What Makes Abraham's Trial Unique?

Or asks:

"Hello, there's something I can't quite understand about the greatest trial of Abraham - the Binding of Isaac. After all, Abraham was a prophet who had a personal revelation from the Creator of the world, Hashem, who is everywhere and controls every particle in the universe. It's an incredible reality beyond words. When the Creator of everything commands you, there's not a shadow of a doubt that you must listen to Him. Could there be any thought that Abraham would act otherwise? So, what constitutes the trial in the Binding of Isaac?"

* * *

Hello and blessings Or, and thank you for your question.

The moral derived from the story of the binding is the sacrifice for Hashem. There might be people who have read the story of the binding and thought about their love for their children, mistakenly thinking that Abraham's sacrifice was akin to what they would feel in his position.

However, Abraham was not an ordinary man, and his desires were not ordinary. Abraham was a great prophet, and he foresaw in his prophecy the future of the nation that would descend from him, as the Torah tells us: "Then He said to Abram, 'Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years'" (Genesis 15:13).

Abraham dedicated his entire life to Hashem, leaving his homeland at the age of 70, wandering through various lands during times of famine and drought, and standing firm through difficult trials. What do you think Abraham's desire was in this world?

The answer lies in his title. We call Moses "Moshe Rabbeinu," but we call Abraham: "Abraham Avinu" (our father).

Abraham's greatest desire was to be our father - the father of the Jewish nation that would worship Hashem and spread His name throughout the world.

Therefore, Abraham asked Hashem for signs that he would indeed merit this: "How shall I know that I will inherit it?" (Genesis 15:8). The nation he sought to establish was more important to him than all life's pleasures, as he explicitly stated: "And Abram said, 'Hashem Elokim, what will You give me, seeing I go childless?'" (Genesis 15:2). Abraham's greatest aspiration was to sanctify Hashem's name in the world, through his progeny, for generations.

After living a long life without a son to continue his path, he finally had one son, born miraculously from Sarah his wife: Isaac. When he had Isaac, Abraham knew he would establish the Jewish nation: "For in Isaac shall your seed be called" (Genesis 21:12).

Isaac was his only son from Sarah, whom he dearly loved not only as a son, but as the culmination of his life's mission - Isaac was the Torah he would leave on earth, the seed of the entire Jewish nation.

Without Isaac, all of Abraham's life's work would be in vain, and his entire purpose would end with him.

Abraham's love for Isaac was a profound love for all of Israel that would come from him, and would one day seal a covenant with Hashem: "And you shall keep My covenant and be a treasured possession to Me from among all the peoples" (Exodus 19:5). What greater service to Hashem is there than founding the nation destined to receive the Torah?

Undoubtedly, love for a son is incredibly strong, but we cannot fathom its magnitude when an entire nation depends on it!

Thus, the story of the binding describes the greatest sacrifice ever made by an individual in history: the loss of an entire nation.

Because it was what he desired most, it was his greatest trial. It was a pure act of fulfilling Hashem's will - even when it contradicted everything he knew and wanted.

The sacrifice of his son Isaac was a declaration to end his entire spiritual mission on earth after more than a century of his life. I'll paint it in a somewhat inadequate metaphor, yet one we can understand: "a letter of dismissal."

And since nothing was more important to Abraham than his spiritual mission through his son ("Hashem Elokim, what will You give me, seeing I go childless?" - Genesis 15:2), there was no greater sacrifice in the world than this.

Nevertheless, Abraham did not resent his harsh fate, and despite the immense pain, he was prepared to return the one and only gift he received from Heaven back to its Giver - his Father in Heaven.

In a way we cannot comprehend, he even accepted the decree with complete love and intended to fulfill his final task with vigor and determination: "So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey... and split the wood for the burnt offering" (Genesis 22:3), where Rashi explains: "rose early - be prompt for the commandment (Pesachim 4)".

The core of Abraham's trial was deep within his heart, in a place we cannot gaze into. A prophet whom Hashem commands must do exactly as instructed, but how could he quiet the thoughts of his heart that demanded otherwise? How could he remain silent and uncomplaining - even within his heart, and most challenging of all: to fortify his heart to believe and trust in Hashem, and return to Him with intense love despite the pain involved, to carry out the most difficult command with joy and zeal! Abraham Avinu faced the toughest challenge of all, one that we cannot imagine or comprehend. His internal struggle was where the greatest trial lay, in the work of the heart and the breaking of traits.

Thanks to this sacrifice, Abraham proved to himself and to all future generations that his love for Hashem was dearer to him than anything else, more than his life, more than his son's life, and more than any spiritual mission in the world. It was self-sacrifice at the highest level.

There are people in the world who are sometimes willing to sacrifice their entire lives for the mission, but how many would be willing to sacrifice the mission itself?

Without this immense trial, Abraham Avinu's story would conclude as just another story of a great person who suffered greatly for an important spiritual mission, and then succeeded as a result of his efforts.

From here we understand the need for this sacrifice: because only through it was it truly proven how much Abraham loved Hashem. His love was not for reward, not for benefit, and not even for a very important role in service to Hashem. Abraham Avinu was willing to give everything for Him and to lose everything for Him.

Only thanks to this pure and absolute love was it fitting that the Jewish nation would indeed descend from him, as it would be the only nation in the world capable of being commanded: "And you shall love Hashem your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:5). The only nation that could declare: "All that Hashem has spoken we will do and obey" (Exodus 24:7)

As mentioned, the moral derived from the story of the binding is the sacrifice for Hashem. Sacrifice, in the language of closeness, because it expresses closeness to Hashem.

We all have various sacrifices to offer for the sake of drawing close to Hashem. But sometimes we feel that these sacrifices might cost us our greatest joys in life, our "only one whom you love." Desires and pleasures without which our life seems lifeless.

In all generations and times, we can learn a moral lesson from Abraham Avinu. The trial of the binding repeatedly reminds us that we can sacrifice everything for Hashem, even what seems impossible. From this sacrifice, the greatest light will shine forth.