Vayeira – Peninim on the Torah

וישא אברהם את עיניו וירא והנה איל אחר נאחז בסדך בקרניו

And Avraham Avinu raised his eyes and saw – behold a ram! Afterwards, caught up in the thicket by its horns. (22:13)

Avraham Avinu was instructed at the last minute to desist and not lay a finger on Yitzchak (Avinu). Chazal explain that Avraham asked whether any other method could fulfill Hashem’s command. He was shown a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. Avraham offered this ram as a substitute korban in place of his son. It was never Hashem’s intention that Avraham sacrifice Yitzchak. It was all a test. Yitzchak’s preparedness to sacrifice his life, however, became the paradigm for Jewish commitment and devotion to Hashem. Self-sacrifice for the Almighty and His Torah became part of our national DNA,…

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וירא את המקום מרחוק

Sruly Schnair In Vayeira, 5787

Avraham perceived the place from afar. (22:4)

The Midrash (Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer) depicts what transpired when Avraham “saw” Har HaMoriah, his reaction to Yitzchak also perceiving it, and his dismay when the two lads accompanying them were clueless to what father and son were seeing. Avraham saw a cloud hovering above the mountain and recognized it as signifying Hashem’s Divine Presence. When Yitzchak Avinu told him that he, too, had perceived this cloud, Avraham understood that Yitzchak had achieved a spiritual plateau rendering him worthy of being an offering. The reaction changed when he asked the two lads what they were seeing. They replied that they were…

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כי ידעתיו למען אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו

Sruly Schnair In Vayeira, 5787

For I have loved him, because he commands his children and his household after him. (18:19)

The Meshech Chochmah derives from the text of the pasuk yetzaveh, command, that a father has an obligation to educate his sons in mitzvos. It goes without saying that he must restrain them from committing any sinful behavior. Avraham Avinu was the mechanech ha’gadol, the supreme educator, whose every action was geared to teaching others how they should act. Concerning the pasuk, V’el ha’bakar ratz Avraham; “Then Avraham ran to the cattle,” Va’yitein el ha’naar va’yimaheir laasos oso, “he gave it to the youth who hurried to prepare it” (ibid. 18:6). Rashi explains that this youth was Yishmael, and Avraham…

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קח נא את בנך את יחידך אשר אהבת את יצחק

Sruly Schnair In Vayeira, 5786

Please take your son, your only one, whom you love, Yitzchak. (22:2)

Much has been written concerning Akeidas Yitzchak, the Binding of Yitzchak. It was Avraham Avinu’s final test, yet it is called Akeidas Yitzchak. Undoubtedly, Avraham Avinu telling his son that he had to relinquish his life for Hashem was an extremely demanding and challenging request. Yitzchak’s submission to his father’s request represents what I would call turbulent submission. This is especially true, considering that it was a father talking to a son, unlike concerning Avraham, when it was Hashem talking to a father. Can we imagine the heart-wrenching conflict that Avraham, the Amud HaChesed, Pillar of Kindness and compassion, experienced…

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אל ירע בעיניך על הנער

Sruly Schnair In Vayeira, 5786

Be not distressed over the youth. (21:12)

Avraham Avinu experienced ten trials which he successfully passed, elevating himself to Patriarchal status. While focus is placed primarily on the first and tenth, the ninth, which meant sending Yishmael from his home, is glossed over. This is enigmatic, since the nature of the nisyonos, trials, becomes more challenging as they increase in sequence. Sarah Imeinu felt that YIshmael would have an adverse effect on Yitzchak (Avinu), so she demanded that Avraham send him and his mother from their home. Understandably, this was a difficult demand that she placed on Avraham. Hashem agreed with Sarah, and our Patriarch set about…

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קח נא את בנך את יחידך אשר אהבת את יצחק

Sruly Schnair In Vayeira, 5786

Please take your son, your only one, whom you love, Yitzchak. (22:2)

Akeidas Yitzchak, binding of Yitzchak, is considered Avraham Avinu’s tenth and most challenging trial. This test was to catapult our Patriarch to the apex of avodas ha’Borei, service to the Creator. We wonder if the tenth trial was that difficult, after he had already passed nine earlier trials, with each success refining and enhancing Avraham’s level of mesiras nefesh. For instance, if a person must scale a large mountain, with the last one hundred feet fraught with danger, can we say that it is the same as the fellow who stands at the foot of the mountain prepared to climb? …

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ויעש אברהם משתה גדול ביום הגמל יצחק

Sruly Schnair In Vayeira, 5786

Avraham made a great feast on the day that Yitzchak was weaned. (21:18)

Tosfos (Shabbos 130A) teach that the Hebrew word, higamel, translated as “weaned,” can be broken up to read “was circumcised on the eighth day.” Higamel is comprised of four letters: hay, gimmel, mem, lamed. The first two letters – hay, gimmel – are read separately, and their gematriya, numerical equivalent, which is eight,is duly noted. The second two letters – mem, lamed – spell mal, which means circumcise. Thus, this pasuk can be read as, “On the eighth day, when Avraham Avinu circumcised Yitzchak, he made a festive celebration.” Tosfos derive from here that on the eighth day of his…

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עתה ידעתי כי ירא אלקים אתה

Sruly Schnair In Vayeira, 5785

For now, I know that you are a G-d-fearing man. (22:12)

We wonder what is the meaning of the words, Atah Yaadati, “Now I know (that you fear G-d)? Did we ever harbor any doubt concerning Avraham Avinu’s fear of Hashem? He was the consummate oved Hashem, servant of Hashem. Certainly, his yiraas Shomayim, fear of Heaven, was unparalleled. Imrei Noam (Bereishis 32B) quotes the Gaon, zl, m’Vilna who explains that a person achieves spiritual perfection only if he must deal with two incompatible, incongruous character traits. For example, the heart of someone who is by nature the paragon of lovingkindness overflows with love for his fellow. No activity is too…

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ויאמר אברהם אל נעריו שבו לכם פה עם החמור

Sruly Schnair In Vayeira, 5785

Avraham said to his lads, “Stay here by yourselves with the donkey.” (22:5)

The Torah relates that, on the third day of Avraham and Yitzchak’s journey, they saw the “place” from afar. Rashi explains that he saw anan kashur al ha’har, “a cloud affixed on the mountain.” The cloud that was above the mountain was a cloud accompanying the Shechinah. Chazal teach (Bereishis Rabbah 56:1), “Avraham said to Yitzchak, ‘My son, what do you see? Do you see what I see?’ Yitzchak answered, ‘Yes.’ Avraham then asked his two aides (Yishmael and Eliezer), ‘Do you see what I see?’ When they replied, ‘No,’ he said, ‘Since the donkey does not see and you…

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והאלקים נסה את אברהם

Sruly Schnair In Vayeira, 5785

And G-d tested Avraham (22:1)

Avraham Avinu withstood the ten nisyonos, trials, with which Hashem tested him. What is so special about these trials that the Torah makes note to elaborate on them? Just about every one of them is recorded in the Torah, with the nisayon of the Akeidas Yitzchak achieving special prominence. Our Torah is neither a history book, nor does it relate stories needlessly. Every letter in the Torah is present for a profound reason. What is the Torah’s message with the redacting of these trials? Furthermore, why is it only with regard to Avraham Avinu that the Torah calls attention to…

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וישא אברהם את עיניו וירא והנה איל אחר נאחז בסדך בקרניו

And Avraham Avinu raised his eyes and saw – behold a ram! Afterwards, caught up in the thicket by its horns. (22:13)

וירא את המקום מרחוק

Avraham perceived the place from afar. (22:4)

כי ידעתיו למען אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו

For I have loved him, because he commands his children and his household after him. (18:19)

קח נא את בנך את יחידך אשר אהבת את יצחק

Please take your son, your only one, whom you love, Yitzchak. (22:2)

אל ירע בעיניך על הנער

Be not distressed over the youth. (21:12)

קח נא את בנך את יחידך אשר אהבת את יצחק

Please take your son, your only one, whom you love, Yitzchak. (22:2)

ויעש אברהם משתה גדול ביום הגמל יצחק

Avraham made a great feast on the day that Yitzchak was weaned. (21:18)

עתה ידעתי כי ירא אלקים אתה

For now, I know that you are a G-d-fearing man. (22:12)

ויאמר אברהם אל נעריו שבו לכם פה עם החמור

Avraham said to his lads, “Stay here by yourselves with the donkey.” (22:5)

והאלקים נסה את אברהם

And G-d tested Avraham (22:1)

YEARS

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