Where was "the place" that G-d sent Avraham, how did Avraham find it, and why did theakeidah - the binding of Yitzchak - have to take place precisely there? G-d's directive toAvraham, "lech lecha - go for yourself, or to yourself," was the same directive He gaveAvraham when He first ordered him out of Haran to the land of Canaan. Go to yourself, or more precisely, go on a journey of self discovery, a journey that will take you to a place where you can be true to who you are, true to what G-d intended for you to be.
There is no doubt that Avraham, the seeker of G-d in this world was not in his element whilst outside the borders of the land of Israel. His relationship with G-d and his relationship with his fellow man whom he sought to bring, not only into his own tent, but into the tent of G-d, so to speak, flourished once he entered the land. We witness this most emphatically in the opening to this week's parashat Vayera, when we are told that"Hashem appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, and he was sitting at the entrance of the tent when the day was hot. And he lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing beside him, and he saw and he ran toward them from the entrance of the tent, and he prostrated himself to the ground." (Genesis 18:1-2) All in the same breathAvraham is being visited by G-d while he himself is welcoming into his tent three wayfarers. This is the essence of the Torah of Avraham, the way of life that would six generations hence become the Torah of the nation of Israel.
But only "after these things," (ibid 22:1) that is, only after all these acts of lovingkindness and adherence to justice and compassion that marked Avraham's way throughout the first one hundred and thirty seven years of his life, did G-d demand more of Avraham. The commandment to "Please take your son, your only one, whom you love, yea, Yitzchak, and go away to the land of Moriah and bring him up there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains, of which I will tell you," (ibid 22:2) forces Avrahamway past his comfort zone, way foul of the ethical boundaries that he had set for himself and lived by, with G-d's blessing, all these years. To set out to engage in an apparent act of child sacrifice at the behest of your G-d, in whose name you fought this pagan phenomenon all your days, was truly to set out on a journey of self discovery into an unknown and terrifying land.
With all this to contend, how then did Avraham find "the place" where this killing was supposed to be done? "On the third day, Avraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar." (ibid 22:4) What was it that Avraham saw that identified that distant hill as"the place." Was it something fraught with horror, something unlike anything he had ever beheld before? Or was it something dimly familiar, a vision of comfort, that told him this is the place?
From this point on in the narration, Avraham is no longer following G-d's commandment zealously but with a heavy and foreboding heart. From this point on Avraham himself takes command. A change has come over him. He instructs his boys to stay below while he quickly gathers up all the provisions he will need and, with Yitzchak, marches briskly and decidedly to the appointed place.
Ultimately Avraham reveals to us just what he saw from afar when he raised his eyes, and why, at that moment he knew that G-d's test for him was one that would validate his lifelong search for truth. "And an angel of Hashem called to him from heaven and said, 'Avraham! Avraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.'" (ibid 22:11) Avraham knows who he is and he knows where he is. This is the very place where G-d called out to Adam, and said,"Where are you?" and Adam answered, "I am hiding." (ibid 3:9) Adam was hiding because he failed to keep the one commandment G-d had entrusted him with. ButAvraham, who kept to the minutest detail the commandment G-d had given him, despite the fact that it contradicted everything he believed in and taught in the name of the same G-d who commanded it to him, he answered forthright, loud and clear, "Here I am."
Clearly understanding the nature of this covenant he has now entered into with G-d,Avraham has a new name for the Garden of Eden: "And Avraham named that place, Hashem will see, as it is said to this day: On the mountain, Hashem will be seen." (ibid22:14) Hashem sees me and I see Hashem! No longer does my iniquity create a dissonance between us. This revelation is the foundation stone for the altar that will stand before the Holy Temple bringing together the G-d of Avraham and the children ofAvraham. It is in precisely this place that we are the Adam that G-d created, capable and dedicated to fulfilling G-d's command.
