Another thought on עקידת יצחק -- the Binding of Isaac

[reb_hillel]

Whenever I think about the Biblical story of the Binding of Isaac (which happens every year around Rosh HaShanah, as well as when we read Parashat Vayera, among other times), I think back to when I was in Grade 3 (Third Grade, for you Americans

Comments

[ploni_bat_ploni]

Don't be ashamed at all: be proud!

It is so easy to feign piety and pay lip service to the Mesorah if you're not really committed. You, on the other hand, took your faith and your potential relationship with your son so seriously, that you answered honestly from the heart with great integrity. What kind of a question is that for a teacher to ask anyway? It's a gruelling dilemma and I think you solved it with tact, nuance and integrity. That is real faith, a real search for truth and justice.

Kol haKavod.

[reb_hillel]

im not ashamed. i'm amused that this is what i'd think about, and how i'd react to such a question, when i was only a wee 9-year-old.

[ploni_bat_ploni]

Well, it goes to show what a mensch you are.

But that was old news for the likes of us :-)

[wotyfree]

I think that story is intended to show us that perfect faith is not expected of us, nor is it desirable for us.

Abraham's life was such that he developed it. That is admirable in a sense, but it's not for us. We are expected to evaluate things for ourselves.

This makes "what would you do if God told you to kill your son" entirely inconceivable to us, because we simply do not have that relationship. We're not supposed to be capable of answering yes, because we're not close enough to God to have that override everything we understand about morality.

And we're not supposed to be, and getting into a mental state in which you can imagine killing your son would be monstrosity, not piety. Even Abraham had to argue with God and see that Sodom and Gomorrah really did need to be destroyed before he was capable of that kind of relationship. For us to override ourselves in that way without that kind of experience is a presumption and an abomination.

It is for Abraham. Not for us. Without all the other things that go along with it, it is not

[reb_hillel]

Avraham gets criticized a lot for arguing with God over Sedom and Amorah, but not over killing his own son.

Anyway, my main point of recalling this story, is that nowadays i find it amusing that this was what would go through my head as a nine-year-old.

[wotyfree]

I know that he is. I don't think it's called for.
I think that he argued because it seemed inconceivably horrible, then God showed him it was actually necessary, and then he realized that God was always right about such things. But that's not appropriate for one who has not had such an experience.

[beckyms]

I think it's a sign of being someone who's very concerned with morality. Your answer was very articulate for a 9 year old, and your feelings about your friend's answer impressed me. I'd say they reveal someone with a strong desire to be good, moral.

I didn't find it funny so much as heartbreaking. I generally think adults ought to be very careful about proposing moral questions this way. I would have wanted to protect a 9 year old from forming that sort of conclusion about himself - at the least, help him have a perspective about it.

I agree with the person who said that it wasn't really appropriate for a teacher to put children on the spot with answering that question. It might have been an interesting question to have you think over and possibly to write about but not to share with everyone - and even then, only after giving some guidance - such as what Woty said about no one else being close enough to God to really be able to fully conceive of doing such a thing.

[reb_hillel]

We went our separate ways in high school, because we attended different ones. I'm not really in touch with him anymore. I think, last I heard, he was working in banking or something, and was living with a girlfriend. *Shrug* I don't think he's at all religious these days.