On Rosh Hashanah, we remember a human sacrifice that did not happen: the binding of Isaac. In the final hours of the Yom Kippur fast, we plead: Recall in our favor the binding of Isaac, and accept us with mercy.

But the life of the most underrated patriarch begins in laughter. God tells Abraham, “I’m going to give you a son,” and Abraham laughs – וַיִּצְחָק. It is astonished joy. God takes that laughter and gives it to the child as his name: יִצְחָק, Isaac.

But the promise is not Abraham’s alone.

God has already told Abraham that Sarah will have a son. Yet three men – angels – arrive for a meal. The scene is domestic: Sarah bakes bread; Yishmael prepares a tender calf; Abraham brings curds, milk, and the meat. The visitors sit beneath a tree and eat. Then they ask Abraham, “Where is Sarah?”

They are there for her.

Sarah listens from inside the tent. Upon hearing she will bear a child, she laughs too. Not the laughter of joy, but of surprise, disbelief, incredulity: Seriously? The Infinite is entering my house, my bedroom, my body?

Sarah’s laughter exposes the scandal at the heart of Judaism: the Infinite God........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)