Page 260 - BERESHIT

Avraham Avinu saw the cloud hovering over the mountain from afar and
asked Yitzchak if he saw it too. Yitzchak saw it but Eliezer and Yishmael
did not. Whereupon Avraham said to them, Stay here with the donkey.”

Was Avraham belittling them? Why did Eliezer and Yishmael not see the
cloud? They were both virtuous. Eliezer taught others Torah that he
learned from Avraham, and Yishmael had already done teshuvah.
Otherwise, Avraham would not have taken them along, as they would
have been a bad influence on Yitzchak.

There are two different approaches in serving Hashem. There is the
superficial approach and there is the deeper approach. The deeper
approach has a far broader outlook on why we do mitzvot, and determines
how far we are willing to go in order to do them.

Avraham Avinu saw the place of the Akeidah “from afar.” This alludes to
the light of the mitzvah, the burning flame of the Divine will, beckoning
from afar. This light traversed the gap of human incomprehension and
pierced the emotional barrier which sought to prevent him from doing the
Akeidah. Yitzchak also saw the cloud hovering over the mountain. This
hints at his foresight to do even that which entailed difficulties and
engendered lack of comprehension.

Yishmael displayed his pride at performing a brit milah at the age of
thirteen and thought he was greater than Yitzchak. Yitzchak countered
that had Hashem asked him to give up his whole being, he would have
willingly acquiesced. Yishmael’s silence at Yitzchak’s portrayal of true
mesirut nefesh was a sign that he concurred with Yitzchak’s appraisal of