The Torah does not reveal Avraham’s mindset as he was about to sacrifice his son. In selichot, however, we recite, “He who answered Avraham on Mt. Moriah – may He answer us!,” suggesting that Avraham was davening. But what for?
The source of these words is a mishna in Taanit (2:4), to which the Yerushalmi offers two different interpretations. The first, arguably more straightforward, is that Avraham was praying to stop the Akeidah. Though he was willing to sacrifice his son, he certainly did not want to. We commemorate G-d answering Avraham’s prayer to spare Yitzchak.
The second answer says that Avraham’s did not daven before the angel stopped Yitzchak’s slaughter, but once the drama had subsided and the ram had been offered. Avraham prays that in the future – when the Jewish people will be engulfed in sin, exile and subjugation – G-d should remember that Avraham was so devoted that he did not even try to talk G-d out of the Akeidah.
Both answers recognize the incongruity of G-d’s demand, yet respond in very different ways. As a parent – indeed as a human – I cannot but identify with the first answer: of course Avraham davened to save his son! But as one in need of divine mercy, I am attracted to the second. Avraham turned his inner world inside out for G-d, such that G-d should reverse the world’s course for us. Fortunately, the Yerushalmi gives voice to both impulses.
