Avrohom Avinu, now 137 years old, is commanded to bring his son – the son for whom he had waited 100 years and who was his designated heir – as an offering to Hashem.
Rather than
ask questions, Avrohom rises early in the morning and saddles his own donkey
for the trip. As Chazal note – ahavah mekalkeles es hashurah, Avrohom’s
boundless love for Hashem led him to act with zealousness even as he was going to
sacrifice his own son.
Accompanied by his faithful servant and disciple Eliezer, his older son Yishmael, and, of course, Yitzchak, they journeyed 3 days toward their destination. Midrash Tanchumah describes how, over the course of those three days, the Satan attempted various ruses to dissuade Avrohom from his mission, ultimately placing a river in their path. But Avrohom was undeterred.
Finally, on
the third day, vayaar es hamakom meirachok, Avrohom saw the place from a
distance. Chazal explain that haMakom here referes to Hashem; from the distance,
Avrohom perceived a cloud, representing the Shechinah, hovering over Mount Moriah
He asked
the others what they saw. Yitzchak, too, saw the cloud, but Eliezer and
Yishmael did not see anything. So Avrohom took Yitzchok, and told the others to
stay behind with the donkey – as if to say, teaches the Midrash, that they are
just like the donkey that was also unable to see the cloud.
But just
because Eliezer and Yishmael had not achieved the elevated level of Avrohom and
Yitzchok, does that mean they are as low as animals?
Perhaps the
problem was not that Eliezer and Yishmael were unable to see the cloud, but
that they did not know where to look for it.
After three
days of a challenging mission, Avrohom and Yitzchok looked around until they found
the Shechinah, and they saw it was still in the distance. Eliezer and
Yishmael, on the other hand, did not look far away. After overcoming the tests of
the trip, they expected to see the Shechinah right before their eyes. Perhaps
they never looked in the distance. Like a donkey, they expected their gratification
to be delivered to them.
Avrohom
teaches us that we must not be discouraged when, after overcoming a nisayon,
we do not immediately find fulfillment. Sometimes Hashem is still in the
distance. It does not mean our efforts were for naught, or that our service is
being rejected, it simply means our mission is not yet complete. In fact, seeing
Hashem from afar means that we have, indeed, reached the level of being “people.”
May the zechus
of the Akeidah protect us, and may we be merit to perceive the Shechinah
up close in our own everyday lives, and, soon, as a nation, b’vias goel
tzedek.
Gut
Shabbos.
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