After trauma and brokenness, his story continues. Though there is no happily-ever-after in the twists and turns of his family narrative, it is important to remember that Isaac too goes on to have further chapters in his story. Love is something rarely noted in the Torah, and so it is all the more remarkable that one of the few people the Torah tells us is capable of love is Isaac. And Isaac, our passive protagonist, falls in love with Rebekah. After Abraham mourns Sarah and ensures a bride for Isaac, he goes on to have another wife and a whole additional clan of children. The biblical text does not show Abraham and Isaac ever interacting again, and Isaac doesn’t see his mother Sarah before she dies.īut this story, despite being filled with such brokenness and trauma, eventually becomes an opportunity for healing and new beginnings. God intervenes at the last moment and Isaac is saved, but the damage is already done. Moriah to offer his beloved son as a sacrifice.

In response to God’s command, Abraham takes Isaac up to Mt. On Rosh HaShanah, we read the Torah’s telling of the binding of Isaac, which is also a story of brokenness.

But even as we grapple with the ongoing difficulty and pain of our current situation, the upcoming Jewish High Holidays show us how we can grow from this suffering in ways that will ultimately produce healing and love. We have just lived through a significant break in our expected narrative, and in truth, it’s not over yet. A year and a half of fear, anxiety, grief, losses big and small, challenges to our mental health. A year and half of being apart from the people we love and ways of life that we love, of plans upended, of ongoing disequilibrium. This has been a year and half of interruption and brokenness. The last 18 months have been a deeply painful, trying experience for our communities and the world at large.

2 of hearts binding of isaac