This week’s parasha concludes with one of the most well know stories in the Bible- the binding of Isaac, know as Akaidat Yitzchak. Abraham (Avraham) was instructed to slaughter his son, and blindly follows G-d’s command, and is interrupted at the last minute, the knife in his hand, and is told, This Is Only a Test…

But wait..There’s got to be more to it than that, right?

Why does G-d need to test Avraham? The creator of the world must certainly know the capabilities and limitations of his creations. But did Avraham know?

A careful examination of the text shows us that G-d did not actually tell Avraham to slaughter his son, merely to “וְהַעֲלֵהוּ שָׁם לְעֹלָה”, to “bring him up as an offering”.

Shortly afterwards Avraham tells his attendants, stay here, WE will return to you.

So, on some level, Avraham knew that he would NOT sacrifice his son.

What then, was his test?

Perhaps an answer can be found by exploring an alternative method of reading the text.

It says, On the the third day, Avraham raised his eyes and “יַּרְא אֶת הַמָּקוֹם מֵרָחֹק”,

“he saw THE PLACE (haMakom) from afar.” We know that HaMakom is a name for G-d, and we associate it with a situation that distances us from a clear understanding of our relationship with the divine. When one goes to comfort someone during the period of sitting shiva, one says, ” HaMakom y’nachaim etchem..”, May G-d comfort you among…..At this saddest of times G-d seems distant to a mourner.

Prior to this last test Avraham had an incredibly close prophetic relationship with

G-d, pleading, bargaining face to face, on a first name basis. After the command to

” Bring up your son as an offering”, Avraham is now asked to operate in the world without the “visual” reassurance of G-d’s presence, and rely on faith.

It is no surprise that his next contact (and all subsequent contact) with the divine is through “Malach HaShem”, an angel of G-d. What is a malach, an angel?

Our sages teach us that an angel is the manifestation of divine thought, in the real world. Avraham is being tested to navigate in the real world, without an automatic connection, a world where a human being has to make an effort to see and feel the presence of our creator.

It is our mission as human beings to seek out the presence of G-d. We cannot today “see” any image, or “hear” any distinct voice but we can certainly see and hear the effect of G-d in the world, if we only take the time to look and listen. Our lives can be so much richer for it, and we need not sacrifice anything at all.

Shabbat Shalom,