“Abraham said to his young men: You stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go to there; we will prostrate ourselves, and we will return to you” (Genesis 22:5). He said to Isaac: ‘Do you see what I see?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said to his two young men [his attendants]: ‘Do you see what I see?’
They said to him: ‘No.’ He said: ‘Since the donkey does not see it and you do not see it: “You stay here with the donkey.”’ From where is it derived that slaves are likened to an animal?5In that they are considered to have no familial ties. It is from here: “Stay here with the donkey [im haḥamor]” – the people [am] of the donkey [haḥamor]. The Rabbis derive it from here [i.e., from elsewhere], from the giving of the Torah, as it is stated: “Six days you shall work and perform all your labor…you, your son and your daughter, your slave and your maidservant, and your animal” (Exodus 20:9–10).
Rabbi Yitzḥak said: [Abraham saw that] this place was destined to be distanced from its owners.6This is derived from “he saw the place from a distance.” Abraham prophetically saw that one day the Temple on that mountain would be destroyed, and its owners, the Jewish people, would be driven away from it. Will it be forever? [No,] as the verse states: “This is My resting place forever; here I will settle” (Psalms 132:14) – when the one [the Messiah] arrives in whose regard it is written: “A humble man riding upon a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).7This is expounded from “stay [or settle down] here with the donkey.”
The Jewish people will eventually return to settle “here,” the place of which God said “here I will settle,” and this will occur when the Messiah will come, riding on a donkey. “I and the lad will go to there [ko]” – Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: [He was intimating:] We will go and see what will be the ultimate status of ko.8“So [ko] shall be your descendants” (Genesis 15:5). Since Abraham had been commanded to sacrifice Isaac, they were now going to find out how God would fulfill his promise to Abraham that he would have a multitude of descendants.
“We will prostrate ourselves, and we will return to you” – [his mouth] informed him that he would return in peace from Mount Moriah.9By Abraham’s choice of words, “we will return,” he was unwittingly uttering a prophecy that he and Isaac would both return. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Everything is due to the merit of prostration. Abraham returned from Mount Moriah [with Isaac] due only to the merit of prostrating – “we will prostrate ourselves, and we will return to you.”
Israel was redeemed [from Egypt] due only to the merit of prostration, as it is stated: “The people believed…and they bowed and prostrated themselves” (Exodus 4:31). The Torah was given due only to the merit of prostration, as it is stated: “You shall prostrate yourselves from afar” (Exodus 24:1). Hannah was remembered [by God]10When He granted her conception. due only to the merit of prostration, as it is stated: “They prostrated themselves before the Lord” (I Samuel 1:19).
The exiles will be gathered in due only to the merit of prostration, as it is stated: “It will be on that day, a great shofar will be sounded…and they will prostrate themselves to the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 27:13). The Temple will be built due only to the merit of prostration, as it is stated: “Exalt the Lord our God and prostrate yourself at His holy mountain” (Psalms 99:9).
The dead will be revived due only to the merit of prostration, as it is stated: “Come, let us prostrate ourselves and bow; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [oseinu]” (Psalms 95:6).11Oseinu is an allusion to the fact that we will be made anew in the revival of the dead.