Parashat Vayera- The Test After the Test
Parashat Vayera tells the remarkable story of Akedat Yishak, the unfathomable test that God placed before Abraham Abinu. After Abraham miraculously fathered a child at the age of one hundred, God now commanded him to offer the child, Yishak, as a sacrifice. This command not only required opposing one of the human being’s most basic instincts, but also contradicted everything Abraham believed and taught about the importance of loving kindness and compassion. But Abraham overcame his emotions and prepared to sacrifice his son, until God appeared to him and told him to withdraw the knife.
It is commonly understood that the test of the Akeda ends at this point, when Abraham lifted the knife to slaughter Yishak. In truth, however, there was another stage of the test of Akedat Yishak. When Abraham returned home from the Akeda, he discovered that his wife, Sara, had died. Losing a loved one is always a difficult and trying experience. In the case of Sara, however, the loss also posed a theological challenge. Abraham had just achieved something that nobody else before had ever achieved, and that would never be repeated again. The level of selfless and boundless devotion to God exhibited at the Akeda has no parallel in any event prior or subsequent to that event. Normally, a person who achieves something great anticipates some kind of reward or recognition on God’s part. After passing the test of the Akeda, we might have assumed, Abraham would expect to now be free of trouble, to live a perfectly blissful life in reward for this unparalleled accomplishment. Yet, no sooner had he walked through the door of his home than his hopes were shattered, with the discovery that his beloved wife had passed on. But Abraham accepted his fate, and did not question God’s justice.
Another powerful example of this kind of "test after a test" appears later in the Book of Bereshit, in the story of Yosef. Yosef was sold as a slave in Egypt, and worked in the home of a man named Potifar. Potifar’s wife set her eyes upon Yosef and persistently attempted to seduce him, every day over an extended period. Yosef, a teenager living away from his home and as the only Jew in the country, withstood the test and resisted temptation. Finally, Potifar’s wife grabbed Yosef, at which point he ran out of the house. Potifar’s wife angrily brought accusations against Yosef, and he was imprisoned for thirteen years.
Once again, a person who heroically overcame a spiritual hurdle had to then immediately deal with yet another crisis. Yosef could have expected God to reward him right away for his extraordinary discipline and resolve. Instead, he was thrown into an Egyptian dungeon.
What this teaches us is that the reward for great accomplishments is not always immediate. It sometimes happens that when a person performs an outstanding Misva, or takes a significant step toward enhancing his religious observance, some aspect of his life takes a turn for the worse, rather than for the better. The natural tendency is for a person to think, "What’s it all worth?" or "Why should I bother?" Many tests which we confront in life are followed by a "test within a test," an event that might lead us to question the value of our hard work and devotion. The inspiring stories of Abraham and Yosef teach us that we cannot expect immediate results. Abraham accepted the personal tragedy that he suffered immediately after the test of the Akeda, and Yosef did not question divine judgment when he was imprisoned after resisting Potifar’s wife. They recognized the inestimable value of their achievements, even if the reward was not immediately apparent. We, too, must recognize the importance of the Misvot we do and the tests we withstand, and patiently wait from the inevitable reward which we will ultimately receive.
