Isaac: Abraham’s Resurrected Son
- samshmn
- 6 hours ago
- 2 min read
The quotes cited here are taken from this post: Isaac's Death and Resurrection.
It shows the deep theological significance of Abraham’s willingness to slaughter Isaac had on rabbinic tradition. All emphasis will be mine.
ולמה נותנין אפר בראש כל אחד ואחד פליגי בה ר' לוי בר חמא ור' חנינא חד אמר הרי אנו חשובין לפניך כאפר וחד אמר כדי שיזכור לנו אפרו של יצחק
And why do they place ashes upon the head of each and every individual? Rabbi Levi bar Ḥama and Rabbi Ḥanina disagree with regard to this matter. One said that this is as though to say: We are considered like ashes before You. And one said that these ashes are placed in order to remind God of the ashes of our forefather Isaac, on our behalf.
(א) ר' יהודה אומ' כיון שהגיע החרב על צוארו פרחה ויצאה נפשו של יצחק וכיון שהשמיע קולו מבין הכרובים ואמ' לו אל תשלח ידך נפשו חזרה לגופו וקם ועמד יצחק על רגליו וידע יצחק שכך המתים עתידים להחיות ופתח ואמ' ברוך אתה ה' מחיה המתים.
R. Yehuda says: Since the knife came upon [Isaac's] neck, Isaac's soul burst out and departed. And since God projected His voice from between the Cherubs and said to [Abraham], "Do not raise your hand" (12), [Isaac's] soul returned to his body. Isaac rose up and stood on his feet, and Isaac knew thus that in the future the dead will be revived. He opened his mouth and said, "Praised are You, Adonai, who revives the dead."
From Shalom Spiegel, The Last Trial, p. 64 (iBooks edition): MhG on 22:19. And so, too, the poet Benjamin bar Samuel of Coutances speaks of Isaac spending three years in Paradise, in a Kerobah for the Feast of Shabuot, “Longer than the earth, wider than the sea.” Sec L. Zunz, Literaturgeschichte der synagogalen Poesie (Berlin, 1865), p. 291 [hereafter abbr. Literaturgeschichte], The Kerobah has disappeared and was not copied from the Turin Mahzor. cf. I. Davidson, Seder Hibbur Berakot, JQR. XXI (1931), 252.
Now when Isaac, lying on tops of the altar, heard the angel say, “Put not forth thy hand,” he exclaimed: “Blessed is He who quickens the dead.” Sefer ha-Eshkol, by R. Abraham of Narbonne, ed. S. and H. Albeck, I, p. 27. From: Shalom Spiegel. “The Last Trial.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/UyNDdb.l
מדרש הגדול בר׳ כב: יט
וישב אברהם אל נעריו. ויצחק היכן הוא? אלא אמר ר׳ אלעזר בן פדת אע״פ שלא מת יצחק מעלה עליו הכתוב כאלו מת ואפרו מוטל על גבי המזבח. לכך נאמר ״וישב אברהם אל נעריו.״
ד״א וישב אברהם. ויצחק היכן הוא? אלא שהכניסו הקב״ה לגן עדן וישב שם בה שלוש שנים.
Midrash HaGadol Gen. 22:19
And Abraham returned to the youths. And where was Isaac? R. Eleazar ben Pedat said even though Isaac did not die, the text regards it as if he died and his ashes were sprinkled over the altar.
Another interpretation: And Abraham returned... And where was Isaac? The Holy One brought him into the Garden of Eden and he dwelt there three years.
Further Reading