Rosh Hashanah

On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Torah reading focuses on our Patriarch Isaac's birth. The reading begins with the words, "And G‑d remembered Sarah." According to the Talmud, G‑d "remembered" Sarah, and chose to bless her with a child, on Rosh Hashanah. This is one reason why we read this story on Rosh Hashanah. However there is another important reason. We blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, but this points to a prophetic time when the “great shofar will be blown” to announce the return of Mashiach. It is said that the left horn of the ram that was caught in the thicket that was to replace Isaac a sacrifice was used as the shofar that was blown on Mt. Sinai, and the right horn will be used as the shofar to herald the coming of Messiah. There are many other allusions to Yeshua in the Rosh Hashanah Torah reading.

Genesis 21:2 says that “Sarah conceived and bore a son to Avraham in his old age.” This was one of many miraculous births in the Bible and Jewish history. The prophet Samuel was also a prayed-for baby who was born to a barren woman. Jewish legend even attributes Moshe’s birth to miraculous circumstances. A supernatural conception in the Bible means that the child born has a special destiny and purpose in Hashem’s plan. There was an early Jewish sect called the Ebionites that believed in Yeshua but rejected the virgin birth narrative. Many in the Jewish world have casted doubt on the credibility of the virgin birth and have discounted it by saying that the Bible doesn’t require the Messiah to be born of a virgin. However if our greatest heroes in Judaism like Moshe and Yitzhak were brought into this world under miraculous circumstances, why should we not expect any less of Messiah, since this role is such an important figure in Judaism, so much so that belief in Messiah was included in Rambam’s 13 principles? Of course the miracle of Yeshua’s birth surpasses the audacity of Isaac’s miraculous birth, but this is fitting since the Messiah’s role and destiny also surpasses Isaac’s role in Judaism.

Another place that the sages saw Messiah is in the naming of Isaac. Isaac’s name in Hebrew is Yitzhak, which means ‘he shall laugh’ or ‘laughter.’ A midrashic work attributed to R. Judah ha-Nasi entitled “Pirkei deRabbeinu HaKadosh” quotes Psalm 126:2, “Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with joyful song,” and calls Messiah by the name Yitzhak, saying:

Perhaps Messiah is called Yitzhak because there truly is a connection between the miraculous birth of Yitzhak and Yeshua. Both Sarah and Miriam (Mary), the mother of Yeshua, were delighted at the birth of their miracle babies.

Genesis 22:1 states, “Now it came about after these things, that Hashem tested Avraham, and said to him, "Avraham!" And he said, "Here I am."” The great commentator Rashi wrote of the phrase “Here I am” in this passage, saying, “This is the reply of the pious. It is an expression of humility and an expression of readiness [Tan. Vayera 22].” How wonderful would it be, if we could be like Avraham Avinu here. Instead of fighting God’s will, or coming up with excuses of why we can’t do what Hashem wants, we can be like Avraham, and simply trust Hashem and submit to his will. It’s difficult, but this is the example that our Father Avraham has set for us. And Hashem chose Avraham because of his willingness to obey, and also because he would direct his descendants to follow God’s ways after him. Indeed we as followers of Yeshua are part of Avraham’s descendants, both the native-born Israelites, as well those who convert and turn to the One True God just as Avraham did.

Hashem says to Avraham in Genesis 22:2, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac.” Our sages teach that there are no superfluous words in Torah. Every single one is meaningful. Yeshua emphasized the same and even stated that every single letter and stroke mark - jot and tittle - would not pass away. The Talmud exposes the curious language used in this dialog between Avraham and Hashem. Below is the dialog that went on between the two according to Jewish legend:

This legendary dialog shows how profound the sages saw this one verse was. Rabbinic legends expound on the unique relationship that Avraham and Yitzhak had. Hebrews 11:17 says that Yeshua was the “only begotten of the Father.” Now we don’t take this literally, as we do not believe there was any sexual intercourse involved, but this language is used in order to portray the special relationship between Yeshua and the Father that no one else has. Yeshua is the kabbalistic Adam Kadmon that was the perfect image of God that all other humans were modeled from, including Adam Rishon, the first Adam. This is why I Colossians 1:15 calls Yeshua “the first-born of creation.”

In one legend, scoffers said, “The child is Sarah’s, but not Abraham’s. Abraham is too old to sire a son. Surely this is the son of Abimelech.” To disprove these scoffers, God made the face of Yitzhak to be the splitting image of his father Avraham so that no one would question again who was the father. This reminds us of Yeshua’s words when he said “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” Yeshua had such a profound and positive effect on people that people could not deny that Yeshua was unique and sent of the Father to do His will.

Hashem tells Avraham in Genesis 22:2, “Go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” “Go to the land” is actually the Hebrew phrase “Lech lecha.” This is literally “go for yourself” or “go to yourself.” Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 22 states, “The final test is related to the first test. Just as the first test began with the commandment, ‘Go forth [Lech lecha] from your land,’ so too the final test began with the commandment ‘Go forth [Lech lecha] to the land of Moriah.”” Avraham’s first test that showed his trust and faithfulness and worthiness to God was that he was willing to leave his home and his family to a land he knew not and never was able to attain during his own life. The last test was his willingness to give up his greatest pride and joy, his only son, to serve Hashem which showed how much he loved God.

Jewish tradition teaches that the Akeida, the binding of Isaac, foreshadows the sacrifices of the temple that was to later be built at the same place that Isaac was bound on Mt. Moriah, and that all the sacrifices point back to that time as well. A Talmudic legend, in Zevachim 62a, says that when the men of Judah returned from captivity to rebuild the temple, they could not determine the precise spot on which the altar had stood until, by some miraculous vision, they saw the ashes of Isaac lying on that place. Then they knew that they had found the site on which to rebuild the holy altar. The Amidah that we recite as Jews every day portray the special relationship between the Akeidah and the Temple sacrifices. The morning prayers include a recitation of the sacrificial services. We recite the Akeidah as well as verses that describe the ceremonies surrounding the sacrifices like the priests washing at the laver and the splashing of blood on the altar. Before sounding the ram’s horn on Rosh Hashanah, the shofar-blower prays, “May you be filled with mercy for your people and may you regard the ashes of Isaac, our forefather, that are heaped upon the altar.”

There are many parallels between Yitzhak and Yeshua. One interesting parallel between Yitzhak and Yeshua is from this unassuming verse in Genesis 22:3 that states that “Avraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey.” Rashi says that “The donkey Avraham saddled for the binding of Yitzhak is the same donkel that Messiah, the King, is destined to be revealed up on, as it says [in Zechariah 9:9], ‘Humble and mounted on a donkey.”’

Most Christians teach that Yitzhak was a young boy when the Akeidah happened. However the Hebrew follows the Jewish view that Yitzhak was actually closer to Yeshua’s age when Yeshua was sacrificed on the cross. Genesis 22:5 reads, “And Abraham said to his young men (nearim), "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad (naar) will go yonder, and we will prostrate ourselves and return to you." The terms used for ‘young men’ that refer to Avraham’s servants and ‘lad’ referring to Yitzhak are actually the same only the first one is in plural form. This term ‘naar’ refers to an unmarried young man or eligible bachelor of marriageable age. Jewish tradition states that Isaac was in his thirties, around the same as Yeshua. They were both willing to lay down their lives as a sacrifice and both strong enough to refuse. As Yeshua said, “I lay down my life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from me, but I lay it down on my own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again [John 10:17-18].”

Genesis 22:6 states that “Avraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.” The Midrash Rabbah, Genesis Rabbah 56:3 hints to Yeshua about this verse saying “Like one who carries on his own shoulder the stake on which he is to be executed, Isaac carried the wood.”

Jewish legend even states that Yitzhak died and was resurrected like Yeshua did! Hebrews 11:19 alludes to a midrash about the Akeidah, saying “Avraham considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received Isaac back in a parable.” The ‘parable’ referred to is a popular midrash based on Genesis 22, that says,

Although many other parallels can be seen, let us close our time together with the one about the “ram caught in the thicket by his horns” in Genesis 22:13. Yeshua is the “Lamb of God,” slain from the foundation of the world.” Rashi states that this ram was “prepared for this since the six days of Creation.” Its horns would become the 2 shofars used by God, at Sinai when the commandments were given, and at the coming of Messiah. The midrash states,

L’shana tovah! A good year to all and may we remember the sacrificial humility of Yitzhak and Yeshua when we hear the shofar blasts this Rosh Hashanah, and may Hashem bring Messiah soon to rebuild the temple and establish the Messianic era of peace.