Q&A: The Binding of Isaac as an Example of a Conflict Between Morality and Jewish Law
The Binding of Isaac as an Example of a Conflict Between Morality and Jewish Law
Question
I heard in several of the Rabbi's lectures (on YouTube) the example he gives from the Binding of Isaac—that sometimes we will need to choose Jewish law over morality.
What does not fit for me with the view the Rabbi presents is that morality too comes from the divine source. The reason it does not fit is that, unlike the way we study Jewish law today, which is built on analytic techniques, and therefore Jewish law has nothing to do with morality (in the Rabbi's view), the word of God to Abraham—which was the source of both the halakhic and the moral dimension—should have been both halakhic and moral. So it is not clear to me how, in this example, the Rabbi presents a separation between the moral and the halakhic.
Answer
It has nothing to do with the question of how we study Jewish law. The disconnect between it and morality is a result of examining its contents. I wrote columns about this, and you can look at them. For example, 541.
Discussion on Answer
I answered everything and referred you to the relevant column.
You addressed part of the question. The question was about the command to bind Isaac. If the Holy One, blessed be He, is the source of morality and the source of Jewish law, then when He speaks to us in a direct command, the command should be both halakhic and moral; it cannot be only one of them. This duality exists on our side; for us there is such a thing called Jewish law and such a thing called morality. And if what I wrote is correct, then the command of the Binding of Isaac and its morality are not clear to me—unless we go with canceling the axis of time, meaning that in the end the Holy One, blessed be He, did not really want an actual binding. But then the question would arise again that we could always say to listen to Jewish law because somewhere along the timeline, morality will eventually fall into place…