Bereshit 22:13 records that after the malakh told Avraham not to kill Yitzhak, Avraham saw a ram caught in a thicket and sacrificed it instead of Yitzhak. This ram has remained the symbol of the akedah. The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 16A, see also Shulchan Arukh, Orah Chayyim 586:1) quotes R. Avahu that we blow a ram’s horn on Rosh Hashanah to remember the akedah. Also, the finding of this ram was considered so miraculous that there is an opinion in the Mishnah (Pirkei Avot 5:8, see also Pesachim 54a) that the ram was created on the eve of the first Shabbat. In addition, it is likely that the finding of the ram is the basis for Avraham’s name for the place where the akedah occurred. After Avraham sacrificed the ram, 22:14 records, “Avraham called the name of that place: G-d sees (yireh), and Shalom Spiegel (1993, pp. 67,68) notes that the name G-d sees refers back to 22:8, which records that Avraham told Yitzhak that “G-d will see to the substitute for the offering,” which was the ram.
What is the importance of the ram? After Avraham had been told not to kill Yitzhak, why he did he need to sacrifice a ram? Why could Avraham have not simply come down from the mountain without sacrificing the ram?
The Bekhor Shor, Rashbam and Radak (on 22:13) note that Avraham saw this ram caught in the thicket immediately after the malakh told him not him not to kill Yitzhak. This fortuitous conjunction of events led Avraham to understand that this was a sign that G-d wanted him to sacrifice the ram. R. Yaakov Liebermann (personal correspondence) explains that the offering of the ram was to thank G-d for saving Yitzhak. I wonder if maybe there is another explanation based on the connection between 22:8,14.
22:7 records that Yitzhak asked Avraham, “where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” Avraham responded by saying that “G-d would see (yireh) to the lamb for the sacrifice, my son,” 22:8. Why did Avraham imply that he was going to sacrifice a lamb when he knew that Yitzhak was to be the sacrifice? Rashi (on 22:8) explains that Avraham was hinting to Yitzhak that he was the intended sacrifice, as if G-d did not show them a lamb, then Yitzhak was to be the sacrifice. This is a difficult reading since it forces a break between the words lamb and sacrifice. Ibn Ezra (on 22:1) writes that Avraham was hiding from Yitzhak the fact that Yitzhak was to be the sacrifice, since had he told Yitzhak the truth, Yitzhak would have run away. Spiegel (above), following this latter approach, notes that while “Avraham’s purpose was to put Yitzhak off,” still these words became a prophecy when he later found the ram in the thicket.
The Ralbag (on 22:8) suggests that Avraham’s response should be understood as a prayer. When Avraham heard G-d’s command to sacrifice Yitzhak, 22:2, he must surely have been perplexed. When G-d first told Avraham about Yitzhak, G-d said specifically that the covenant would be with Yitzhak and his descendants, 17:19. Later, when Sara wanted Yishmael to be banished, G-d told Avraham that his descendants would be from Yitzhak, 21:12. Thus, at the time of the akedah, Avraham must have wondered how these previous promises of G-d could be fulfilled if he really sacrificed Yitzhak. Even if Avraham would have had another child with Sara who was also named Yitzhak, this still would have contradicted G-d’s statement in 17:19. Yet, notwithstanding these questions Avraham did not hesitate to fulfill G-d’s command to sacrifice Yitzhak but surely he must have hoped for G-d to rescind the command to sacrifice Yitzhak. This hope can be found in Avraham’s answer to Yitzhak that his response was a prayer, that G-d would provide a lamb which could be offered instead of Yitzhak. Similarly, Benno Jacob (1974, p. 145) writes that there are several ways to understand Avraham’s answer and one is that, “it may even be a wish and a prayer: May G-d provide the lamb.” Also, Kass (2003, p. 343) writes, “Just as there are faint tinges of fear in Isaac’s question, so are there faint tinges of hope in Avraham’s answer: hope in the Lord to find a way out of this.”
Avraham’s prayer was fulfilled when the malakh stopped him from sacrificing Yitzhak, and the ram was so fortuitously caught in the thicket. Thus, Avraham had to sacrifice the ram since this was what he had prayed for. Furthermore, because the ram was the fulfillment of his prayer, Avraham named the place of the akedah after his prayer, as mentioned above. (Note, Avraham had referred to a lamb, as Yitzhak had mentioned a lamb, but the ram was a better choice since due to its horns it got stuck in the thicket. Also, Kass, 2003, p. 346, quotes Bill Rosen that the lamb is the child which symbolized Yitzhak who was not sacrificed, while the ram, the lamb’s father symbolized Avraham who sacrifices himself to G-d.)
Accordingly, Avraham, the man of faith, followed G-d’s command to sacrifice Yitzhak, even though he could not fully understand the command. Yet, he also prayed that G-d would switch a lamb for his son, and when he saw the ram in the thicket, this was the fulfillment of his prayers. This meant that he had to sacrifice the ram, and he named the place after the fulfillment of his prayers. Thus, the use of the ram’s horn on Rosh Hashanah, is particularly appropriate since the shofar is a type of prayer to G-d, and just like Avraham’s prayer was fulfilled through the ram, so too our prayers with the ram’s horn should also be fulfilled.
After writing this explanation, Rabbi Ari Zivotofsky communicated to me the fascinating suggestion that this understanding could be the meaning of the Mishnah Ta’anit 4:2.
The Mishnah lists six extra blessings and seven additional biblical references that are to be added to the Shemoneh Esrei on a fast day. The seven references are Avraham at the akedah, the Jewish people by the Red Sea, Yehoshua by Gilgal, Shmuel by Mispeh, Eliyahu on Mount Carmel, Yonah in the fish, and David and Shelomo in Jerusalem, and for each case the Mishnah states that just like G-d answered the person’s prayer so too G-d should answer the prayer of the person who is fasting. (This prayer has been enlarged with more biblical references in our selihot prayer.)
A difficulty with these biblical references is that for six of them there is a biblical verse which indicates that the person prayed to G-d (Shemot 14:10, Yehoshua 5:10-6:16, Shmuel 7:9, Kings I 18:36,37, Yonah 2:2, Shmuel II 7:18-29, (Kehati commentary on the Mishnah - Shmuel II 21:1) and Kings I 8:12-54) but for Avraham there is no apparent reference to him praying by the akedah. One cannot say that the Mishnah is just assuming that Avraham prayed as then many other cases could have been included where one assumes that a person prayed, as for instance why not assume that Yitzhak prayed at the akedah? It must be that the Mishnah thought that there was some biblical reference to Avraham praying by the akedah, but the only statements we have from Avraham prior to when the malakh told Avraham not to kill Yitzhak is when he spoke to the servants, “stay with the donkey,” 22:5, and his response to the Yitzhak, 22:8. 22:5 is not a prayer, and hence it is likely that 22:8 is the reference of the Mishnah as suggested by Rabbi Zivotofsky.
Bibliography:
Jacob, Benno (1869-1945), 1974, The first book of the bible: Genesis, commentary abridged, edited and translated by Earnest I. Jacob and Walter Jacob, Hoboken City, NJ: Ktav Publishing House.
Kass, Leon, 2003, The Beginning of wisdom, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Spiegel, Shalom (1899-1984), 1993, The Last Trial, Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights.
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