Does G-d change his mind?

At Shabbas Dinner last week, my brother posed a very good question. While reading Lech Lecha a few weeks ago, he read that G-d promised Abraham that Isaac would be made into a great nation; this promise was repeated in the next parashat when Sarah told Abraham to send Ishmael away. Why then, when G-d told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, did Abraham not know it was a bluff? Why would Abraham think that G-d would go back on his word to make Isaac a great nation?

So I did some research, and here’s the response I emailed him (and posted to his blog, where he first posed the question)…

This is one of those questions that jump out at you, which leads many people have tried to answer it. The most common answer is similar to the one given above; even if Abraham had sacrificed Isaac, continuing Abraham’s linage through Isaac anyway would hardly be the greatest miracle in the Torah.

Such an explanation seems to be counter to the Jewish practice of “not relying on miracles”. Torah commentators do not like to resolve apparent conflict by saying the G-d would perform a miracle to resolve things.

So I did some more looking, and I can across an interesting Dvar Torah from a few years ago by one of my favourate Rabbi’s, Rabbi Ari Kahn. The full article can be found here, but I’ll summarize the key points.

In typical Jewish fashion, we’ll answer a question with a question. Before we can address this issue, we need to understand what Abraham’s test was in this story. Abraham was known for his kindness and for his love of G-d. His credo was “I’m willing to live, and if necessary die, for the reality of G-d”. There was no doubt in anyones mind (including G-d’s) that he would do anything that G-d asked of him. If he could do it so willingly, what then was the test, what then was the challenge?

Rabbi Kahn postulates, “Perhaps Abraham's challenge lay in the fact that he had previously been told that Isaac would be his spiritual heir. If Isaac would die, he could not inherit Abraham's legacy, he could not lead. More importantly, Isaac's death would indicate that the word of God could not be trusted.”

Rabbi Kahn continues,

“What God was asking of Abraham was not merely to sacrifice his son Isaac, but to sacrifice his own life's meaning. We can clearly appreciate that had the test been to entertain 50, 100 or 200 guests for dinner, Abraham would have risen to the challenge heroically, with a smile on his face and gladness in his heart. That would not have been a challenge. That would have fit within Abraham's world view as an act of kindness. Instead, God asked Abraham to perform the act which is the very antithesis of kindness, to kill his son. This may be the most difficult aspect of the story of the binding of Isaac. With one blow of the sword Abraham would be conceding to all his pagan neighbors that his mission had come to an end, and that instead of inspiring them to embrace his world-view, he was throwing in the towel and accepting their twisted rites and rituals. His life's meaning would perish along with Isaac.

Only when we understand that the greatness of Abraham was his kindness, are we able to appreciate the significance of this test. The first step toward religious development is taking one's capabilities, one's natural gifts, and utilizing them for a divine mission. What God wanted Abraham to gain from this challenge was the appreciation that man can go beyond his natural tendencies and skills. Therefore God calls upon Abraham to perform an act which is antithetical ' the complete opposite ' of his natural instinct.”

So we see (as we often do when we really study a Torah portion) that the seeming conflict that Ian raised is actually the main point of the passage. It’s this very conflict that G-d was using as a lesson for Abraham and for all who follow.