“And go forth [lech lecha] to the land of Moriah.” The phrase lech lecha is mentioned [specifically] referring to your essence, because from there comes forth the material [of humanity], which was taken from the place about which it is said An altar of earth you shall make for Me (Exodus 20:21), as explained in Parshat Lech Lecha (12:1). And in the word HaMoriah, the [letters] “yah” appear superfluous, for it is [elsewhere] stated I will go to the mountain of myrrh [har hamor] (Song of Songs 4:6). Rather, this is because there is located the Even Shetiyah [Foundation Stone], from which the two worlds were founded, which were created with the Divine Name of “Yah.” For there is the gateway to heaven, and there the union between the Holy One, blessed be He, and Israel was completed, like the intimate connection between a husband and wife where the Name “Yah” mediates between them. And its companion [concept] testifies to this: the 15 steps that were from the Women’s Courtyard [in the Temple], corresponding to the numerical value of the Name “Yah.” And this was a sign for the Temple that would be built there after 15 generations from Abraham to Solomon.

And regarding what He said, upon one of the mountains which I will tell you — this is because that place where the Temple would be built was not revealed by the Holy One, Blessed be He, to any creature, as will be explained later in Parshat Re’eh (12:4), God willing. Only Abraham knew this secret, which is why he called it the Lord will see, as will be explained soon, God willing, in the verse the Lord will see. Another explanation of which I will tell you is that in the future, God’s word would come to His prophets from there, as it is written And I will speak with you from above the ark cover (Exodus 25:22). And some say that which I will tell you refers back to and bring him up for a burnt offering. It does not say “bring him up as a burnt offering” but rather for a burnt offering, meaning to offer up a different burnt offering which I will tell you — whether it will be your son or something else that will be the offering.

And he saw the place from afar. But not from up close, because he saw the radiance of the Divine Presence of the Holy One, Blessed be He, who is called “the Place of the world,” specifically from afar — a physical sight, like looking at the sun, which a person can gaze at from afar but not from up close, because the sense of sight lacks the power to look at the sun when it is close to a person. This is all the more so regarding the brilliant radiance of His Divine Presence, may He be blessed. Similarly, Moses said, Let me turn aside now and see (Exodus 3:3) — Let me turn aside now means to distance himself from the holy place and not to be close to it, all so that he would be able to see. And so too Jeremiah said, The Lord appeared to me from afar (Jeremiah 31:3), implying but not from nearby.

Stay here with the donkey. [The letters ayin, mem can spell either “with” or “people.”] A people that is similar to a donkey, for if not [this interpretation], it should have said “let the donkey stay with you.” Why did He make them secondary to the donkey? Because the donkey acts according to its nature, while they sin willfully. Therefore, He made them secondary to the donkey.

“And he said, ‘My father,’ etc.” Isaac had not yet said anything to him, but merely called out my father and was silent. This was because Isaac sensed that his father’s intention was to offer him as a burnt offering, and he thought, “If so, he is not showing me mercy as a father should have for his children, and has turned cruel toward me” — for he did not yet know that this was the Creator’s will. Therefore, he called out my father to test whether he would answer him, [to determine] if it was still fixed in his heart that he was his father, or if he had already dismissed it from his heart as if he were not his son. Through this, he wanted to know who would be sacrificed. When Abraham answered him Here I am, my son, showing that he still had all his paternal longings for him, Isaac then said, “If so, where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham replied, God will see to the lamb for the burnt offering, my son — meaning, “It was not I who chose you, but God, and both you and I are obligated to honor Him.” Only then did they both walk together with one intention, whereas until this point they had been divided in their thoughts.

“Abraham, Abraham.” This is an expression of endearment. The reason He did not call him twice [by name] the first time as an expression of endearment was because his beloved status was not yet known to all inhabitants of the world, as perhaps he would not withstand the test. However, after he passed the test, it became clearly visible to all, with greater intensity and strength compared to others. Therefore, He called him Abraham, Abraham twice as an expression of endearment, for this test was for the benefit of the one being tested — to make known his beloved status.

Another explanation: When he was engaged in the mitzvah of binding his son, he was so intensely focused on completing the commandment properly that he did not pay attention to the [first] calling voice. Therefore, it was necessary to call him a second time, and this is the reason for the repetition of Abraham, Abraham. This was unlike the first [divine call to Abraham], when he was not yet preoccupied with a mitzvah. And some say that Abraham understood from this call that Heaven would prevent him [from completing the sacrifice], therefore he made himself like a bewildered man and like one who does not hear, in order to complete the mitzvah, until they called him a second time.

“Now I know that you are God-fearing.” Not every usage of the word “now” [etah] excludes the time that preceded it, as we find And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear Him (Deuteronomy 10:12) — and did He not ask for fear of Him before this? Rather, it is as if it said “Behold, Israel.” Similarly, Now I know is as if it said “Behold, I know.”

Some say that I have known means “I have made known,” for the purpose of this test was to raise a banner to show the nations the beauty of His actions. Thus the phrase And God tested [nassa] would be related to the raising of a banner [nes] that is visible to all people. For better is open rebuke that comes from concealed love (Proverbs 27:5) — when there is great love but it is hidden, the Holy One, Blessed be He, sends upon him an open rebuke, and by way of accepting it with love, His love becomes revealed and visible to all eyes. Now regarding God’s knowledge of everything before it comes into being, while man still maintains free choice — many have been perplexed by this investigation, and most investigators have gone out to gather [explanations] but found none, no satisfactory way to resolve this doubt, for these concepts seem to contradict each other. This is a deep matter — who can fathom it? And regarding this, the Rambam explained the saying of our Sages (Avot 3:15): Everything is foreseen, yet free will is given — that even though everything is foreseen before Him, may He be blessed, nevertheless free will is given to man and he remains with his power of choice.

And behold, another ram was caught in the thicket by its horns. The word acher [another/after] implies as if there were two rams here and it wants to distinguish between them, saying that this is a different ram from the first one. Although according to this interpretation, the letter chet should have been vowelized with a tzeirei, nevertheless we can interpret it as if it had a tzeirei, because the current vowelization of the chet with a patach doesn’t fit so well, since the word acher is written between ayil [ram] and ne’echaz [was caught]. And some say that this ram was not one of those rams that were created during the six days of creation, but rather it was a different ram, because the ram of Isaac was created on the eve of the first Sabbath, during twilight (Avot 5:8).

What appears most correct to me in this matter is that anyone who sins and rebels greatly is comparable to a horned man who gores upward, through sins between man and God, blessed be He, as Rashi explained in Parashat Lech Lecha (14:2) that [he was named] Shemever — he would place his limb [sam ever] to jump and fly upward, and similarly regarding the nations it is said the ram that you saw, the one with horns (Daniel 8:20). Thus, the metaphor here refers to this horned ram, for there is one who gores upward — this is one who sins against heaven, and most animal horns point right and left, for so too does a person who sins against their fellow harm them both in length of days which is on the right, and in wealth and honor which is on the left. Therefore, Adam, who was alone in the world and sinned only against heaven, was provided for his atonement an ox that had one horn on its forehead, meaning that because it was on its forehead it pointed upward, for through what he sinned he would rectify. From here our Sages learned (Chullin 60a) to say that it had one horn specifically on its forehead. But for future generations, every sinner brings an ox or sheep or goat with horns pointing right and left, to atone for having sinned against their fellow, because even one who sins in matters between man and God nevertheless also harms other creatures, both because all Israel are guarantors for one another and many bear the punishment for their sin as is known, and because they cause others to learn to act as they do. Therefore, their law is to bring animals with horns pointing right and left, to atone for what they sinned against creatures, and the Holy One, blessed be He, forgives His portion, for if their transgressions multiply, what can they do to Him? But to a person like themselves, they could strike a mighty blow according to their strength. Therefore, their laws differ regarding sacrifices — for the anointed priest and Sanhedrin, whose power is great and who could strike a mighty blow against others, their law is to bring a bull whose goring is greater and more dangerous. And any ordinary individual whose goring against their fellow is not so great is like a sheep or goat whose goring is not so great, therefore their law is to bring a sheep or goat. But the poor person whose strength to harm is weak is like a bird striking with its wings in the manner of “ever min hachai,” therefore their law is to bring turtledoves and young pigeons, suggesting that they are pursued like them and nevertheless strike others with their wings, and in extreme poverty one is considered like dead, therefore their offering is flour which has no living soul. This will be further explained, God willing, later in Parashat Vayikra, because every atoning entity needs to resemble in its characteristics the one receiving atonement. This is what is meant by I said to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not raise a horn; do not raise your horn on high’ (Psalms 75:5). Do not raise a horn implies one horn, meaning do not sin against heaven alone; do not raise your horns on high implies two, corresponding to one who also sins against man, therefore it says do not raise on high — two raisings, one to the right and one to the left, as mentioned.

This matter was hinted to Abraham, since there is no righteous person on earth who does good and never sins, and especially according to those who say (Nedarim 32) that the Egyptian exile was due to Abraham’s sin when he said How shall I know, which caused his children to experience affliction, slavery, and death of children in Egypt, as if he was goring them right and left. Therefore, his judgment was to sacrifice another ram, which was different from the first, for the first ram represents the sinning person who gores north and south, and in God’s mercy, He took in its place a ram that was caught in the thicket by its horns. The matter of it being caught in the thicket, which is a tree, hints that this is how the sinner becomes entangled in sin, which stems from eating from the Tree of Knowledge, which was the cause of all sins. And the matter of by its horns is because the horns of the sinner caused them to become entangled in sin, as if to say that one is caught and trapped in the snare because they have the horns of a wild ox, raising their horn on high or to the right and left. And in Genesis Rabbah (56:9) they said and behold another ram. What does another mean? Throughout history, Israel becomes caught in transgressions and entangled in troubles, but they will ultimately be redeemed through the ram’s horns. The simple meaning of this midrash agrees with our explanation that this verse speaks of the sinner who has great power, from whom horns extend. And regarding what was said “they will ultimately be redeemed through the ram’s horns” — it seems to me this refers to the shofar of Rosh Hashanah, which comes from the horn of a ram, and through it Israel will be redeemed from their evil inclination, whose net is spread over all living things, and through the shofar which comes to confuse Satan, they will be redeemed from his hand, for the shofar awakens a person to repentance, as it is written If a shofar is blown in the city, will the people not tremble? (Amos 3:6).

And regarding what our Sages said (Rosh Hashanah 16b) that the shofar confuses Satan, because he thinks perhaps it is the shofar of the Messiah — Satan is not so devoid of knowledge. Doesn’t he know that this is a prescribed law for Israel from ancient times, and still the Messiah has not come? And it would be logical to say that since it’s routine, it’s routine [i.e., there’s nothing special about it]. Rather, Satan knows that these are God’s commandments upon us, and he also knows the reason for the commandment — to awaken [people] to repentance, and repentance brings the redemption closer. Therefore, he is anxious that perhaps the Messiah will come, because even though in previous years they did not properly awaken to repentance, eventually there will come a time when they will regret their evil ways and perform complete repentance. Thus, he fears in each and every year that perhaps now they will become fearful and repent. And since the horn is the place of sin, it will also be the place of rectification, similar to Adam’s fig leaves, for through that which was corrupted comes the correction. Just as [sin came] through a horn, so through it will come rectification, and the prosecutor will transform into an advocate. For every penitent person, their intentional sins are transformed into merits; similarly, this horn, which is the place of intentional sins, will become the means through which merits are achieved.

And he called the name of that place “The Lord will see,” as it is said this day, “On the mountain the Lord will be seen.” Since it is written (Exodus 34:23) all your males shall be seen, which can be read as both “will see” [yireh] and “will be seen” [yera’eh] — with the yud vowelized with a tzeirei — to teach that just as one comes to be seen, so too one comes to see. Similarly, here it states for the same reason both will see and will be seen as they are one and the same concept. However, to explain the phrase as it is said this day, I say that this is why he called the name of the place The Lord will see in the future tense: Because the Holy One, Blessed be He, did not reveal this holy place to any creature. Even to Abraham it was only said upon one of the mountains which I will tell you, and we do not find that He told him anything except what Abraham sensed when he saw the cloud tied to the mountain. Nevertheless, there was no explicit statement or words that “this is the mountain that God desired for His dwelling.” For God concealed it for reasons that will be explained later in Parshat Re’eh (12:4), God willing. Therefore he called it The Lord will see, in the same sense as God will see to the lamb. Thus he said that the time would come when the Lord would see and choose this place, and at that time it will be said for generations This day on the mountain of the Lord it will be seen — today and not before, because until the day it was chosen, the Holy One, Blessed be He, did not reveal it.

Because you have done this thing, etc. From the fact that it [later] states and did not withhold your son, we can learn that the phrase because you have done refers to something else. Furthermore, above it stated and did not withhold your son, your only one, from Me, but here it does not mention “from Me.” Additionally, the doubling of language in I will surely bless you needs explanation, for according to Rashi’s interpretation that one blessing is for the father and one for the son, the doubling of I will greatly multiply remains difficult to understand. Therefore, it appears to me that since with every sacrificial service [Abraham] would say “May it be Your will as if my son were slaughtered,” it is as if he performed two acts: the actual sacrifice of the ram in deed, and the sacrifice of his son in thought. Therefore it says because you have done this thing, referring to the actual act of sacrifice, for all the promises were given to him in merit of the sacrifices. And you did not withhold your son refers to mentioning him in every single service. This is why it doesn’t say “from Me” here, which would indicate an actual sacrifice, since at this point He wasn’t actually planning to sacrifice him. Therefore, I will surely bless you is a double blessing — one corresponding to the deed and one corresponding to the thought — and this is the reason for I will greatly multiply.

“Like the stars of heaven and like the sand, etc.” We find that sometimes [Scripture] compares Israel to stars, and sometimes to the sand on the seashore, and sometimes to dust, as it is said Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth (Genesis 28:14). For each [comparison] indicates a different time period. During times of tranquility and success, He compares them to stars — a language of greatness, as Rashi explains on the verse The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today like the stars of heaven in abundance (Deuteronomy 1:10) — He multiplied and magnified you. Similarly, I will greatly multiply mentioned here is an expression of greatness.

The metaphor of the sand teaches us about the time when nations rise against Israel to destroy them but are unable to do so, like waves that rise up as if wanting to flood the whole world, but immediately upon reaching the sand, they break. So it is with the nations, as it is said All Your breakers and waves passed over me (Psalms 42:8). However, they will not prevail against them, for there they fell and broke; therefore they are called Your breakers. This is why Israel is compared to this sand that breaks the waves so they cannot pass beyond it, for just as the sand is the boundary and limit of the sea, so too the nations cannot destroy Israel. Therefore, when Esau came to meet Jacob, Jacob said in his prayer And You said, ‘I will surely do good with you and make your offspring like the sand of the sea’ (Genesis 32:13). Why did he specifically mention the promise of sand and not the stars, which have two positive aspects — multiplication and greatness? Also, why didn’t he mention the language of multiplication but rather said I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea? Rather, since this was a promise that their enemies would not be able to overcome them, so too Esau would not be able to harm him. For this reason, he specifically mentioned the sand on the seashore — and is there no other sand in the world besides this? Rather, it is because it breaks the waves as mentioned; therefore it says here and like the sand which is on the seashore. And your offspring shall inherit the gate of their enemies — how does this relate to the previous matter? Rather, this is a case of “not only this, but also that” — not only will they be like sand that the waves [meaning the enemies] cannot overcome, but moreover, they will inherit their enemies’ gate and prevail over them.

The metaphor of dust indicates [the following]: Regarding the time of lowliness, for in the time when they [the Jewish people] will be like dust to be trampled upon in the lowest depths, from there they will rise from their lowly state and spread forth in all directions, as it is written And your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east (Genesis 28:14), and as it is written For our soul is bowed down to the dust (Psalms 44:26), and what is written after it? Arise and help us. The reason for this is because Israel does not seek God with all His heart except when they are in the ultimate state of lowliness, as is known from the ways of all generations, including our own. And perhaps the metaphor of dust alludes to the Egyptian exile, where the Egyptians plowed upon their backs just as one plows upon the dust, and this will be further explained later in Parashat Vayetzei (28:14), God willing.