The biblical story of the Binding of Isaac, Akedat Yiẓḥak (Gen. 22:1–19), has had a central role in Jewish culture since Antiquity; it can be considered as part of the foundation myth of the Jewish people as well as a document of deep faith in God and His covenant with the Children of Israel. This story depicts an episode in the life of the first Jewish family, Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac, during which this family is almost annihilated following God’s command to Abraham to sacrifice his son. The story is unexpectedly inverted, however, through God's salvation of Isaac (which has been interpreted in various ways: either stopping Abraham in the last moment, or reviving Isaac after he was killed). God then makes a promise to Abraham to bless his future descendants (Gen. 22:15–18). This religious model of trial and, ultimately, divine deliverance, became for Jews in years to come a way of coping with the hardships they faced. God’s promise to Abraham was seen as a source of protection, a concept known in Jewish thought as zekhut avot – the merit of the ancestors.
This story has been retold by generation after generation of Jews, both orally and in writing. While the 19-verse text in Gen. 22 leaves many details untold – in particular, completely omitting Sarah from the story – later retellings of the story have tried to fill in those lacunae. These elaborations often project the thoughts and feelings of current readers onto the ancient text. For example, the Talmud relates that it was Satan who urged God to test Abraham’s faith with the request to sacrifice his son, and Midrash Tanḥuma describes Sarah’s suffering and sudden death when she learns of her son’s fate.
In medieval Jewish Ashkenazic culture new layers of meaning were attached to the ancient narrative, reflecting historical and cultural aspects of Jewish existence at the time. Following the First Crusade, the story became associated with the venerated narrative of Kiddush Hashem – that is, the willingness to give up one’s own life to sanctify God’s name in the face of religious persecution. Hebrew Chronicles and liturgical poems portrayed the persecuted Jews as the ‘Isaac’ figure. Some of these texts even tell how some Jewish parents killed their own children in order to prevent their forced conversion, thus viewing the parents – fathers as well as mother – as the ‘Abraham’ figure, and inserting Sarah to the story as an equal to Abraham. The parents’ faith does not question God’s actions, even when it comes to their beloved children.
Moreover, intricate cultural dynamics with Christianity and its interpretation of “the Sacrifice of Isaac” as a prefiguration of the Crucifixion of Jesus are evident in the Jewish texts. Next to rejection of the latter perspective, certain Christian aspects seem to have been accepted by Jews.
From a language perspective, next to the Hebrew texts – often written by, and for, men of the rabbinical elite – Ashkenazic Jews produced retellings of the Binding of Isaac in Yiddish – the daily vernacular of Jewish men, women, and children from all walks of life. These texts have been thus far understudied and merit more scholarly attention. The Yiddish retellings addressed, and at times were composed by lay Jewish men and women, and as such record voices and perspectives not found in the Hebrew texts. Moreover, the linguistic proximity between the Yiddish and German vernaculars particularly facilitated cultural transference between Jews and Christians living in the German lands in medieval and early modern times, revealing contacts among lay people that did not exist among the religious elites (rabbinic and ecclesiastical).
The proposed paper will focus on the image of Sarah in Hebrew and Yiddish Ashkenazic retellings of the Binding of Isaac, and seek within them influences from Christian portrayals of Mary, Jesus’ mother. Indeed the Ashkenazic perspective that despite her tremendous emotional pain, Sarah’s faith in God and His utter justice lead her to accept His request to sacrifice her beloved son – can be compared with Mary’s presence at the Crucifixion of Jesus (John 19:25-27). Like Sarah, Mary did not want the crucifixion, but she accepted it as part of God's will. Moreover, the mere introduction of Sarah into the retellings of the story – who is completely missing from the biblical narrative –– can be perceived in this particular context as echoing Mary’s presence in Christian religious narratives. It also echoes the Christian view that Gen. 19 foreshadows the Crucifixion. Additional narrative traditions, such as the devil’s approach to Sarah, her fainting and regaining consciousness when she hears about Isaac’s fate (which in turn echo the medieval Jewish narrative about Isaac’s death and revival on Mt. Moriah), and Sarah’s dying of joy when hearing that Isaac has been saved – will all be studied within the cultural milieu in which they were produced, locating them between the influence of classical Jewish Hebrew sources, and Christian co-territorial traditions. As an illustration to the study of literary texts, relevant visual images of Sarah and Mary will be considered as well.
The Binding of Isaac has held a central place in Judaism since Antiquity, but interestingly, Sarah is absent from the biblical narrative. Midrashic interpretations have filled this lacuna, and the story continued to acquire new layers of meaning in medieval Europe, especially following the First Crusade. Jews who chose death over forced conversion were often depicted as Isaac, and stories of parents killing their children to prevent their Christianization related to Abraham. Sarah, on the one hand, suffers and dies in response to Abraham’s actions, revealing similarities to midrashim as well as Mary’s response to the Crucifixion. On the other hand, despite her pain, she accepts God’s request to sacrifice her beloved son.
This paper will explore this innovative interpretation within medieval and early modern Ashkenazi texts, in both Hebrew and (understudied) Yiddish sources. In particular, the Ashkenazi portrayal of Sarah will be compared with that of the Virgin Mary.