This week we revisit the tale of The Binding of Isaac – one that we read mere weeks ago on Rosh Hashanah. It is a complex story of a God who tests a subject by requiring a sacrifice that none should have to give. This year, while preparing to chant it for the High Holy Days, I broke down into tears each and every time I practiced (and while I read it during the service itself).
The text tells us that Abraham and Isaac walk off together, and Isaac asks “father, where is the lamb for the offering?” This child already knows that something strange is afoot. Our sages disagree with how old Isaac is in this passage. Some say that he was a small child, others, a grown man. Either way, each time I practiced chanting the verse that describes Abraham’s quick actions in binding Isaac upon the altar, and then raising his knife… I broke into tears.
This year in particular, I pictured my own son on that altar, and the knife in my own hand.
I know this is 2 Minutes of Torah, and not a sermon, but I’ll leave us with a question: to what, or who, are we sacrificing our children and their futures? What gods (lower-case, ‘g’) do we serve in the course of our daily lives? How do our actions impact the world that our children will inherit?