Avraham’s Tests
Rosh Hashanah Day 1, 5785
Why do we read Torah at our services? If you have ever been at one of the Bnei Mitzvah services we have done, or even just a normal service from time to time, you might have heard me mention that the “Torah Service” is no true service at all, but a joint communal study session. Think about 2000 years ago when we didn’t have these nice, hard-bound chumashim by the hundreds to study from. The only way to learn the Torah was to hear it read aloud. The rabbis of the Talmud compare Torah to water, and say that just as we need, at a minimum, water to drink every three days, so too do we need Torah at least every three days. And that is at a minimum! Ideally, like with water, we should be drinking from the Torah every single day. And so the rabbis instituted that, on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, we read from the Torah. Why at our prayers? Because that is when we are gathered as a community, and because Torah study is best done not alone, but in groups, learning together.
But what should we read from the Torah, when we study it together three times a week? For the most part, that answer is easy. We begin at the beginning of the Torah and read through the end. In the early days of communal Torah reading, every congregation read different lengths of the Torah at a time. One congregation might read three chapters, another only two. In the Land of Israel, it took each synagogue around three years to read through the entire Torah. Eventually, following the practice of the Babylonian Jews, the Torah readings were standardized into the every-year cycle that we have today. But holidays don’t fall neatly into this category. Since they are communal gatherings, we should read Torah on them, even when they don’t fall on normal Torah days. But what do we read on them? The regular Torah readings? Or something more thematic?
The rabbis of the Talmud opted for the thematic. In the tractate Megillah, they lay out the Torah readings for all of the major holidays, including Rosh Hashanah. They give their recommendations in their usually terse manor. The Mishnah, the earlier part of the Talmud written in the land of Israel, recommends reading a small section from the book of Vayikra, or Leviticus, detailing what Rosh Hashanah is. Do you want to hear it?
וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃
דַּבֵּ֛ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר בַּחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֜י בְּאֶחָ֣ד לַחֹ֗דֶשׁ יִהְיֶ֤ה לָכֶם֙ שַׁבָּת֔וֹן זִכְר֥וֹן תְּרוּעָ֖ה מִקְרָא־קֹֽדֶשׁ׃
כׇּל־מְלֶ֥אכֶת עֲבֹדָ֖ה לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֑וּ וְהִקְרַבְתֶּ֥ם אִשֶּׁ֖ה לַיהֹוָֽה
That could have been the entire Torah reading for Rosh Hashanah. Would certainly have made the service a lot quicker. But the rules for Torah reading eventually became more standardized, and in the Talmud, there is a disagreement over whether the section from the Book of Bamidbar detailing the sacrifices offered on Rosh Hashanah is read instead, or if the section of the Torah detailing the birth of Yitzchak is read. Being Jews, we do both: read about the birth of Yitzchak, and then read about the sacrifices in the Maftir. The Gemara, the later part of the Talmud written in Babylonia, continues that now, that we celebrate Rosh Hashanah for two days, we continue to read on the second day about the Akedah, the binding of Yitzchak. That is where our tradition comes from.
But why those sections? The Rabbis give no rationale for their reasons. Why not read about the creation of the world on the holiday celebrating the creation of the world? The traditional understanding of these readings is that they emphasize God’s kindness, that they give us hope for what we will have in store for a new year. We read about God remembering Sarah for good and giving her a son. We read the same about Hannah in the Haftarah. We hope that God will also remember us for good in the coming year. Likewise, when we read about the binding of Yitzchak, we implore God to remember how our ancestor was willing to give up his life for God. We hope that, for his sake, God will have mercy on us and give us a sweet new year.
These are all the traditional interpretations. But I think they miss something very crucial about the two readings of Rosh Hashanah put together: they show Avraham at his worst.
Let us look at exactly what it is we read. Avraham and Sarah are finally blessed with a child, much to their delight. Yitzchak is born, circumcised, weaned, and grows into a good young man. But Sarah starts to think about Yishmael, Avraham’s first born, and gets concerned. She tells Avraham to cast Yishmael and his mother out, and why? כִּי לֹא יִירַשׁ בֶּן־הָאָמָה הַזֹּאת עִם־בְּנִי עִם־יִצְחָק “For the son of that slave girl will not inherit with my son Yitzchak.” We read that Avraham was greatly distressed, and that God had to personally intervene and tell him to banish Yishmael and Hagar. Traditionally, this is read as proving that Sarah was a greater prophet than Avraham, as God tells Avraham to heed her voice. But consider! Avraham simply does as he is bid. He puts up no fight against God, does not try to reconcile Sarah and Hagar, or Yishmael and Yitzchak. He simply gives them some bread and a single skin of water, and sends them on their way into the harsh desert. If not for God’s subsequent intervention, they would have perished. Hagar cannot even bear to be near her son as they grow faint, and lays him down away from her so she won’t see him die. It is not for nothing that there is a tradition that associates one of the climactic lines in Psalm 27, the Psalm we read throughout the season of repentance, with Yishmael. כִּי־אָבִי וְאִמִּי עֲזָבוּנִי וַיהֹוָה יַאַסְפֵנִי Though my mother and father forsake me, God will care for me. That is the cry of Yishmael! Abandoned by his mother at that moment, yes, but also by his father! By Avraham Avinu.
And what happens in our reading after Yishmael and Hagar are rescued? Avraham makes a peace treaty with Avimelech, king of the Philistines. I know that many people zone out during this part of the reading. It lacks the drama of the previous sections, or the upcoming binding of Yitzchak. Why is this peace treaty included in our Torah reading? The easy answer is that immediately after comes the binding of Yiztzchak, which we will read on Day 2, so we might as well start with the birth of Yitzchak and go all the way through the binding, reading all of those 2 chapters. What’s the point in skipping 13 lines of the story? Let’s just read it all over the course of 2 days.
Perhaps. But what does this say about Avraham? We have seen him before argue with God to save the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. We have seen him before fight in a war to rescue his nephew-perhaps motivated by the fact that previously, he could not make peace between his and Lot’s shepherds. We are seeing him now negotiate a peace treaty with an unfriendly king. But he can’t make peace in his own household? He can reconcile his and Avimelech’s shepherds fighting over water. But he can’t reconcile Hagar and Sarah?
The very next event of the biblical narrative is the Akedah, which begins with the words “וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה” “It was after these events.” Why the direct connection to what came before? Rashbam, Rashi’s grandson, says it indicates God’s anger with Avraham. In Rashbam’s view, God was upset that Avraham handed over to Avimelech part of the land that He had promised him, and so decided to punish and test Avraham by putting him through the ordeal of the Akedah. I agree with Rashbam that God is angry with Avraham about the immediate proceedings, but I disagree with him on why. God has just seen Avraham fail to make peace at home, only to prioritize making peace with Avimelech. He has seen Avraham turn out one of his own children. And yes, God told Avraham to do it. But God also knew that Avraham has argued with him before to spare lives. And not a peep. Not a sound or complaint. So God now comes and says, alright, Avraham, I have seen you put more effort into relationships with kings then with your family. I will give you another chance, another test. You’ve turned out one son by My command. I will ask you to sacrifice your only remaining son. What will you do? And once again, Avraham refuses to speak up. He almost sacrifices his son. He fails the test.
In the aftermath of the Akedah, Sarah dies, and Avraham never appears again at the same time as Yitzchak. All we hear of the rest of his life is concerned with his legacy: buying a plot of land as a grave for him, Sarah, and their descendants; tasking his servant to bring Yitzchak back a good wife, and remarrying a woman named Keturah and fathering additional sons by her. He eventually passes away, and then Yitzchak and Yishmael reappear and reunite, to bury their father. The end of Avraham’s life casts a shadow upon his legacy. He is the father of the Jewish people, concerned with the covenant that is supposed to go from him to his heirs. He is the father of monotheism, a peacemaker, a person so concerned with human life that he pleads even for the worst sinners. It is for all of these reasons that God establishes a covenant with him. But he also could not bring peace to his own household.
Why read this story on Rosh Hashanah? Why reflect on the end of Avraham’s life, on his mistakes, when it all seems to go wrong? This is the time to celebrate the creation of the world, a time of new beginnings, but it is also the prelude to Yom Kippur. We are in the heart of the season of repentance. I sometimes think we treat this season a little too lightly. You have, I am sure, been the recipient of a text message or seen a post on Facebook along the lines of “If I have done you anything wrong, I am sorry! Please forgive me!” Those posts, those messages, are not teshuva. True repentance can only occur when we first recognize what we have done wrong, and begin the process of making amends. If we do not recognize that we have done wrong, we cannot repent. That may sound easy. But it is one of the hardest parts of Teshuva. We do not like to think we have done wrong. We do not like to recognize that we made mistakes, especially in weighty matters, such as those concerning our family.
Look at Avraham. Remember those additional sons he had by Keturah? The Torah tells us of them that,
נָתַן אַבְרָהָם מַתָּנֹת וַיְשַׁלְּחֵם מֵעַל יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ בְּעוֹדֶנּוּ חַי קֵדְמָה
Avraham gave them gifts and sent them away from Yitzchak while he was still living, to the East. Even after failing God’s tests twice, Avraham does not learn. He continues to send his sons away. And so he dies alone, never realizing the mistakes that he has made.
We read about Avraham to learn from his example. Family can be a large blind spot for many of us when it comes to Teshuva. How many of you know someone, or are in a family yourself, where one family has stopped speaking to another because of their political views? Cast someone out of the family because of their sexual orientation or gender expression? And all the while convinced that they were doing this for the good of their family, that their stance was righteous? There are too many people who hurt their family members all while convinced they are doing the right thing. But we don’t only have to look at how we treat our family members. The belief that we are doing the right thing, that we are fundamentally in the right is very good at being able to drown out the pleadings of our conscience. We know that Avraham was troubled at first when Sarah told him to cast out Yishmael and Hagar. But when God intervenes, rather than embrace his doubts, Avraham pushes them to the side and convinces himself he is doing the right thing. When God again appears to Avraham, and commands him to sacrifice Yitzchak, we do not even read that that time Avraham doubted. He has talked himself into believing he is always doing the right thing. That absolute self-assurance stands in the way of Teshuva.
How many of us have cast a truly critical eye on ourselves this Elul? How many of us have been able to look and reflect that, perhaps what we thought we did was right was in fact a mistake? I know it is hard for me, so I also must assume that it is hard for you. But the season of repentance is not over. Yom Kippur is 10 days away. Today is the first day of the Ten Days of Teshuva. So why do we read this Torah portion? Like the shofar, it is a wakeup call. A reminder not to get complacent. A reminder to do the hard work of analyzing our actions over the past year. A reminder to teshuva especially for our family and loved ones. We do not want to end up like Avraham in our reading, so convinced that we have done is right that we cannot see that we need to do Teshuva. We instead want to face the new year head on, confident that we can change, that we can reflect, that we can grow. We can all do Teshuva. The Torah reading is a warning, but it also should give us hope: it is not too late. We can change.
Shanna Tova.
