Another thought on עקידת יצחק -- the Binding of Isaac
Whenever I think about the Biblical story of the Binding of Isaac (which happens every year around Rosh HaShanah, as well as when we read Parashat Vayera, among other times), I think back to when I was in Grade 3 (Third Grade, for you Americans).
No, my father didn't drag me out of the house early one morning and try to slaughter me on some mountaintop.
My Grade 3 Hebrew teacher was a nice old woman, a holocaust surviver, named Gita Krohn. She was not religious/Shomer Shabbat... She davened at the big C shul in the city. But her Hebrew was decent so they let her teach.
We learned about the Akeidah in Chumash class. Our teacher had a display of the Akeidah, done with Playmobile, at the back of the classroom.
And I remember one day in class, Geveret Krohn went around the classroom and asked us 9-year-olds -- if God had asked us to sacrifice our sons, would we obey or disobey?
People said different things. When it came to my turn, I had given it a lot of thought and answered "While I wish I'd have the belief, dedication, courage etc. to do whatever God told me to do, I suspect that in reality I'd probably love my son so much that I just wouldn't be able to go through with it."
A few kids later, it was my best friend's turn to answer. And he said, "Of course if God told me to do it, I'd listen". I was very close with this friend. His family was not religious, he took some interest in Judaism perhaps mainly due to our friendship and his trying to imitate my observance, but basically he wasn't really Shomer Shabbat.
I remember feeling so sad and ashamed, that that friend was able to answer "yes", while I, the religious kid, wasn't strong enough in my faith to do so!
No, my father didn't drag me out of the house early one morning and try to slaughter me on some mountaintop.
My Grade 3 Hebrew teacher was a nice old woman, a holocaust surviver, named Gita Krohn. She was not religious/Shomer Shabbat... She davened at the big C shul in the city. But her Hebrew was decent so they let her teach.
We learned about the Akeidah in Chumash class. Our teacher had a display of the Akeidah, done with Playmobile, at the back of the classroom.
And I remember one day in class, Geveret Krohn went around the classroom and asked us 9-year-olds -- if God had asked us to sacrifice our sons, would we obey or disobey?
People said different things. When it came to my turn, I had given it a lot of thought and answered "While I wish I'd have the belief, dedication, courage etc. to do whatever God told me to do, I suspect that in reality I'd probably love my son so much that I just wouldn't be able to go through with it."
A few kids later, it was my best friend's turn to answer. And he said, "Of course if God told me to do it, I'd listen". I was very close with this friend. His family was not religious, he took some interest in Judaism perhaps mainly due to our friendship and his trying to imitate my observance, but basically he wasn't really Shomer Shabbat.
I remember feeling so sad and ashamed, that that friend was able to answer "yes", while I, the religious kid, wasn't strong enough in my faith to do so!