The tradition tells us that he did.

Imagine the scene: Abraham, his father, raises the knife. But according to some accounts, Isaac's eyes weren't fixed on the blade. Instead, they were drawn upward, toward the heavens. It's said that Isaac saw the angels present at that momentous event, angels that were invisible to Abraham.

The Talmud, specifically B. Berakhot 1:6, tells us that at the very moment the sword touched his neck, Isaac's soul departed. A terrifying thought, isn't it? But then, the voice of the angel rings out – "Do not raise your hand against the boy!" (Gen. 22:12). And with that divine decree, Isaac's soul returned to his body. He was unbound, and stood on his own two feet. This experience, this brush with death and resurrection, gave Isaac a profound understanding. He knew, with certainty, that there is a resurrection of the dead. And he proclaimed, "Blessed are You, O God, who resurrects the dead."

There's a beautiful image in Genesis Rabbah 61:6. When Rebecca first sees Isaac, he’s wrapped in a tallit, a prayer shawl. And his appearance? Like an angel of God. Perhaps this was a lingering effect of his experience on Mount Moriah, a visible manifestation of his spiritual elevation.

Later, Isaac returns to Mount Moriah. Why? The tradition in Midrash Tanhuma, Toledot 2, says that through his prayer, he changed God's decree that Rebecca be barren. For twenty-two long years, they longed for a child. It was only when Isaac entreated the Lord that Rebecca conceived.

After Abraham's death, God appeared to Isaac and blessed him. But the nature of this divine encounter is also interesting. The text tells us that God did not appear to Isaac with the Merkavah, the Divine Chariot, a powerful and complex image of God's presence. Instead, the Shekhinah, the divine presence, rested directly upon him. A more intimate, perhaps even more profound connection. As we find in Philo, Legum Allegoriarum 3:218-19, Philo, De Somniis 2:10, Philo, De Congressu, Eruditionis Gratia 1:7-9, Philo, De Cherubim 43-47, Philo, De Fuga et Inventione 166-, 168, Philo, De Ebrietate 56-62, and Zohar 1:60a, God gave Isaac a taste of the World to Come while he was still in this world. As a result, the yetzer hara, the Evil Inclination, had no power over him.

It's fascinating, isn't it? Given how little the Torah explicitly tells us about Isaac, these traditions paint a rich and evocative picture. We first meet him as a child, then later as an old, blind man. What happened in between? This very absence of narrative invites the imagination to fill in the gaps.

And maybe, just maybe, a glimpse of angels.