Perhaps the most heart-wrenching story in all of the Torah is the Akeidah — the Binding of Isaac — which we read in this week’s parasha, Vayera. What could be more harrowing, more incomprehensible, and more painful than the command that a father sacrifice his beloved son upon the altar of God?
Throughout Jewish history, Abraham’s willingness to make this supreme offering has stood as the ultimate expression of faith and devotion — the moment when human love and divine obedience collided in an act of transcendent surrender. So central is this story to our religious consciousness that, on Rosh Hashanah, we invoke it in prayer: “Remember the Binding of Isaac for his descendants with compassion.” We plead that the merit of Abraham’s devotion awaken divine mercy upon us all.
But while God’s call to Abraham was unprecedented, it was not the last of its kind. When the Torah commands the people of Israel to conquer and settle the Land — “You shall take possession of the Land and dwell in it” (Numbers 33:53) — it offers no assurance of victory without loss. Implicit in this command is the sobering truth that fulfilling it may demand the lives of our sons and daughters. Indeed, even in the divinely guided conquest of Canaan, the Bible recounts battles that ended in failure and loss (see Numbers 14:40–45; Joshua 8; Judges 1:27).
So too in our own generation. The return of the Jewish people to our ancestral homeland and the establishment — and endurance — of the State of Israel have been made possible only through the courage and sacrifice of our soldiers. Yet this return has come at a difficult and painful cost. Nearly 25,000 of Israel’s soldiers have fallen in defense of our nation — and almost 900 since October 7 alone.
Thus, to live and raise children in Israel today is to do so with open eyes — to know that, at eighteen, our young men and women will be called upon to defend the people and the land, and that some will not return. Yet, it is a price that we who live here have accepted — not out of resignation, but out of conviction.
For some, this readiness to sacrifice stems from the belief that there is simply no other path to secure the future of the Jewish people in its homeland. For others, it flows from a sense of religious mission: that dwelling in the Land of Israel is a religious duty, and defending it — even at great personal risk — is likewise a religious duty. In this light, Abraham’s binding of Isaac was not a singular event frozen in time, but an ongoing divine summons that continues to echo through Jewish history and in the hearts of the defenders of Israel today.
This connection between the Akeidah and the sacrifice of our soldiers finds powerful expression in a song written by my gifted sister, Laya. Below are her Hebrew lyrics, followed by an English translation. You can listen to my audio recording on SoundCloud or on my website at davidharbater.com/music.
חַיָּל וּמְפַקֵּד
חַיָּל וּמְפַקֵּד הִתְקָרְבוּ לַקְּרָב
נֶגֶד הָאוֹיֵב הֶעָצוּם וְרַב.
בַּהֲצִיצָם לְמַעְלָה הִבְהִיק כּוֹכָב
וְהִדְרִיךְ אֶת שְׁנֵיהֶם שֶׁהָלְכוּ יַחְדָּיו.
בְּיוֹם הַקְּרָב הִגִּיעוּ לִמְקוֹמָם
וּרְאוּ אֵשׁ בּוֹעֶרֶת הָאוֹרָה.
שָׁאַל הַחַיָּל: “הִנֵּה הָאֵשׁ וְהָעֵצִים —
אַךְ אַיֵּה הַשֶּׂה לָעוֹלָה?”
וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ הַמְּפַקֵּד: “כֵּן, בְּנִי,”
בִּדְמָעוֹת זוֹלְגוֹת מֵעֵינָיו.
“אֱלֹקִים יִרְאֶה לּוֹ הַשֶּׂה לְעֹלָה,”
וַיֵּלְכוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם יַחְדָּיו.
וְהָאֱלֹקִים נִסָּה אֶת עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל
וַיֹּאמֶר לָעָם כֻּלּוֹ:
“קַח אֶת בִּנְךָ אֲשֶׁר אָהַבְתָּ וְהַעֲלֵהוּ קָרְבָּן לְעוֹלָה.”
A Soldier and Commander (English Translation)
A soldier and his commander drew near to the fight,
Against an enemy vast in might.
They looked above — a star shone bright,
And led them onward through the night.
On the day of battle, they reached their place,
And beheld the fire’s burning face.
Said the soldier: “Behold the fire and the wood —
But where is the lamb for the offering, as it should?”
And the commander replied, “Yes, my son,”
As tears from his eyes began to run.
“The Lord Himself will choose the lamb,
For the offering that He will command.”
And God tested the people of Israel,
And to the nation spoke His call:
“Take now your son, the one you love,
And offer him up — a burnt offering to Me above.”
May it be God’s will that, just as He did not ultimately require the sacrifice of Isaac, so too may He spare us from further loss — that no more of our young men and women need be offered upon the altar of war. And just as we plead on Rosh Hashanah for mercy in the merit of the Akeidah, may God have compassion upon us in the merit of our devoted soldiers — those who have fallen, and those who stand guard each day in defense of our people and our land.
Shabbat Shalom.
