Vayera | "Avraham, Avraham!"

Summarized by Rav Eliyahu Blumenzweig

            The story of the Akeda (the Binding of Isaac) opens with God's call: "And He said to him, 'Avraham'; and he said, 'Here I am!'"  It ends with a double call: "And an angel of God called to him from the heavens, and said, 'Avraham, Avraham!' and he said, 'Here I am!'"

            Whenever a person is chosen for a divine mission there is a danger that he will lose some degree of his personal identity and autonomy.  The moment his mission begins he sees himself no longer as an independent personality but rather as a representative of society, one out of many, one component of a great community.

            King David said (Tehillim 18:51), "[God] performs kindness to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever."  And Rav Charlap comments that David had reached such an elevated spiritual level and was so imbued with a sense of mission that he was no longer conscious of himself at all, and was able to speak of himself in the third person - referring to "David" as an expression for anointed leadership.  Hence his phrase, "performing kindness to His anointed, to David...."

            However, this perception is not shared by God.  When God appoints His emissary to perform the Akeda, He calls him - "Avraham!"  It is as if God is commanding him, "Come back to yourself!  Do not be satisfied with your status as merely a representative of society in general."

            The person who is called upon to fulfill the divine mission is usually preoccupied mainly - if not completely - with the performance of that mission.  In the process he forgets himself, loses his personal feelings, and sets aside his natural, personal emotions - even the love of a father for his only son.

            God is not satisfied with this state of affairs.  He calls to Avraham and commands him, "Go forth!" - Return to yourself, to your natural emotions, to your feelings, to your family.  From within all of this - and only from within it -  you are commanded to "take your son, your only son...."

            Avraham sets off to perform the mission which he has been given.  He is going to bind and sacrifice not only Yitzchak, but also his own emotions.  He acts in a conscious manner; not out of confusion or ecstasy but rather as the culmination of three days of thoughtfulness and planning.  Only the angel stops him, preventing him from fulfilling his task, calling to him with a great shout: "Avraham, Avraham!"  This double call comes to remind Avraham once more that he is not required to cancel his emotions, his fatherly feelings.  He is called to return to being "Avraham," and within the framework of this "Avraham" to strive to achieve spiritual elevation.

(Originally delivered at Seuda Shelishit, Shabbat Parashat Vayera 5732.

Translated by Kaeren Fish.)

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