UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

NEW SPECIMENS OLD SPECIMENS THE SCIENTIST MY LOG CONTACT ME
2002-09-07 - 9:12 p.m.

Although I don�t write directly of religion that often, I do enjoy talking about it and thinking about it from time to time. For those of you who dislike it, today�s entry is a good one to skip. For the rest of you, enjoy.

HERE I AM

At Rosh Hashanah services, the traditional reading from the Bible is the story of the binding of Isaac. Why the rabbis chose this passage rather than the story of creation is itself interesting to ponder. Creation clearly is a beginning that a new year harkens back to. Nevertheless, they chose the binding. As a result of this choice, many, many rabbis have given their big holiday sermons about the story. This morning was no exception. Too many of these sermons are ultimately lacking. Unfortunately, this morning�s sermon was no exception.

Our assistant rabbi chose to focus on the concept of �He-ne-ni.� �Heneni� is the Hebrew (transliterated as best I can and assuming that the vowels are pronounced as in Spanish) for �I am here� or �Here I am.� At the beginning of the story, God calls to Abraham and Abraham answers, �Heneni.� God then instructs him to go to a mountain in the land of Moriah and sacrifice his son. Much later in the story, as Abraham picks up his knife to slay his son, an angel calls to him, �Abraham! Abraham!� and Abraham again answers �Heneni.� The angel then forbids him to sacrifice the son.

The rabbi jumped from Abraham�s �Heneni� to God to the importance of families keeping faith with their members by answering �Heneni.� Looking at Abraham�s life made this jump quite peculiar.

However quickly Abraham was to answer �Heneni� to God, he was a grand failure at answering �Heneni� to his family. After all, Abraham is the same guy who went to Egypt during a famine with his wife and was willing to sacrifice her for his own good. He did not say, �Heneni� to Sarah. Instead, he presented her as his sister and let her be taken into Pharoh�s palace so that he could acquire sheep, oxen, asses, slaves, and camels.

Abraham, the same guy, failed to answer �Heneni� to his oldest son, Ishmael. Sarah gives her handmaiden, Hagar, to him because Sarah is barren. Hagar becomes pregnant and a bit emboldened by her pregnancy. Sarah gets upset and blames her situation on Abraham. Does he answer �Heneni� to his unborn son? Not on your life. Without protest, without any attempt to change the situation, he allows Sarah to mistreat Hagar while she carries his child.

And then comes his opportunity to say �Heneni� for Isaac. If Abraham had never challenged anything God said, his failure would be more understandable. But before God asks him to sacrifice his son comes the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. In that story, Abraham challenges God. He says �Here I venture to speak to my Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.� Although he ultimately is unsuccessful in saving the cities, he argues for them and the lives within him.

But when Isaac is at risk, Abraham remains silent. He does not question as he does for the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah. He returns to just letting life happen. He answers, �Heneni� to God but makes not a single attempt to say, �Heneni� to Isaac.

We can argue about the meaning of the binding. Given the context of the times, perhaps we should be more surprised that Abraham did not sacrifice Isaac than that he was willing to do so. We can talk about whether God expects us to obey without question. We can talk about whether our children are ours to give to God as Abraham is willing to give Isaac or as Hannah gives Samuel.

But taking Abraham as a model for being there for family is going too far. Abraham had a vision but Abraham does not appear to be one who could see beyond that vision and his own wants to his own family. Abraham may have said, �Heneni� to God but there is no evidence he ever said it to a family member in need.

Jim of Brainwaves, whose religion differs from mine, once spoke of hearing a sermon that mentioned bringing wood for a sacrifice to God and musing on the need to bring the �would� to God. Abraham clearly brought his �would� to God. But, looking at the story from one angle, God did not allow him to bring Isaac�s �would� to God. If there is any lesson in �Heneni,� the more logical lesson involves being there for God, not family.

But even with God, the best that can be said is �Heneni� with its inherent limit. Not my family, not my son, not my servants but me and only me.

Here I am.

LAST YEAR: So Long, Farewell�For a WhileThus began my first journey overseas and an eventful one it was.

LAST FIVE ENTRIES:

L�Shana Tova
Crisp
Residual New Yorker
Interfering With Education
The Discipline of Cleaning Ladies

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