SUMMARY: 

• Jacob prepares to meet Esau. He wrestles with a "man," who changes Jacob's name to Israel. (32:4-33)
• Jacob and Esau meet and part peacefully, each going his separate way. (33:1-17)
• Dinah is raped by Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, who was chief of the country. Jacob's sons Simeon and Levi take revenge by murdering all the males of Shechem, and Jacob's other sons join them in plundering the city. (34:1-31)
• Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin and is buried in Ephrah, which is present-day Bethlehem. (35:16-21)
• Isaac dies and is buried in Hebron. Jacob's and Esau's progeny are listed. (35:22-36:43)

D'var Torah
by Glori Stulman

As many of you may or may not realize, this is the first time that I am writing a D’Var Torah.  I did not celebrate a Bat Mitzvah,nor am I Jewish, but I have studied the Torah, and my husband is Jewish, my children have been raised Jewish, and I am very involved with our wonderful Temple Beth Ami.  

I selected this portion, Vayishlach, because it falls on my birth date.  I thought to myself, I can do this, and then got a little nervous when I read that this parashah (portion) has the most verses of any weekly Torah portion in the book of Genesis.  Go figure.  

While doing the research for my D’var Torah, I decided to read both the Jewish and Christian bible translations, and see if there are any differences. I found that they have the same perspective.  I’m not surprised, as the lessons that were taught to me from the Old Testament of the Christian bible, were the same as my children have learned from the Jewish Torah.  I’ve decided to focus my D’var Torah on the story of Dina, a story that is not for children.

Genesis 34:1-7, it tells us how Dina, Jacob and Leah’s only daughter as far as we know, had gone out to visit the women of the land.  Some may say that Dina, who was very young and probably naive, was tricked into going out on her own.  While out, Shechem, son of the ruler Hamor the Hivite, had noticed Dina and had taken and violated her.  However, it was not clear if the act was consensual.  The verse goes on to say that Shechem then became fond of Dina and asked his father Hamorto “Get him the girl Dina to be his wife”.  When Dina’s brothers (Jacob’s sons), found out that their sister was raped by Shechem, they were furious and filled with grief.  This was considered a disgrace to their sister and family.  Shechem begged of Jacob and the brothers “Let me find favor is your eyes and I will give you whatever you ask.  Only give me the girl Dina as my wife”.  

Did Dina’s brothers and father feel guilty that they were not there to protect their only sister and daughter?   They were very angry with Shechem.  How dare he violate their sister.  How did Dina feel about it?  Did Dina get herself into this situation by being in the wrong place at the wrong time?  The chapter never says how she felt.  Maybe Dina felt it was safer to be silent.  Did she fear being shunned or punished?  As with some third world countries, the woman may be stoned to death for having a relationship out of marriage.

In Genesis 34:13-24, the brothers deceitfully tell Shechem that they cannot give their sister to a man who is not circumcised.  Only if Shechem and all the men agree to be circumcised, than Jacobs sons would be willing to give them their sister and the other women as wives.  Their proposal seemed good to Hamorand his son Shechem.  So they wasted no time, and every male in the city was circumcised.  

However, the brother’s of Dina had an ulterior motive.  Three days after the circumcision, when all the men were suffering in pain, Dina’s brothers went into the city and killed every male.  They took all of the Hivites livestock and flocks, women and children.   Jacob was upset that his son’s caused so much trouble for him.  The chapter ends with the son’s replying “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”

Was the retribution to harsh?  In modern times, Dina’s brothers would be arrested, convicted and punished according to the law.  Although I feel that many people would have fleeting thoughts of taking the law into their own hands, especially if it were one of their loved ones that were the victim.  I also wondered why Jacob was so concerned about the “trouble” his son’s caused to him (Jacob), and didn’t seem be more concerned about what had happened to his only daughter Dina.  Was this because women were possibly considered second class citizens back then?

When I was in my early 20’s, a close friend of mine was assaulted like Dina.  Susan (not her real name), felt shamed and demoralized by this horrific act against her.  She has kept her silence, and has only told a few people about what happened to her long ago.  Was the fear of being shunned the reason Susan chose not to speak about what had happened to her?  In general, society has taught women to be silent, instead of speaking out about certain things such as rape.   Being silent just feels safe.  It seems, as I read the story of Dina, nothing has changed in 4000 years.  

And what about our beloved TV dad, Bill Cosby?  I have to admit that even I was skeptical at first with the allegations that he drugged and raped several women over the years.  A part of me still wants to believe that the women were after something.  Again, this leads to one of the reasons why women keep rape silent.  As not to be judged or blamed.  Did these women also feel that it was safer to be silent?

We need to encourage and teach our daughters, sisters, mothers to speak out against this type of act.  They need to realize that they are not to be blamed if they are violated.  Our sons need to be brought up as caring and respectful men.  And everyone needs to learn that only “Yes”, means “Yes."


SUMMARY: 

• Jacob dreams of angels going up and down a ladder. God blesses him. Jacob names the place Bethel. (28:10-22)
• Jacob works seven years in order to marry Rachel, but Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Leah, Rachel's older sister. (29:16-25)
• Jacob marries Rachel but only after having to commit himself to seven more years of working for Laban. (29:26-30)
• Leah, Rachel, and their maidservants, Bilhah and Zilpah, give birth to eleven sons and one daughter. (29:31-30:24)
• Jacob and his family leave Laban's household with great wealth. (31:1-32:3)

D'var Torah
by Rabbi Mark Blazer


And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. (28:12)

Out in the middle of no-where, with only rocks for a pillow:

Jacob awoke from his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. (28:16)

Our ancestor Jacob realized at that moment that there is a thin veil between heaven and earth. Earth and heaven.  With no barriers in between.  He hadn’t seen it before.  But he is now transformed.

Jacob first discovers God in exile.  In a no-mans land.  And it is in this moment of his greatest loneliness, he learns he is not alone.

And you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And, behold, I am with you, and will keep you in all places where you go. (28:14-15)

Our people will always have an eternal bond with the land of Israel, but we also know that every place is filled with the Divine presence.  Every square inch of earth, every molecule of matter is imbued with God.

We believe that any place becomes holy when we open our eyes and open our hearts to God.  And like Jacob we can discover this even when we are far from home.  Even when we are in exile.

And how appropriate here in America, and timely this week as we celebrate Thanksgiving, that we all stop to consider this message.

Here in a land where everyone is an immigrant. Every American, like Jacob, has left their father’s home, an ancestral place that was once home to our diverse ethnic groups.  If not in our lifetimes, then someone in our families made that journey.

And whether it was four thousand years ago on a land bridge from Siberia, four hundred years ago on a ship from Europe, or twenty years ago on a plane from Russia.  Each and every one of us came here from some place else.

But in each community we settled, including here in Santa Clarita, we have made the places where we dwell holy.  There is a direct line from our small synagogue, to the stones that Jacob set up in Beth El, after he awoke from his night vision.  Wherever and whenever a holy place is established, that space becomes a vessel for God’s work, it is indeed holy ground. 

America is a land of God, not God’s only holy place, but indeed a country blessed by God’s goodness and grace, a land that flows with milk and honey, as did the land of our ancestors.

But we must remember the bleak background against which the Pilgrims marked their first Thanksgiving.  Of the 102 passengers who landed at Plymouth Rock, 51 died within the first six months.  Not a single family had been spared by death.  The survivors lived on the fringe of starvation in a hostile, unchartered world.  They never knew what it was to have enough or to be secure. They stood alone against the forces of nature and man.

Yet, these were the people who gathered to give thanks to the Almighty and to express their humble dependence upon God’s mercies for their very lives.

And here once again we can learn from this weeks Torah portion. Because Jacob’s first great encounter with God, concludes with the promise to tithe, to give one tenth.

And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and garment to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God; And of all that you shall give me I will surely give a tenth to you.” (28:20-21)

Jacob’s Divine encounter therefore ends with a pact.  With a promise to tithe.  Granted Jacob predicates his charity on God’s beneficence.  He has not yet evolved in his faith to simply commit without first seeing the goods.  Yet even if Jacob’s charity is conditional, he has begun to take the first step to see beyond his own selfish needs.  And he has tied his personal success to a greater good.

Tithing is a tangible way to respond to an invisible God. Our worship is enriched when we tithe. And our tithe is enriched when we worship. And each is impoverished if it stands alone.

The pace of our culture only intensifies the need for us to make the time, and find the means to worship God, and to give the tithe.

The time and money won't drop from the sky. We must carve out that time and money consciously, out of each week and each check.

Each one of us has the opportunity to contribute to the Santa Clarita Food Pantry, The Homeless Shelter, to help out with Family Promise (we host again this coming weekend!)  We must not let this sacred moment pass without responding.

Jacob was no perfect man, yet he provides a model for each and every one of us.  A fugitive from his own family, with nothing but the clothes on his back, Jacob begins his relationship with God and starts to evolve as a human.

With each step he ascends higher and higher, to the next spiritual plane.  The Bible teaches that every person has the ability to retrace Jacob’s path, and hopefully you don’t have to start from the same spot Jacob was that night, with only rocks on which to lay your head.

Jacob’s story reminds us that if we are spiritually alive, it is not hard to see God present wherever you are: at home or away, in the Holy Land, or in Hollywood, for God indeed is everywhere.

And like Jacob, what do you do when you are overcome by this reality?
When you realize that the ladder is in place and that no matter how blind you have been, the angels have been ascending and descending all along?
When you discover that God is goodness and caring and love, and that most importantly that God is right here?

Why, you find some way to say thank you.

You worship.
You tithe.
You reach out to others.
And you thank God for the privilege.

SUMMARY: 

• Rebekah has twins, Esau and Jacob. (25:19-26)
• Esau gives Jacob his birthright in exchange for some stew. (25:27-34)
• King Abimelech is led to think that Rebekah is Isaac's sister and later finds out that she is really his wife. (26:1-16)
• Isaac plans to bless Esau, his firstborn. Rebekah and Jacob deceive Isaac so that Jacob receives the blessing. (27:1-29)
• Esau threatens to kill Jacob, who then flees to Haran. (27:30-45)

D'var Torah
by Brian Block

Like most Jewish woman, my mother uses cooking oil as a spice. Shmaltz (chicken fat) is no longer readily available, so oil has become her essential coagulant and flavor enhancer. A quarter inch bottom lining of oil distinguishes her every recipe from meatloaf to Manischewitz passover cakes (foil pan included). The symbolism of her culinary expertise, whether intentional or inadvertent, was foreseen in Toledot, a portion that meditates on the balance of present needs and future aspirations.

Fortunately, for most Jews in America, hunger is no longer an issue. For us, food is as abundant as the stars.  Our own rabbi has been a vegetarian for two decades, although I suspect it is not because he loves animals, but because deep down he despises all plants and wishes to see them boiled in oil.  But without an innate understanding of hunger and the daily quest for sustenance, it is difficult to understand Esau's sale of his birthright.  In our age where famine and drought seem as eradicated as polio, selling one's inheritance for a stew seems as preposterous as Jonah favoring a gourd over a city of 120,000 people. When understood, both were reasonable and commonplace reactions, and the need  to attend to the future regardless of present circumstances has never lost relevancy.

While the subterfuge of Jacob stealing Esau’s birthright has been the focus of most scholars, this approach avoids the essential conflict of balancing the present and future. The fact that Isaac will inherit the birthright has been known by Rebekah prior to their birth (Gen 25:23), and as a result many commentators have explained this portion by having wily parents Isaac and Rebekah conspiring to trick both their sons into following the Lord's direction.  While this approach explains “how” the birthright was given to Jacob, this interpretation avoids explaining “why” Jacob was chosen at birth over Esau.  Jacob’s foresight was more important to the Jewish people than Esau’s focus on subsistence, a dichotomy illustrated through the imagery and discussion of food.

No trickery existed at the Jacob's initial purchase of the inheritance for his red stew. The portion begins with Isaac showing his preference for Esau over Jacob, as “Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for game.” (Gen 25:28) (If God did not intend for us to eat animals, why did he make them out of meat?) Shortly thereafter, we are told that Jacob was cooking a stew... and Esau came in, from the field, and he was famished, and Esau said to Jacob, “Let me gulp down some of this red red stuff! I'm famished!” And Jacob said, “Sell me first your birthright.” and Esau said, “I'm at the point of death, so of what use is my birthright to me? ” And Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” (Gen 25:29-33) While some might argue that this is an unfair exchange, there is no subterfuge, and the language appears clear and concise.  Esau wants to be satisfied NOW, Jacob wants to plan for his future.

While this initial exchange clearly identifies Jacob as the son attentive to the future, and Esau as the son grounded in present needs, most individuals reading today cannot get over the apparent unfairness of the exchange. True hunger does not exist for most American Jews, and, sadly, it is necessary to invoke the Holocaust for many to understand this connection.  In most Holocaust accounts, such as Elie Wiesel's Night, hunger, not brutality is the survivors omnipresent motivation. Websites are replete with comments, such as   “If they were lucky, the might find a piece of turnip or potato peel;”  “The bread was supposed to last the prisoners for the morning also, so prisoners would try to hide it on their person whilst they slept;” “Morning is Hunger. Afternoon is Hunger. Evening is Hunger.”  Franz Kafka once said, “So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being.” In this light, Esau's exchange seemed more balanced.  What good is an inheritance when starvation is imminent?

Whether one interprets Esau's hunger as true starvation or alliterative exaggeration, Esau's focus on hunger clearly identifies him as a person who aspirations are centered on the present, and not the future. While he is not evil, this lack of future vision makes him unfit for the birthright.  At the same time, Jacob's action of giving up his stew for a potential future gain shows him to proper son to guide a people who will flourish like the stars.

The next section of the portion further illustrates the conflict between present and the future goals, this time with Isaac. After all, the portion begins “This is the story of Isaac, son of Abraham,” (Gen 25:19) not “This is the story of Jacob and Esau.” After being banished by the Philistines, Isaac spends much of Chapter 26 digging wells.  And while many of us remember waterhole Beersheba (meaning “oath,” where an agreement was made with the Philistine monarch) most water holes prior to this oath were disputed with native tribes, as the well's names (Esek meaning “contention” and Sitnah meaning “hostility”) suggest. Today, Americans today seem oblivious to this requirement of clean water to sustain life. In California today, a drought is “my lawn turns brown”; but in Darfur today, and even in the United States in the 1930’s a drought was “my family, crops and livestock are dying.” Isaac’s quest for water emphasizes this basic conflict of sustenance v. inheritance. If you give a man water, he can drink water today; if a man makes a well for water,  he can drink water forever; if a man can make an artificial shortage of water, he can drink wine.  While Isaac never attained the third level, many of his ancestors did, and the juxtaposition of Isaac's search for water with the story of Jacob and Esau's future inheritance is not coincidental, but essential.  After all, the decision to give a birthright is Isaac’s decision, not Jacob’s or Esau’s. It will be Isaac’s choice to decide whether it is more important for the Jewish people to live for today or to plan for the future.  A man who digs a well (or two, or three or four) is clearly planning to stay awhile, a man who is planning for tomorrow.

When the day comes that Isaac is prepared to give his blessing, Jacob seems surprisingly unprepared for the future that has suddenly become the present. Once again, food becomes an essential symbol.  Rebekah alerts her son Jacob and calls him to action. Rebekah makes a dish of the kind his father loved for him to present, and Isaac, prior to giving his blessing states,  “Serve me, that I may eat of the game of my son, so that I may give you the solemn blessing from my soul.” Like many of our religious prayers, and the Jacob's earlier purchase of the inheritance, the birthright appears to be in the form of an exchange or contract.  Fortunately for Jacob, his mother prepares the food Isaac loves, and the future of the Jewish people is sealed with a meal.

When Esau comes shortly after Jacob leaves, “He too, made a dish and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father rise and eat of the game of his son, so that you may solemnly bless me.” Unlike Jacob’s meal, which was specially prepared by Rebekah, this meal was prepared by Esau himself.  Why didn't one of his two wives make the dish? Although he would later marry one of Abraham's granddaughters, Esau at the time was married to two Hittite women who “were a source of provocation to Isaac and Rebekah.”  Perhaps, mother-in-law Rebekah's true motivation for assisting Isaac was, in part, Esau's wives. Their failure to assist Esau in preparation of the meal shows their disregard for BOTH the present and the future.

This relationship between food, the traditional role of women, and hunger and Jewish life can not be understated. Once again a Holocaust analogy helps illustrate this point. In her essay, “Cookbooks and Concentration Camps: Unlikely Partners”, Dr. Myrna Goldenberg describes how “’food talk,’ especially the exchange of recipes, boosted women's sense of community...They taught one another the art of cooking and baking, and ... reclaimed their importance and dignity...’food’ talk also enabled women to pass on a culture, the memory of murdered family and friends.”   She later elaborates that “We usually teach for and to the next generation...Thus teaching imparts a feeling of hope or optimism.”  Out of hunger can come future hope.  Esau’s wives offer none of this hope, and much like Esau, are not fit to lead our future generations.

Even today, our Jewish festivals are as anchored on the meals and food served in the home as much as they are the prayers in the synagogue.  A gustatory interpretation of Judaism provides as much enlightenment to our faith and history.  What is Chanukah without latkes and jelly donuts? Is Purim complete without hamantashen and shlivowitz, Rosh Hashana truly celebrated without apples dipped in honey and challahs with raisins, Sukkot a festival without blintzes, or Yom Kippur truly holy without a fast. The Passover seder can even ascertain a Jews lineage  (Do you dip potato instead of parsley? Is rice allowed during the holiday? Do your haggadahs have “Maxwell House Coffee” emblazoned on the front?).  And I have not even mentioned the rules of Kashrut. As much as any inheritance, food is our sacred birthright. It's not merely about sustenance, but its about teaching and identity, and a large part of this identity is understanding hunger and its relationship to holiness. In this portion, food not only emphasizes not only contractual obligations, but our forefather's belief in the continuance of the Jewish people.

SUMMARY: 

• Abraham purchases the cave of Machpelah in order to bury his wife Sarah. (23:1-20)
• Abraham sends his servant to find a bride for Isaac. (24:1-9)
• Rebekah shows her kindness by offering to draw water for the servant's camels at the well. (24:15-20)
• The servant meets Rebekah's family and then takes Rebekah to Isaac, who marries her. (24:23-67)
• Abraham takes another wife, named Keturah. At the age of one hundred and seventy-five years, Abraham dies, and Isaac and Ishmael bury him in the cave of Machpelah. (25:1-11)

D'var Torah
by Judith Stolnitz

This week’s Parsha is Chayei Sarah, Sarah’s Life. The first verses, though, tell us only about Sarah’s death at the age of 127.  The parsha continues with a description of how Abraham purchases the cave of Machpeilah to bury her. He negotiates a land purchase and buries her. Abraham bewails and mourns his wife of so many years.  As a matter of fact, there is much more detail about the mourning of Sarah than her Chai, her life.   The entire Portion is named for her Life, but covers only her death and the mourning aftermath. 

About September 7, 2001, my mother called me from Philadelphia where she lives, (k’einahurah as my grandmother would say).  “I think it is time you came to see your grandmother.  She is not doing well.” How much time did my mother think there was?  Was Grandma up for a phone call? Eventually, I hung up and investigated airfares.

Needless to say, I was unable to fly to Philadelphia or anywhere just a few days later.  So when my Grandma Bea passed away on September 18, I was heartbroken.  Not only had I not been able to see her before she died, but now I couldn’t fly after the plane attacks? I couldn’t participate in her life while she still breathed and now I couldn’t honor her death.

Luckily, the planes began flying again and I got on one a couple of days later. It was the last time I was to fly cheap, with water and on an empty plane. I may have even had my swiss army knife with me. I had to be at that funeral.  I had to be with my siblings and cousins to mourn Grandma Bea. 

Because Grandma was going to be buried on Cape Cod and not in Philadelphia, the traditional shiva would not be held.  However, my father, usually a stickler for tradition and rules, lit the mourner’s seven day candle after the funeral anyway and 3 generations settled in to keep Shabbat and be together.

We shared the details of our trips to get to Philadelphia, we talked about what 9/11 had been like for two cousins who lived and worked in Manhattan. And we ate. We sat together in my parent’s apartment in the glow of the seven day candle and the Shabbat candles and lived.  We told stories, we laughed, we cried. At one point one of my young second cousins asked in distress why we were all laughing when Grandma Bea was gone.  His father hugged him and told him we were all sad, but that by laughing and being together we were celebrating the boy’s great-grandmother’s life, more than bewailing and mourning could ever do.

The mourning was celebrating Grandma Bea’s life, as was Abraham’s dealing with Sarah’s death.  Before he places Sarah with honor in the Cave, Abraham bewails his beloved wife.  By taking the responsibility of  purchasing land only for burial, and to house his wife’s remains, Abraham gives Sarah’s Life the honor it deserves. This is the first land he has purchased in the Promised Land. He demonstrates what she meant to him, to the tribe as a whole and ultimately to the Jewish people. 

With our tight knit society now spread over ever wider areas, we have to find new ways to celebrate people’s lives and mourn.  Facebook has become  a way to share the sad news and sometimes beautiful eulogies or stories about the recently deceased. Phone calls and sympathy cards connect us when the planes can’t fly, but nothing can replace the honor we give a life be following mourning traditions.  By telling stories,laughing, hugging, bewailing, AND eating, we remind those who share a relationship with the person who has passed how important they were in life. How their lives will continue to touch our own.  This is the beauty of Abraham’s grieving and of the Jewish traditions associated with Death.

And just as Abraham continues to live after the funeral by finding new consorts, fathering many more children, and finding his son a wife, so do families continue after Shiva is complete. Isaac is helped in getting past his grieving by embracing his wife Rebecca in his mother’s tent. He fills the emptiness with the new love of his wife.

We have a responsibility to continue life, if only so the lives of those who have come before us aren’t lost.  Filling our own empty tents with friends, family, traditions and stories helps us to heal.

SUMMARY: 

• Abraham welcomes three visitors, who announce that Sarah will soon have a son. (18:1-15)
• Abraham argues with God about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. (18:16-33)
• Lot's home is attacked by the people of Sodom. Lot and his two daughters escape as the cities are being destroyed. Lot's wife is turned into a pillar of salt. (19:1-29)
• Lot impregnates his daughters, and they bear children who become the founders of the nations Moab and Ammon. (19:30-38)
• Abimelech, king of Gerar, takes Sarah as his wife after Abraham claims that she is his sister. (20:1-18)
• Isaac is born, circumcised, and weaned. Hagar and her son, Ishmael, are sent away; an angel saves their lives. (21:1-21)
• God tests Abraham, instructing him to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah. (22:1-19)

D'var Torah
by Marci Goldstein

This D’var Torah is dedicated to my best friend Stacey Beth Miller to honor her memory for her birthday on November 13th. She would have been 48 years old.  May Stacey’s memory be a blessing to all those who knew and loved her.

Seven years ago, my only daughter began to have movement issues that left her mobility challenged and ultimately led to her confinement to a wheelchair 90% of the time. The disorder, for which she was eventually diagnosed, has no known cure.  My husband and I searched endlessly for treatments for her, to no avail. We looked to G-d to help guide us through the challenges we were suddenly facing. 

Eventually a medical treatment became known to us that involved a great deal of risk, but ultimately was the only option left to get her mobility back so that she could lead a normal life.  But how does a parent readily consent to have holes drilled in their daughter’s skull and have wires placed in her brain, even if by a renowned neurosurgeon?  How do loving parents do this without fear and apprehension and a little guilt?

 Vayeria, is Hebrew for “and He appeared,” and Genesis, Chapter 22: 1-19 recounts the event known as the Binding of Isaac, also known as “The Binding”, or “The Akedah”.    In this very well-known account in the Torah, G-d asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah.  He said to him, “Abraham!”, and Abraham replied, “Here I am”.   Then G-d said, “Please take your son, your only son, whom you love – Isaac- and go to the region of Moriah.  Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey without question.  He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac.  When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place G-d had told him about.  He said to his servants, “stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and then we will return to you”.

We know that the sacrifice of Isaac never materialized. “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and knife. So they went both of them together.” The angel of the Lord called out to him and instructed him not to lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him, “for now I know that you fear G-d, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

So many questions arise from this reading.  Was this a test to see what Abraham would do? To see how devoted he was to G-d? Was this a punishment as suggested by some scholars for Abraham’s earlier mistreatment of Ishmael, his elder son? Was this perhaps a test of Isaac, as he would be the one giving up his life?

The consensus among Jewish scholars is G-d’s command to Abraham to sacrifice Isaac was indeed a test of Abraham’s loyalty and commitment to G-d, to see if he would actually take the life of his own son.  Perhaps it is to be seen as a symbolic sacrifice only. As one asks, how could a loving G-d command such an abhorrent request upon a parent of a child? Surely G-d did not intend for Abraham to perform such a despicable and unfathomable act upon his son especially knowing that G-d had benevolently granted him to Abraham at the age of 100.  What would be the purpose? Similarly, why did Isaac not question this act? Why did he go willingly with Abraham even though it would cost him his life, for he was not a small child and could certainly make an argument?

Abraham tells his servants to stay and he will return with Isaac, suggesting that he knew in his heart that he would be back with his son.  Also, G-d had made a promise to Abraham to bless him and multiply his children through Isaac, which has us again wonder about G-d’s intent in asking him to sacrifice Isaac at the altar. 

My husband and I sought answers from G-d for our daughter, and knew He would guide us in the right direction. So with fear, but with faith, we took our daughter to have this risky procedure.  I am sure there were those that thought us foolish to take such a risk with our child, considering the disorder she suffered from was not life threatening.  But in our hearts we believed in the Almighty, and knew that G-d would not lead us, or her, astray.  Our trust in G-d helped us to do something that was one of the most difficult things a parent can do. Like Isaac, who went willingly with Abraham, our daughter took our hand, and together we went.