Don’t the rabbis care about ethics?

Most Rabbinic commentators of the Chumash (midrashic, medieval, and later periods) are of the opinion that Isaac during the Akedah is a fully grown adult who, once he figured out that he was going to be the sacrifice, became a willing participant in the ordeal. (For a summary of the various opinions regarding Isaac’s age, check out this very handy summary from alhatorah.org.)

This can help explain why, unlike Hegel and Kierkegaard, most Rabbinic commentators did not frame the Akedah as being about the ethical conundrum of committing murder vs. following G-d’s will. One could still make that case because it’s still (attempted) human sacrifice and that’s wrong and weird, but once the Akedah is *not* a case of a grown man tricking a little kid into unwittingly becoming the victim of a ritual murder, the ethics of the situation becomes a lot less clear cut.

Published by Kenichi Hartman

Rabbi Dr. Kenichi (Elitzur) Hartman is a rabbi-without-porfolio and ex-Neuroscientist working as a US Patent Agent. He has lived in the San Francisco Bay area, Tokyo, Boston, and New York, and currently resides in Israel. He received semicha (rabbinic ordination) from Yeshivat Pirchei Shoshanim in 2008. He also has a Ph.D. in Neurobiology from Harvard University.

Leave a comment