Now see, here's where I have the problem: From where I stand, the sacrifice
of a child CAN'T be good, so a good and kind G-D ordering it -- or even
seeming to order it -- by definition can't make sense.
Many people responded -- both in the Forum and by e-mail -- that Abraham
knew this was just a test, but this seems to strip the action of any
significance: If Abraham knew he was just going through the motions, then
why are we even reading about it?
Since this thread began, I came up with one solution which is pure
speculation on my part and based on nothing I've read anywhere (though it
may indeed BE written somewhere):
What if this was like one of those deals where you close your eyes and let
yourself fall backward, trusting that your partner will catch you? The test
here was that Abraham would sinecerly try as hard as he could to kill
Isaac, holding back nothing, based on G-d's promise that He wouldn't let
him succeed? Not that G-d would necessarily tell him to stop, but that G-d
would SOMEHOW keep him from succeeding.
This seems to cover all the bases: It show's Abraham's faith, it's
meaningful, and it explains Abraham's comments to the servants that they'd
be back shortly.
Bill Bickel