jews and Palestinians, he wrote, “We must believe in the power of justice; We must believe that there is an Image of God in every human being; We must believe in ourselves; We must believe that we are partners with God. We must believe that if we work to the best of our ability and understanding to build a world and a state in harmony with God’s Vision for us, that the very fabric of the universe will eventually be working with us.”

Perhaps we’ll hear that faith in the words of Genesis 22 this year.