VaYera: Father and Son

Parashat VaYera is perhaps best known for the haunting story known as Akedat Yitzchak, the Binding of Isaac, recounting how Abraham's son is nearly sacrificed so that Abraham can prove his fealty to God.  In the end, the sacrifice does not take place, but the relationship between Abraham and Isaac may nonetheless have been compromised irreparably: never again is there a record of a conversation between the two.

There are numerous tensions in this story: love of family vs. love of God, zeal for a cause, the desire to secure a legacy for oneself, and so forth.  These are further underscored by another narrative in this portion, which speaks of Abraham's son, Ishmael, and his mother, Hagar.  Due to tensions with Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael are thrown out of the household.  And just when the situation seems most precarious, an angel intervenes to rescue them.  The Torah notes that the angel has arrived because God has hearkened to Ishmael's cries ba'asher hu sham-- "as he is, there."  Commentators expand on this by noting that Ishmael was not made to conform to some other expectation of how he should be behaving or reacting; God was prepared to meet his needs just as he presented them.

Contrast this to Abraham's journey up the mountain with Isaac.  Twice the text tells us, vayelchu shneihem yachdav--"the two of them walked together."  Yet we can tell from the dynamic that though they are physically accompanying one another, they are growing ever further apart.

I think these tensions are beautifully expressed in Cat Stevens' song "Father and Son," which details both love and conflict in a parent-child relationship.  I think that's found in abundance in Abraham's relationship with his sons; I think it's present in the intergenerational interactions of most families: hopes and fears and ideals of the parent don't always translate for the child (and vice-versa).  "You will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not."

Please note, I do not own-- nor do I claim to own-- these songs.  Copyrights are held by the various artists.  I include them here for illustrative purposes.

Father and Son- (VaYera: Genesis 18:1-22:24)
Music and lyrics by Cat Stevens.  From the album "Tea for the Tillerman," A & M Records, 1970.

(As a side note, I came to this song somewhat late...in the summer of 1987, when I was 16, I went on my first trip to Israel with the Alexander Muss High School in Israel.  This (and a few other Cat Stevens pieces) were in heavy rotation on a mixtape we played on our bus.  I wonder if I was particularly primed to appreciate this song because of my age and context when I first learned it.)