The Akeidah: Why Life Tests Us

A reading for group learning on Parshas Vayera, and the companion to this week’s Pizza & Parsha source sheet, The Purpose of Nisyonos. Listen to it read aloud above (15 min), or read it below.

An unimaginable challenge

Imagine being asked to give up the one thing that means more to you than anything else in the world. What would you do?

This is the extraordinary challenge Abraham faced in one of the most dramatic and thought-provoking stories in the Torah.

After waiting decades for a child, Abraham and Sarah were finally blessed with a son, Isaac. But then came an unimaginable command: G-d instructed Abraham to take his beloved son and offer him as a sacrifice on a mountain.

Abraham set off with Isaac on a three-day journey. When they reached the mountain, Abraham built an altar, arranged the wood, and bound Isaac upon it. At the very last moment, as Abraham reached for the knife, an angel called out and commanded him to stop.

Abraham then discovered a ram caught in a nearby thicket and offered it as a sacrifice instead. Having passed this extraordinary test, Abraham received a Divine promise of tremendous blessings for himself and his descendants.

This event, known as the Akeidah (Binding of Isaac), raises profound questions about faith, morality, love, and sacrifice.

Why would G-d ask Abraham to do something so unimaginable? If G-d already knew Abraham’s faith, why did He need to test him? And what could this ancient story teach us about our own lives?

Life is full of tests and challenges. No one escapes this fact.

The deeper question is: Why? What is the purpose of all of these tests? Is there a way to prepare for them? And what is the rubric for “passing” them? The answers to these questions can be found within the very language we use to construct and consider them.

What does “test” mean in English?

A test or trial is typically understood to determine the state of development someone or something has achieved prior to taking it.

Test: something (such as a series of questions or exercises) for measuring the skill, knowledge, intelligence, capacities, or aptitudes of an individual or group.

This can be seen from the etymology of the words themselves. Test, or teste, is a Middle English word that was borrowed from Old French, which refers to “an earthen vessel, especially a pot in which metals were tried.” Similarly, the word trial is based on an Anglo-French word triet, meaning an “act or process of testing, a putting to proof by examination, experiment, etc.” In either case, the subject or object being tested was viewed with a necessary degree of doubt. The test or trial was thus administered as a way for an outside party to verify the integrity or acuity of the one being tested.

What does nisayon mean?

In Judaism, however, a test is not meant to assess or establish the current qualities of the one being tested; rather, it is meant to elicit and evoke the dormant strengths and unique talents that lie within!

Appropriately, the Hebrew word for a challenge or test, nisayon, is rooted in the word nes, which means to raise up. As the Zohar explains: “G-d tests the righteous only to elevate them to greatness.” But for such elevation to occur, we must rise above our natural fear and aversion to challenges, which is alluded to in the related word lanus, meaning to run away.

Judaism teaches us to lean into our challenges instead of running from them, because our personal and collective trials and tribulations are designed to help us unlock previously untapped energies and abilities, empowering us to exceed our own expectations of our capabilities. This realization itself is an integral part of the process of unlocking the infinite potential hidden within.

Understanding the tests of Avraham

Notably, the Torah¹ tells us that G-d tested Abraham. Our Sages² enumerated ten Divinely orchestrated tests that Abraham encountered. The first³ was when Nimrod forced him to choose between renouncing his belief in the one Almighty G-d or be thrown into a fiery furnace. The tenth and final test was G-d’s instruction to bind his son Isaac on an altar.

What was the purpose behind such a series of unremitting spiritual challenges?

Along these lines, the Zohar⁴ asks: “If G-d is all-knowing, why did He need to test Abraham?” Didn’t G-d already know the outcome? The answer is that G-d tested Abraham to provide him with an opportunity to activate the latent potentials for courage and commitment that G-d knew already existed within him.

In other words, these ten tests were not for G-d to see how faithful Abraham was; they were for Abraham to actualize the depths of his own spiritual potential.

How the test of the Akeidah came to be

The Torah introduces the story with “Vayehi achar hadevarim ha’eileh”, “And it happened after these things.” Rashi asks what came before the Akeidah and offers these two explanations.

First explanation: after the words of the Satan, who accused Abraham: “Of all the feasts Abraham made, he did not offer You a single bull or ram.” G-d answered: “Everything he did was for the sake of his son. Yet if I told him to sacrifice that son to Me, he would not hold back.”

Second explanation: after the words of Yishmael, who boasted to Isaac that he had been circumcised at thirteen without protesting. Isaac answered: “You try to impress me with one part of the body? If the Holy One, blessed be He, told me to offer my whole self to Him, I would not hold back.”

Rashi on Bereishis 22:1, based on Sanhedrin 89b.

Both share a remarkable message. In the first, G-d declares Abraham’s extraordinary devotion. In the second, Isaac declares his own willingness to sacrifice everything. Yet there is a difference between being willing to do something in theory and demonstrating that commitment in practice.

The Akeidah brought Abraham and Isaac into a real situation where their devotion was tested through action. Although the angel ultimately stopped the sacrifice, they demonstrated that their commitment was more than words.

The lesson is relevant to everyday life. It is easy to talk about being kind, honest, generous, or committed to our values. The real question is what happens when living by those principles requires effort, inconvenience, or personal sacrifice.

We might say we care about helping others, but do we actually make time for someone who needs us? We might believe honesty is important, but do we remain honest when telling the truth could cost us something?

Ultimately, our character is defined not simply by what we say we believe, but by the actions we take to live by those beliefs.

How to view tests and struggles

Daunting as our struggles often feel, defeatist attitudes must not prevail. G-d is never against you. In fact, according to the Jewish view, any test or trial you may experience is not an expression of G-d’s doubt in your capacity, but of His faith in your ability.

As the Talmud⁵ poignantly teaches: “G-d does not make impossible demands of his creations.” Just as it is inconceivable that loving parents would knowingly give their child a task that is beyond their abilities, G-d, our loving Father, would not present us with a challenge that exceeds our capabilities or is not for our own good.

Accordingly, whenever a person encounters one of life’s many tests, it is actually a sign of G-d’s trust in them and their potential.

Rather than being an expression of Divine reservation, every test in life is actually a cosmic vote of confidence.

In fact, our personal struggles can even be seen as signs of favor, for G-d chastises those He loves.⁶ A test is G-d’s way of saying: You’re ready for the next level.

Why we can be proud of our tests

Interestingly, the word nes also refers to a banner, because each person’s unique tests in life are like a badge of honor that represents their particular journey of personal growth and achievement. In other words, our struggles are what shape and form us, giving us our distinct stamp and signature based on how we respond to them.

This empowering idea is expressed in the paradoxical Talmudic statement⁷: “The more righteous one is, the more powerful their inclination to evil.” This is counterintuitive. One would think that a person’s level of righteousness is determined by, and should directly correspond to, the degree to which they have managed to diminish or uproot their evil inclination. Yet, according to the Talmud, the contrary is true: the more one grows spiritually, the greater their struggle with ego and temptation becomes. This is because the more righteous one becomes, the more capable they are at overcoming ever subtler and more substantial challenges.⁸

Tests can cause miracles

In other words, serious moral and spiritual struggles are not a sign of weakness but of strength and latent potential that we might unlock and activate through our productive perseverance in the face of life’s challenges.

Significantly, another meaning of nes is miracle, implying the elevation of the supernatural over the natural. Indeed, Chasidus⁹ teaches that, from the Divine point of view, every test in our lives provides the exact conditions conducive for us to surpass our own “natural” limitations, thus enacting a “miracle” within our own personal sphere.

The best approach to life’s struggles

As such, no situation in life, no matter how challenging, should be seen as impossible to deal with in a constructive manner. We always have the opportunity to exercise free choice in the way we respond to any circumstance.

Every test of our faith or character is thus a potential portal of transformation for our own, as well as the ultimate good; it all depends on how we approach, process, and pass through it. As the great Chasidic master R. Nachman of Breslov famously taught¹⁰: When you search for G-d and encounter an obstacle, do not try to avoid it or seek to go around (or even over) it, for G-d Himself is to be found within that very obstacle.

Divine Providence: the secret to strength

This perspective is deeply rooted in the concept of Divine Providence, hashgachah pratis, the belief that G-d is in charge of our world and oversees its minutest detail with deliberate intent.

The knowledge of such a Divine design behind reality compels us to overcome our naturally instinctive feelings of fear and despair when faced with any challenge, especially one we thought we were above or beyond. Instead, it empowers us to find the hidden blessing built into every hardship.

G-d, like our own personal trainer, is intimately aware of both our perceived limitations and our true abilities. He therefore strategically orchestrates our unique obstacle courses in order to help us access our deepest strengths and achieve our highest potentials. For, truly, each and every one of us is nothing less than a miracle in the making. Our tests and struggles in life are but the dark backdrop against which our inner light might shine.

The bottom line

Tests and trials in life are an indication of inner strength, not weakness; they are G-d’s way of letting us know we are ready for the next level.

A story: “I envy you”

A traditional Jew who found himself in the grips of a spiritual struggle once visited the Lubavitcher Rebbe to discuss his religious quandary.¹¹

He desperately wanted to live his life according to Jewish law, yet his heart was persistently leading him in a different direction.

After presenting his situation to the Rebbe, the man fell silent. He braced himself for a strong rebuke, expecting to be told in no uncertain terms how spiritually compromising his passions were.

The Rebbe, too, remained silent for a while.

“I envy you,” the Rebbe finally said. Caught off guard, the young man did not quite grasp the Rebbe’s meaning.

The Rebbe continued: “There are many ladders in life, and each person is given his or her own. The ladders present themselves as life’s challenges and difficult choices. The tests you face are the ladders that elevate you to great heights: the greater the challenge, the higher the ladder. G-d has given you these difficult tests because He believes you can overcome them, and He has endowed you with the ability to do so. Only the strongest are presented with a ladder as challenging as yours. Don’t you see, then, why I envy you?”

Based on Mendel Kalmenson’s People of the Word, “Challenges: Nisayon” on Chabad.org. Adapted for group learning by Rabbi Shlomo Fuchs.