The text asks, “How upright [yashiryan] are the ones You love?” (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 4). The answer? The patriarchs! They are the epitome of uprightness, of unwavering devotion. Rabbi Aivu goes on to say that everything they did, they did with the utmost integrity.
But it's Rabbi Ḥanin who really blows my mind. He homes in on the story of Abraham and the binding of Isaac – the Akeidah. God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, his beloved Isaac. Genesis 22:16 says, "That because you have done this thing." Rabbi Ḥanin asks, isn't that minimizing it just a bit? “This thing?" After ten trials?!
It seems like a fair question. Why the singular?
Rabbi Ḥanin suggests that the ordeal of the Akeidah, the binding of Isaac, was so momentous, so defining, that it eclipsed all the previous tests. According to the text, had Abraham faltered at this final hurdle, he would have ruined, nullified all the previous ones! (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 4). It all hinged on this one, terrifying act. for a second. All those years of faith, of following God's commands, of building a legacy – all resting on his willingness to sacrifice his own son. It demonstrates sincere love for God. The willingness to go to the absolute limit. The Akeidah outweighed all of Abraham's other ordeals put together. By passing that ordeal, he demonstrated his great love and loyalty for God.
It makes you wonder, doesn't it? What's the "Akeidah" in your life? What's the one challenge that, if faced with unwavering faith and love, could redefine everything that came before? And how do we find that kind of strength within ourselves?