You are the Fire, I am the Wood

Near the beginning of the Akeidah (binding of Isaac) we see the dialog above between Abraham and Isaac. The literal translation of these verses is:

And Isaac said to Abraham his father, saying, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am.” And he said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the ram for the complete offering? And Abraham said, “God will provide the ram for Himself for the complete offering.” And they both went together. (Genesis 22:7-8)

I would like to suggest an additional way of understanding the dialog that took place between Abraham and Isaac. In this understanding, the fire and the wood respectively represent Abraham and Isaac. Abraham is traditionally associated with the midda of chessed, which is an attribute connoting outwardly directed expansive behavior. It is a characteristic that spreads out and surpasses boundaries. This is as well a characteristic of fire, for as we see in Bava Kama 22b, Rav Yochanan describes fire as being “similar to arrows,” when Reish Lakish describes it as “property belonging to an individual.” When the Gemara cross examines each to explain why they reject the view of the other, Reish Lakish answers that while arrows require an initial burst of energy (without which arrows cannot move, and which gradually dies out), fire does not. Rashi explains this statement by saying that, “fire moves independently, igniting over a large distance.” Fire has a property of a perpetual and consuming power capable of going to great lengths. Abraham was like an ever-burning ember that could not be put out, did everything for his belief, and set off a great distance from his home. I can't think of any better way to describe Abraham than as an unstoppable consuming blaze. It is interesting to note that Abraham was thrown into a fire for his belief.

Isaac is traditionally associated with the midda of gevura, which corresponds to the ability to withhold oneself and exhibit astounding self-control and discipline. We can compare to this wood, which stays affixed in one location regardless of its surroundings. Even when they sway back and forth, branches and twigs maintain their upright, unchanging posture. Interestingly, this property does not prevent them from growing and reaching out to new locations. The relationship between fire and wood is clear; fire consumes wood, and wood is fuel for the fire. According to this understanding we can now rephrase the verse as follows; “And Isaac to said to Abraham his father, saying, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am.” And he said, “here you are (the fire, ready to consume me), and here I am (the wood, ready to be consumed), but where is the ram for the complete offering?

What, then, can we make of the next part of the verse, “And Abraham said, “God will provide the ram for Himself for the complete offering?” If the verses refer to Abraham and Isaac, there must also be a reference in some way to Jacob. The complete offering refers to Jacob because he was the only patriarch whose entire lineage became devoted to God, just like no part of an ola is left aside. So now the verse is rendered, “And Isaac to said to Abraham his father, saying, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am.” And he said, “here you are (the fire, ready to consume me), and here I am (the wood, ready to be consumed), but if you kill me, from where will Jacob, who is destined to be the father of the Jewish Nation, come?” And of course Abraham's answer is, “God will provide the ram for Himself for the complete offering.” In other words, “we have been commanded today to complete his sanctimonious task, and it is not beyond God to see to it that His promise comes true.”

But the verse can be seen in another way, depending on how we separate the words. If we read it literally, Abraham tells Isaac that God will provide the ram for Himself. But if we change the cadence, the verse can be rendered:

“And Isaac said to Abraham his father, saying, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am.” And he said, “here is the fire and here is the wood, but where is the ram for the complete offering? And Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself, the ram for the complete offering is my son.” And only with this final, mutual, submissive understanding did the two advance together completely united in this most holy goal.