MarCheshvan 17, 5776/October 30, 2015
Vayera - "Now HaShem appeared to him," (to Avraham), opens up this week's Torah reading. Avraham is experiencing an encounter with G-d . And then Avraham "lifted his eyes and saw." (Genesis 18:1) Avraham assessed his immediate surroundings in the context of his encounter with G-d . He saw three men and he ran to do them a kindness, to give them respite from the heat of the day, to feed and water them. He took the unspoken message he had received from G-d and translated it into a positive deed, a deed reflecting G-d's will.
The ability to see G-d before him, to hear G-d's voice and then to "lift up his eyes" and translate his encounter into a positive action, is evident time and time again in Avraham'scharacter. Later in our reading Avraham receives marching orders from G-d : "take your son, your only one, whom you love, yea, Yitzchak," and head for "the land of Moriah."(ibid 22:2) Avraham immediatelty leaps into action and after a three day journey, three days of bearing the burden of G-d's impossible commandment to make of his own son a burnt offering, he "lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar." (22:4) Again,Avraham emerges from an extended encounter with G-d and leaps into action, translating G-d's word into human steps. He gathers his son, the wood, the fire and the blade and sets out for the mountain, pursuing the word of G-d , investing every ounce of his essence into the fulfillment of G-d's will, come what may.
But Avraham's most intense encounter with G-d is yet to come. This is the moment he takes hold of the knife he has brought for this purpose and holds it high over his head. G-d speaks to him, via an angel, commands Avraham to stay his hand, and "Avraham lifted up his eyes." (22:13) He sees a ram and he knows what to do. As always. Avrahamunderstands at once that he has been presented with the answer to his impossible conundrum, not a way out of doing G-d's will, but a way in. And Avraham only arrived at the answer because he pursued the answer. He carried G-d's commandment in his heart literally to the breaking point, and then it happened. The "lifted up his eyes" moment. This is the moment when prophecy becomes more than prophecy. This is the moment when G-d's word is translated into human action, the realization of G-d's will on this earth. This is the birth of the entire Torah way of life that will be the inheritance and the destiny of Avraham's great grandchildren.
Had Avraham declined G-d's directive on the grounds that it contradicted Avraham's own notion of right and wrong, or that it endangered the life of his son and the continuation of his life's work throughout the generations to come, he never would have ascended the mountain. He never would have raised his blade and he never would have seen the ram. He would have stayed safe and secure at the foot of the mountain, "with the donkey,"as he instructed the others to do. (ibid 22:5) He would have lived to an old age confident in the righteousness of his decision. The history of the nation of Israel would have ended even before it began.
Avraham has the ability to see before him what G-d is expecting of him and to act upon it. This has been his gift from the moment G-d told him "Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you."(ibid 12:1). But only now, with the positive resolution of G-d's unbearable and incomprehensible commandment to offer up his own son Yitzchak does Avraham realize that the test he has just passed has assured the future of his progeny till the end of time. The question of who shall inherit his mission has been laid to rest for once and for all. Avraham is inspired to give a name to this place that G-d has led him to, this place where he built an altar to offer up his son, "your only one, whom you love, yea, Yitzchak," this place where everything was revealed. Avraham calls the place "HaShem will see, as it is said to this day: On the mountain, HaShem will be seen." (22:14) This is Avraham's appellation for the phenomenon that he has experienced time and time again. This place, where Avraham's encounter with G-d's will was more intense than ever before, and his own proven ability to translate G-d's will into a constructive action was given its ultimate test, earns the name that describes the phenomenon: G-d sees, that is, G-d makes His will known, makes it visible to Avraham, and G-d is seen, that is, His will is converted into human action thereby making G-d's will manifest in the physical, visible world. The groundwork for the receiving of Torah at Sinai has been laid down here by Avraham. Avraham's unique ability to read G-d's mind, as it were, and to make G-d's dreams for man come true, would become the special merit and responsibility of his children, the nation of Israel till the end of time. And it all began here on Mount Moriah, the place where Adam was created and built his altar, where Cain, and Noach after him, built their altar, the place of the Holy Temple, the place to see, and be seen by G-d .
-The Temple Institute
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