Yes, AbrahamAbraham is the first patriarch and the father of the Jewish people. He is the husband of Sarah and the father of Isaac and Ishmael. God's covenant - that we will be a great people and inherit the land of Israel - begins with Abraham and is marked by his circumcision, the first in Jewish history. His Hebrew name is Avraham. almost did it.
He almost sacrificed his son for the sake of his God.
He came so close.
But he didn’t.
In the end, he looked around
and found a way not to have to do it.
He found the ram in the thicket
and knew that it would do as well.
No! It was by far the better choice.
And we, who have revered or criticized Abraham’s blind faith
for 3,800 years,
will we, in the end, be as careful as he?
Will we look in every bush and tree
for the ram
that will save us from sending our sons up the mountain
with the firebrands of their own destruction strapped to their backs?
While you prepare to sally forth,
carried by what feels like a holy wind at your back,
I will not turn my ear to that god,
but frantically will I search
in the thorny, tangled brush:
“Oh, ram, please show yourself,
before it is too late!”
