The Merit of Bowing Down Brings Every Redemption

"Stay here with the donkey" (Genesis 22:5) - until the one comes of whom it is written, "poor and riding on a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9); then the place shall return to its owners. "And I and the lad will go yonder [literally, 'until thus']" - we will go and see what will be the end of "thus," "thus shall your seed be" (Genesis 15:5). "And we will bow down and return to you" - a covenant was cut by the lips: he announced that he would return from Mount Moriah. Rabbi Isaac said: Everything is by the merit of bowing down. Abraham returned from Mount Moriah only by the merit of bowing down, as it is said, "and we will bow down and return to you." Israel was redeemed only by the merit of bowing down, as it is said, "And the people believed and heard... and they bowed their heads and bowed down" (Exodus 4:31). The Torah was given only by the merit of bowing down, as it is said, "and you shall bow down from afar" (Exodus 24:1). Hannah was remembered only by the merit of bowing down, as it is said, "and he bowed down before the LORD" (1 Samuel 1:28). The exiles will be gathered in only by the merit of bowing down, as it is said, "And it shall come to pass on that day that a great shofar shall be sounded... and they shall bow down before the LORD" (Isaiah 27:13). The Temple was built only by the merit of bowing down, as it is said, "Exalt the LORD our God and bow down" (Psalms 99:9). Even the dead will live again only by the merit of bowing down, as it is said, "Come, let us bow down and bend the knee" (Psalms 95:6).