Akedah as an Actual Sacrifice

Abstract

Akedat Yitzhak (The Binding of Isaac) is one of the most powerful and yet horrifying narratives of the Hebrew Bible, describing a sacrifice which was ultimately not performed, as Isaac was not slaughtered. However, over the centuries Jewish exegesis developed a controversial tradition in which Isaac was in fact sacrificed. This paper traces this tradition from Midrashic texts through Hebrew Crusade narratives into works by modern Jewish artists. The latter offer depictions of the divergent interpretation of the Akedah in the context of the Shoah (Marc Chagall) and in the context of Arab-Israeli conflict in the Land of Israel (Abel Pann). Discussing the complex treatment of the actual sacrifice in modern Jewish culture, the paper demonstrates how these artists engaged with an actual sacrifice at different stages of their artistic career as a way of depicting trauma either on the national or personal level.