Vayeira 22:13 · unit 1

Parashas Vayeira · Passuk 22:13

The Complete Passuk

וַיִּשָּׂ֨א אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֶת־עֵינָ֗יו וַיַּרְא֙ וְהִנֵּה־אַ֔יִל אַחַ֕ר נֶאֱחַ֥ז בַּסְּבַ֖ךְ בְּקַרְנָ֑יו וַיֵּ֤לֶךְ אַבְרָהָם֙ וַיִּקַּ֣ח אֶת־הָאַ֔יִל וַיַּעֲלֵ֥הוּ לְעֹלָ֖ה תַּ֥חַת בְּנֽוֹ׃

And Avraham lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, a ram behind, caught in the thicket by its horns; and Avraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt-offering in place of his son.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Yerushalmi Taanis 2:4.

TT lemma: איל אחר.

Sefaria — Yerushalmi Taanis

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
אַיִל אַחַר. מַהוּ אַחַר? אָמַר רַבִּי יוּדָא בַּר סִימוֹן [אָמַר לֵיהּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְאַבְרָהָם] אַחַר כָּל הַדּוֹרוֹת עֲתִידִין בָּנֶיךָ לְהֵאָחֵז בַּעֲוֹנוֹת וּלְהִסְתַּבֵּךְ בְּצָרוֹת וְסוֹפָם לְהִגָּאֵל בְּקַרְנָיו שֶׁל אַיִל הַזֶּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וַה׳ אֱלֹהִים בַּשּׁוֹפָר יִתְקָע.

English: “A ram behind (achar).” What is “achar”? Rabbi Yuda bar Simon said: [The Holy One said to Avraham,] After all the generations your children are destined to be caught in sins and entangled in troubles, and in the end they will be redeemed by the horns of this ram, as it is said, “And the Lord God will sound the shofar.”

On the daf / in context: The ram caught by its horns becomes the prototype of the shofar of future redemption; “achar” is read as “after [the generations].”

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Yerushalmi) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The word “achar” and the ram’s horns are projected onto the eschatological shofar.

What Is Learned

The ram of the Akeidah, caught by its horns, foreshadows the future redemption of Israel by the shofar; after the generations of entanglement, they will be redeemed by those horns.