Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

November 6, 2020

The Philosophical, Ethical, and Political Meaning of Abraham’s Near-Sacrifice of His Son

Isaac unbound.

Tomorrow, the weekly Torah reading includes the story of the Binding of Isaac, known in Hebrew as the Akeidah—one of the Hebrew Bible’s most powerful and most troubling passages. Aaron Koller, the author of a study of modern Jewish interpretations of the Akeidah, and the philosopher and rabbi Alex Ozar discuss the meaning of God’s command that Abraham sacrifice his son, paying special attention to the readings offered by the great 20th-century sage Joseph B. Soloveitchik. (Video, 75 minutes. Click on the link below for various listening options.)

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