179. “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, etc.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: “Who in the world is like Abraham?” But the accuser did not budge from there until he had confused all of that joy and the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded to sacrifice Isaac as an offering and Sarah was condemned to die with grief for her son. All of that sorrow was because he did not give something to the poor.

Explanation: The purpose of the binding of Isaac was to rectify the essence of the Malkhut, which he did not rectify through the great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. The death of Sarah was due to the great lights that she drew forth in the mystical meaning of the verse: “God has made laughter for me etc.” [Genesis 21:6], which obstructed the rectification of the Malkhut, as stated.