Donkey and Darkness
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
One of the seminal events in the life of Avraham Avinu, the event that has shaped our history and that we draw on continuously in our prayers, the binding of Isaac as an offering to Hashem, is recorded in Parshat Vayeirah. While we are all familiar with the event, one detail recorded in the Torah seems to be superfluous and therefore invites exploration. As Avraham Avinu approached the designated place, the Torah writes, "They saw Hamakom/the place from afar. And Avraham said to his young men [Yishmael and Eliezer], 'Stay here... with the donkey, while I and [Yitzchak] will go yonder...' "
The medrash fills us in on why Avraham left Yishmael and Eliezer behind, continuing only with Yitzchak. From afar, they saw a cloud over the mountain. While all may have seen the cloud, only Avraham and Yitzchak recognized the cloud as a symbol of God's presence at this place; Yishmael and Eliezer saw only a cloud. Avraham then compared them to the donkey who also sees nothing unusual at this place.
In Oznaim Latorah, Rabbi Sorotskin zt”l uses this detail to rebut modern day Arab claims to the Temple Mount. Yishmael, their patriarch, saw no sanctity on this mountain since the very beginning; how can they now claim, in retrospect, that it is sacred to them?
Two additional questions emerge. Rabbi Grosbard zt”l asks how this spiritual void makes them comparable to donkeys, and Rabbi Druck asks why it was necessary to specify that they saw the place "from afar".
The Ner Uziel points out thatחמור/donkey and חומר/clay/physical material are related. While Avraham and Yitzchak grasped the spiritual domain they were entering and ascended to this higher domain, Yishmael and Eliezer remained unchanged, remained totally in the physical dimension. Avraham and Yitzchak entered a new reality where corporeality and spirituality merged.
Although we, as humans, may not look down on someone who has not attained our spiritual level and awareness of Hakodosh Boruch Hu, writes Rabbi Nosson Zvi Finkel zt”l, the Alter of Slobodka, the Torah standard puts us on different levels, so that the difference can be as great as that of a donkey to a man.
Hashem does not demand of us anything beyond our ability. However, He does expect us to use our abilities and gifts, whether material, intellectual, or artistic talent in ways that would help us grow spiritually. Because Yishmael and Eliezer had innate capability to grow but did not develop them here, they were compared to the donkey who also remained unaffected. How do we use our abilities, asks the Imrei Chen? Although Hashem was with Yishmael and he could have chosen greatness, Yishmael chose to become an archer.
Our mission is to continue to move forward, לך / to keep going, writes Rav Zaidel Epstein zt”l. Each major stage of Avraham's life was punctuated with the exhortation to go. From the first lech lecha/go from the land, to the second hishalech lefoni, go before me in a covenantal relationship, perform the brit milah, to this final lech lecha of the akeidah, Avraham Avinu is pushed to go toward his inner self and reach his spiritual potential. Yishmael and Eliezer were exposed to this greatness in Avraham's home, but only Yitzchak absorbed the aura and grew to actualize the potential. We must access our inner abilities, stoke the embers of the fire of Torah, for without our input, the embers will die and become merely ash.
When we internalize a spiritual experience and grow from it, we become transformed, as a new person. Rabbi Mordechai Weinberg zt”l explains that this is why Hagar, Yishmael's mother, was approached three different times, apparently by three different angels when she fled from Sarai during her pregnancy. Each time she experienced a dialogue with an angel, she grew, and that angel was no longer qualified to speak to her. A greater angel was necessary to deliver the second message, and then a third angel to deliver the third message.
When we invest ourselves in every mitzvah, we can transform ourselves. We must keep moving. Even learning Torah or Gemorrah has the ability to transform us so that we do not fall into the sin of loshon horo, for example, continues Rabbi Weinberg, citing Rabbi Yisroel Salanter zt”l. How? Simply because by this learning we have transformed ourselves and are no longer tempted to speak loshon horo.
Even the greatest of men can fall into the trap of blindness to the light. Witness Nadav, Avihu and the elders at the foot of Har Sinai. writes Rabbi Grossbard, citing Rav Yehudah Halevi. Here they were witnessing the greatest revelation in all of human history. Yet, instead of standing in awe and integrating themselves into the experience, to transform themselves, they chose to eat and drink
Similarly, Yishmael and Eliezer should have sensed the revelation of God's presence atop this mountain. They could not look up, so, like the donkey who cares only about what is directly in front of him, they remained down at the foot of the mountain. As long as a person does not grow from any experience, writes Chochmat Hamatzpun, he is no better than a donkey.
Rabbi Wachtfogel zt"l brings a very pragmatic idea to our discussion. Everyone is limited in his vision by the physicality that is part of man's existence. When one can overcome his physical limitations, one has the ability to see the world in a broader context. Adam before the sin had the ability to "see from one end of the world to the other end," because his physical body was subsumed within his spiritual essence. After the sin, Adam's physicality clouded his ability to see as far as he could before. In a similar vein, continues Rabbi Wachtfogel, the Prophet Shmuel is called Haroeh/the Seer, who would direct Saul to find his lost sheep. This was not prophecy, notes Rabbi Wachtfogel, but a heightened sense of sight. (How often do we tell people to open their eyes and see the bigger picture? CKS)
Of the four people standing at a distance from "the place," only two were on the spiritual level to sense the Omnipresent in the cloud on the mountain, only Avraham and Yitzchak had purified themselves from their חומריות/physicality and could see the spiritual revelation before them. Yishmael and Eliezer remained on the level of the חמור/the material donkey.
We all have the ability to see and hear Hashem's presence throughout the world. But because we are so entrenched in our physicality, we are blind and deaf, and must rely on our faith, writes Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz zt”l in Daas Torah.
In the most simple terms, Rav Scheinerman in Ohel Moshe posits that the cloud over the mountain was an actual cloud. The only difference was that it was so low that it seemed to actually touch the mountain. This unusual sight was what both Avraham and Yitzchak "saw", while Yishmael and Eliezer paid it no mind and were as unaffected as the donkey. [Many people passed the burning bush; only Moshe turned to see. In last week's shiur, many saw the lights in the castle, only Avraham asked about the light. CKS]
Zohar Hakadosh places a completely different significance to the words המקום מרחוק /the "place" from afar. This would be the same מקום/place where Yaakov recognized Hashem's presence as he fled from Esau. He would take stones from this altar, sleep, and dream of the ladder. Avraham could not understand the sequence of events that would lead to the third generation fulfilling Hashem's earlier promise, an event in the "far" future., but he was willing to obey Hashem and sacrifice Yitzchak.
After the akeidah, after sacrificing the ram instead of his son, Avraham names this place Hashem Yireh/Hashem will see. The Netivot Shalom quoting the Targum Yerushalmi, explains that Avraham prayed to Hashem, saying, "You are the One Who sees but is not seen." When Hashem tests someone, Hashem distances Himself from the person, making it so much harder for him to rise to the challenge. If Avraham had felt Hashem's presence beside him, the challenge would have presented no difficulty. Feeling that Hashem was "far" from him and nevertheless obeying His command made Avraham realize that Hashem is always with him. Hashem sees him, even when he does not see Hashem. Hashem never abandoned him.
This is the legacy Avraham Avinu gave us through the experience of the akeidah. Through these terrible, dark times, through all our exiles, we pray to see Hashem's light, to feel His presence, to know we are not alone. From a distance, when we lack clarity and cannot see or understand Hashem's ways, we still must believe that He is with us and will never abandon us, writes Rabbi Druck in the Rosh Hashanah Machzor. The test is to believe in His presence even when we cannot see Him, for just as Hashem spoke to Yaakov on his descent to Egypt, saying, "I will descend with you... and I will surely bring you up...," so are we to know that Hashem, although unseen, is always with us. We may see darkness, writes Rabbi Kluger in My Sole Desire, but for Hashem, all is light. Darkness is only our perception.
Since darkness is our perception, how can we define darkness and light? In Illuminating Our Day, Rabbi Zucker explains that darkness, in reality, is the strongest, greatest light, so much so so it must be hidden or it will be blinding. What we perceive as light is the revealed light, while we must search for the hidden light buried in the darkness through our avodah/service, work, striving. This explains why we cover our eyes when we recite the Shema, for we are searching for Hashem's light and the pleasure of connecting with Him within that darkness. Our martyrs recited the Shema in their last moments, connecting to that hidden light.
One of our greatest Sages and martyrs, Rabbi Akiva, was able to see the light through the darkness. Upon seeing the ruins of the Beit Hamikdosh, the Sages with him wept bitterly, but Rabbi Akiva was able to see through this dark time and access the light predicted by our prophets, the everlasting light of the future Third Temple.
We have this ability to appreciate this light when we recite the Shema, writes Halekach Vehalebuv. In our recitation, we are integrating the Hashem of the perceived good with the Elokhim of perceived harshness and judgment, and thank Him with love for both, for it is He Who has created both the light and the hidden light within the darkness.
Whatever Hashem does is good, even if the good is hidden from us. The Imrei Chein explains that the darkest clouds are those that contain the richest rain that falls from it. Hashem's presence is hidden in the arafel/ the deepest darkness. When we enter our challenging times, we must remember that within the cloud lies the promise of great light. Avraham Avinu saw the cloud. He understood that within that cloud Hashem's light waited, and he moved forward to do Hashem's bidding, to bind Yitzchak on the altar.
We must learn these lessons from Avraham Avinu. Whatever the challenges, our mission is to keep moving, to keep growing, for Hashem, although unseen, is hidden within the darkness, and the greater the cloud, the deeper the darkness, the greater will be the light and the blessings hidden within.