Gopal said that it was
Rabbi Ben Alexander
who wrote that Abraham
had failed his test in
being willing to kill Isaac.
Perhaps Abraham listened to
the God without rather
than the God within.
A beauty of Judaism
is that in the Torah
and the Talmud,
minority opinions
are not erased or
declared heresy
as they are in more
hierarchical faiths.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
I taught World Religions in a high school Humanities Program for nine years, Every year I wrestled with the Abraham and Isaac story. I sometimes used Kierkegaard's four questions to Abraham which are very provocative. One is: Why didn't you tell Isaac's mother you were going to kill her son? WOW. I am heartened by your poem which also raises questions, and most especially the rabbi who implies the God Within would never make such a test of obedience. And yet Abraham is the central figure in the three western religions, so the story, however dismaying, cannot be ignored. I am so impressed with the rabbis speaking with such candor and openness. And I thank you for your wonderful and liberating poem!