And the Two of Them Walked Together...
Rereading the story of the Akedah
A short thought on this week’s parsha, Vayera, and the story of the Akedah:
I like to imagine that, when Avraham bound Yitzchak to the altar, he cried.1 What parent could see their child in pain or in fear, knowing they caused it, without tears? And maybe those tears helped heal the inevitable rupture between father and son, the betrayer and the betrayed. The Torah never tells us of them speaking to each other again. Perhaps there is nothing left to say. And yet, Avraham and Yitzchak remained, and remain, inextricably linked to each other by the common experience of being on the top of the mountain.
The Torah tells us, as Avraham and Yitzchak go up Har HaMoriah together, וילכו שניהם יחדיו, the two of them went together. The word יחיד, alone, and the word יחד, together, pushing towards and pulling from each other. Their fates are inextricably tied together, but their experiences are inherently different. They are together. Each one is alone.
We don't often think of Yitzchak as lucky, but he is the one who gets to walk away from the altar. The story of a parent forced to sacrifice their child burns even more deeply now than it usually does. Too many people's children were sacrificed this week, in order that the Jewish people can live.
Our toddler, still in Simchat Torah mode, is still singing Ha'aderet Ve’haemunah multiple times a day. L'chai olamin, she yells. For eternal life. Am Yisrael chai.
Shabbat shalom.