FIRST TRIAL. Recognizing God’s Voice

Our rabbis mentioned that when we listen to the Shofar we should remember the sacrifice of Isaac, that is, the last of the “10 trials” to which our patriarch Abraham was subjected throughout his life. Without a doubt, Isaac’s sacrifice raises many questions. And I think that to find some answers to these questions we must see the Ten Trials of Abraham as a whole. If we analyze the sacrifice of Isaac in isolation, we will be missing the context that gives meaning to this dramatic event. I confess that I never thought about this before, and now that it has occurred to me, I am surprised that it has not occurred to me before… I also do not remember reading much about the details of the Ten Trials, and how they relate to each other, leading Abraham progressively to the sacrifice of Isaac.

So let’s start from the beginning.

WHAT ARE NISIYONOT?

The Rabbis mention in Pirqe Abot that our patriarch Abraham had to go through Ten nisiyonot. Nisaiyon is usually translated as “trial”, or a “test”.  Maimonides, however, would object to this definition. First of all, because the Creator is omniscient, He does not need to test his subjects to know how they will respond. In his book, More Nebukhim, the Guide for the Perplexed (3:24), Maimonides explains that more than a test, a nisaiyon is an experience (in modern Hebrew, actually, the word nisaiyon is used more as “experience” than as “trial”), a choice that one must make in difficult circumstances. And a life lesson for the one who experiences it. A nisaiyon is usually an adversity we face. That educates us and helps us to grow. And without a doubt, the nisiyonot of Abraham, the “Ten Trials” that he overcame, forged his personality and faith, and become the cornerstone of the faith of the Jewish people.

I will describe these experiences, with the intention of showing that there is a progression in the learning process of Abraham, which goes from the first to the last trial: the sacrifice of Isaac. And by the way, once we understand the trials of Abraham, we will comprehend in greater depth what we should be thinking and feeling when we hear the Shofar on Rosh Hashana.

IDENTIFYING GOD

According to our Sages, Abraham began to reject the idea of ​​idolatry from an early age. Perhaps because his father was in the business of making and selling idols, and profiting from the innocence of people, it was easier for Abraham to understand the manipulation behind paganism, and how idolatry served the interests of swindlers and charlatans. Abraham was willing to sacrifice economic profit for the sake of the truth. Once he was able to disconnect from pagan thinking, Abraham was psychologically ready for the next step. Little by little, he came to the conclusion that there is one God, the intelligent Creator of the heavens and earth. The first test begins when Abraham is already an old man: 75 years old. God reveals himself to Abraham. It addresses him through “His Voice”. This Divine Voice is impossible to confuse it with a thought, a dream, an inside call or a hallucination. It is a Voice (perhaps telepathic) that in Hebrew we call “Prophecy” and that was revealed to our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and then to Moshe and our prophets. Abraham’s first challenge was to convince himself that the Voice he was hearing was the Voice of God. That Voice must have been unmistakable. But Abraham could have ignored the Voice, not paying attention to it. Especially when the Divine Voice issued a command to Abraham, LEKH LEKHA, an order that implied a great sacrifice. A famous Ashkenazi commentator, the Sefat Emet, proposes that this Voice was heard by thousands of other men, but while everyone else chose to ignore the command of the Voice (bear in mind that there were no punishments or bad consequences for those who ignored the Voice), Abraham was willing to answer God’s call (see here).

SMALL & BIG SACRIFICES

The Creator commands Abraham to “leave the land of Haran” and go south to Cannan. Incredibly, and having nothing to gain, Abraham obeyed God’s Voice. He was willing to sacrifice his good life in Haran, uproot himself from his family, and take the risk to start a new life in a land where he knows no one and no one knows him. This sacrifice may seem minimal compared to the sacrifice of Isaac, but let us remember that it is Abraham’s initiation into recognizing that the Voice he heard, and now obeys, is Divine and “real”. In fact, when we think of the ultimate test, the sacrifice of Isaac, the first question that must have crossed Abraham’s mind must have been whether the command he is hearing is the Divine Voice or perhaps it is a hallucination, a nightmare.  Abraham obeys, leaves everything behind, and goes where the Divine Voice tells him. Surely with fears, but without questioning. Abraham passes the first test: he recognizes and obeys the Divine Voice.

WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM ABRAHAM?

Like Abraham, we also face our own trials on a daily basis. An observant Jew has to make permanent sacrifices to observe the Tora: sleep less and get up early to pray, have more limitations on what he or she eats, or on the satisfaction of many physical pleasures and needs, etc. And although all of these challenges are nothing compared to Abraham’s trials, they depend on the same principle: I obey these rules basically because they are coming from God.  The principle of all principles in Judaism is our belief that the Tora is the Voice of the Creator! And like Abraham, we too choose to obey the Tora, even when it involves certain sacrifices.

God also makes a promise to Abraham: He assures him that in Canaan he will become a great nation; God will bless him with prosperity and protect him. But what happens when God’s blessings of prosperity are not coming as promised?  This is the second trial Abraham will have to go through.