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Yamim Noraim Tefillot

ZICHRONOT

Why Does the Akeida Take

Center Stage?

Gila Chitiz

n the Zichronot section of Mussaf father Avraham and said: ‘Old man, old commandment? How should we react
on Rosh Hashanah, we call on man! Have you lost your mind [lit. have when we cannot relate to a particular
G-d to remember the merit of you lost your heart]? You are going to mitzvah that we are obligated to per-
Iour ancestors as He judges us for slay a son given to you at the age of a form? The Akeidah teaches us that serv-
our shortcomings. A key event in the hundred!’ ‘Even this I do,’ replied he… ing G-d is not always meant to be clear-
Zichronot section is the famous story of [Samael said:] ‘Tomorrow He will say cut or easy. Even though as humans
the Akeida, the binding of Yitzchak. The to you, “You are guilty of murder, you we question, we doubt and sometimes
Akeida appears in several of the High murdered your son!” He replied: ‘Still I we don’t understand, but we still do.
Holiday prayers, and is highlighted as go’.” (Bereishit Rabba 56:4) We must always seek out answers,
the Torah reading for the second day of Nechama Leibowitz explains that dia- grapple with interpretations,
Rosh Hashanah. Why does this event strive for explanations.
take center stage in our tefillot at this logue is a symbolic representation of But even when our solu-
Avraham’s internal struggle: “The voice
time of year? tions are unsat-
of the tempter in the guise of an old
The Akeida story is controversial, and man is none other than the prompt- isfactory, as
believing Jews,
many classical and contemporary com- ings of Abraham’s own heart during we commit to this
mentators question Avraham’s behav- those three momentous days. One by struggle because it is
ior. Why did he not challenge G-d’s one doubts assail him – the voice of the a commitment to G-d.
commandment? Avraham’s appeal to tempter.”
G-d to spare even the few righteous of During the Yamim
the city of Sedom proves that he was The Midrash hints that Avraham did Noraim, we reaffirm our
not set out enthusiastically in the ful-
not afraid to challenge G-d’s decisions. fillment of G-d’s command, but rather dedication to G-d, declaring
Why did he not fight for his son? His Kingship over the world and
was filled with inner turmoil. He was a us His nation. A nation of humans,
Rashi praises Avraham for the enthu- deeply devoted servant of G-d, but also doing our best to fulfill the Divine
siasm and excitement with which a father with immense love for his only laws. Sometimes we fail and fall, but
he seemingly set off to perform G-d’s son. Rav Yehuda Amital points out that on Rosh Hashanah, we declare to G-d
command. Personally, I struggle with this tension is expressed in one of our that we are getting up and trying again
Rashi’s reading as it makes Avraham best known selichot: “He who answered because we are committed to Him. This
seem super-human. What normal Avraham Avinu at the Mountain of was Avraham’s message and is still ours
father could embark on a mission to Moriya, He should answer us.” While today.
slaughter his only son without any hes- ascending the mountain, the location
itation?! And so I would like to suggest intended for the slaughter of his son,
an alternative reading of the Akeida Avraham cried out to G-d, begging for
which can shed light on the centrality a reversal of the decree. But at the very
of this story in our liturgy. same time, he continued to prepare to
sacrifice his beloved son, in subservi- Gila Chitiz recently returned to Israel from
The Midrash records a conversation Johannesburg, South Africa, where she and
between Avraham and the angel ence to G-d’s decree. her family served as World Mizrachi shlichim.
Samael on his way to the site of the This narrative portrays our strug- A graduate of World Mizrachi’s Shalhevet
Akeida: “‘And Yitzchak spoke to Avra- gle, on one hand as Jews and as ovdei leadership program, Gila is currently provid-
ham, his father, and said: My father’ Hashem, and yet as humans. What do ing a variety of professional editorial services
(Bereishit 22:7). Samael went to our we do when we do not understand a to Koren Publishers Jerusalem.

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