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September 2011/Tishrei 5772
A JOURNAL OF JEWISH RESPONSIBILITY
The Akedah
Ilana Goldhaber-Gordon
Abraham’s Attributes:
‘A Source of Strength’ . . 1
Penina Adelman, Arthur
Strimling, Shai Held, Peter
Pitzele, Huda Abu Arqoub,
Hannah Dresner, Marc
Bregman, Menachem
Creditor, Naomi Less &
Chana Rothman, Michael
Graetz, Julie Seltzer,
Naomi Graetz
Perspectives on the
Binding of Isaac. . . . . . . 2
Shaul Magid
Hasidism and
the Akedah. . . . . . . . . . 9
Joshua Holo
The Binding of Isaac
or His Sacrifice?
Christian and Jewish
Perspectives . . . . . . . . 10
Sharon Brous, Josh
Kornbluth, Dov Linzer,
Jeffrey Helmreich
Faith and Ethics:
A Roundtable on
the Akedah ......... 11
Discussion Guide. . . . . 15
Yael S. Feldman
The Land of Isaac?
From ‘Glory of Akedah’
to ‘Isaac’s Fear’ . . . . . . 16
Sarah Imhoff
Violence and Secrecy:
On Masculinity and
the Akedah. . . . . . . . . 17
Rachel Barenblat,
Matthew Zapruder,
Kathryn Hellerstein,
& Yerra Sugarman
So Avraham Took
the Ram ........... 19
Shaiya Rothberg,
Avi Killip, Mimi Feigelson,
Mike Comins
NiSh’ma ........... 20
Bryna Jocheved Levy
Rembrandt’s Akedah . . 21
Robert J. Saferstein
Sh’maEthics . . . . . . . 24
e begin a new year with what might be the greatest dramatic story of our people:
the binding of Isaac — in Hebrew, the Akedah. We’ve invited several creative thinkers
to share imaginative, midrashic perspectives on this story, recounted in the Book of
This issue also includes several essays on the binding of Isaac: how three 18th-century
Hasidic rebbes understood the Akedah; how the Akedah is evoked in contemporary Hebrew
literature; and how the themes of secrecy and violence, of fear, acceptance, and righteousness,
are embedded in the narrative. “Hineini” means “Here I am.” The phrase is first uttered by
Adam when God asks, “Ayeka?” “Where are you?” It is repeated by Abraham three times in the
story of the Akedah. It is also a prayer recited by the shaliach hatzibur, the emissary of the
congregation, just before the beginning of the Rosh Hashanah musaf. The leader chants the
prayer as a petition to God to accept the prayers of the congregants. Scattered throughout this
issue are short reflections on what it means today to say, “Here I am.”
Each year, our back page features an ongoing conversation on an ethical question. Our
ethics column this year will address social media — issues of privacy, connectivity, and potential
tensions between religious practice and technology. We launch the series with our online director,
Robert J. Saferstein, who has been instrumental in shaping our social media presence.
If you’re not a subscriber — but one of several thousand who are receiving Sh’ma as a gift
from your rabbi — please subscribe. We look forward to sharing conversations with you
throughout the year — in print and online — about the critical issues we face today as Jews.
Shana tova — wishing you a very sweet and healthy year. —Susan Berrin, Editor-in-Chief
W
Abraham’s Attributes: ‘A Source of Strength’
ILANA GOLDHABER-GORDON
There was a time when I could not read the story of the binding of Isaac without wish- ing for a different ending — that Abraham
would stand up to God, refusing to harm his son.
Some of my rabbinic colleagues redefine the
story, ignoring God’s words, “because you did
this thing and did not hold back your precious
son from me, I will bless you.” They claim that
Abraham failed God’s test because he mounted
his son on the slaughtering block.
Past generations were unabashedly proud
of this story; it was the pinnacle of Abraham’s
life. When the ancient rabbis played with the
ending, their inclinations were opposite to
those of my rabbinical colleagues. One midrash
imagines Abraham actually slaughtering Isaac,
and an angel bringing him back to life. In the
traditional view, Abraham’s willingness to sac-
rifice Isaac earned their descendants a special
claim on God’s affections.
