Yaakov Avinu
took those stones and shaped a half circle round his head for protection and
overnight they became one – alluding that after the long dark night of Galus,
all the Tribes will unify – and Yaakov offered oil on this stone that he
upturned into a vertical altar.
The Akeyda:
In a way, the
Akeyda was a precursor of many instances when the Jewish people faced total
annihilation and were saved at the last moment – whether in Egypt or under
Haman, during the Greek-Assyrian reign of terror or WWII…
Yitzchak
stretched out his throat so his father shouldn’t have to ([i])and
raised his eyes heavenward and asked his father in a soft voice to tie him up,
so as to prevent him from inadvertently moving his limbs, which may result in
hitting his father or becoming disqualified.
Rabbi Moshe of
Savran: A Mal-ach was created from Avrohom Avinu’s fulfilling the
commandment. When one does the Mitzvah,
apart from physically carrying out HaShem’s command, there are other effects
that come about in higher spheres. In
this case, the angel that came to stop Avrohom Avinu was the same-self Mal-ach
that was created by the Mitzvah of just putting Yitzchok on the altar. This is also the answer to Balaam’s question
to HaShem, why when it came to rescue Yitzchok He sent an angle, whilst when He
commanded Avraham about the Akeyda He came so-called in person.
The angels
cried when they saw what was happening and their tears fell into Yitzchok’s
eyes. This had an impact on his vision
and when he reached the age of 14o years he was already blind.
אפרו
של יצחק צבור ומונח לפני כסא הכבוד שבנס חזר בגוף חדש לתחיה
So did
Yitzchok die at the hand of his father or not?
According to
one Midrash (Tanya Rabosi in the name of a Midrash Agadah) that Avraham Avinu
did carry out HaShem’s will completely and then offered the ram, after HaShem
sprinkled dew of revival (Tal Shel Techiyoh) on Yitzchok’s ashes.
The journey
from the Akeyda:
Now that
Yitzchok had not been offered, Avrohom started having qualms about his son’s
age – he was by then an “Old Bochur” of 37!
Just then a message reached Avraham’s ears (according to Rashi, this was
Ru-ach haKodesh) that a granddaughter by the name of Rivka was born to his
brother in Choron – three years before.
Yitzchok Avinu
tells HaShem: “Palga Alay – Palga Aloch”
It is no
coincidence why “Ben Zion” = Gematrya Yitzchok, as it alludes to the place
where he was going to give his life up for HaShem.
Matan Torah:
The Shofar (horn) that was heard during HaShem’s descent and ascent on Mount
Sinai was taken from this same self ram, according to Rabbi Yehudah ben Asher,
a brother of the Ba’al haTurim (Orach Chaym Siman 417) it was the left hand
horn as is brought down in Yalkut Shimoni (Isaiah Remez 436)
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