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Nov. 9th, 2005 03:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mari4212Religion class got cancelled for the day. Apparently, Dr. Stein is sick. That means that since I really liked the readings for today and wanted to discuss them with someone, I'm going to discuss them with you guys.
We've been reading over some more modern midrash, focusing on the book Sisters at Sinai, by Jill Hammer, a collection of midrash that focuses on the women for the most part. Today we were going over the section on mothers. There were four stories, but the one that sticks in my mind the most is one called "The Switch". It deals with what is one of the hardest biblical passages to come to terms with, the near sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. The way she aproaches it is from the perspective of the angel Michael. She has him be upset and unsure about this test, and actually trade places with Satan, so that Satan is the one to tell Abraham to continue, while he attempts to dissuade Abraham. And in the end, Abraham is portrayed as having failed the test, because God wanted him to object to this cruelty, as he did earlier to the proposed distruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Even the blessing Abraham recieves is a lesser blessing than the one he would have gained if he had refused, for the one he gained was that he would be victorious over his enemies, while the one he would have recieved was that he would have no enemies.
Now, do I believe that this story is how it happened? No, probably not. But what are the implications of this midrash? What questions does it raise? Certainly for me this image of God is easier to understand, and easier to accept. But how does this change of the perspective of the story change the message that we take from it? Is that change of perspective good or bad?
We've been reading over some more modern midrash, focusing on the book Sisters at Sinai, by Jill Hammer, a collection of midrash that focuses on the women for the most part. Today we were going over the section on mothers. There were four stories, but the one that sticks in my mind the most is one called "The Switch". It deals with what is one of the hardest biblical passages to come to terms with, the near sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. The way she aproaches it is from the perspective of the angel Michael. She has him be upset and unsure about this test, and actually trade places with Satan, so that Satan is the one to tell Abraham to continue, while he attempts to dissuade Abraham. And in the end, Abraham is portrayed as having failed the test, because God wanted him to object to this cruelty, as he did earlier to the proposed distruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Even the blessing Abraham recieves is a lesser blessing than the one he would have gained if he had refused, for the one he gained was that he would be victorious over his enemies, while the one he would have recieved was that he would have no enemies.
Now, do I believe that this story is how it happened? No, probably not. But what are the implications of this midrash? What questions does it raise? Certainly for me this image of God is easier to understand, and easier to accept. But how does this change of the perspective of the story change the message that we take from it? Is that change of perspective good or bad?
