Why did Avraham argue with G-d about Sodom but not about his son's sacrifice?

Question

Are there any Mefarshim who commented on why Avraham chose to advocate on behalf of Sodom when G-d tells him that the city will be destroyed, but chose to remain silent and just accept the decree when he was told to sacrifice his son?

Answer 1

I hope you'll accept my memory lapse as to who said it, but I once saw one of the mefarshim say that by Sedom, Avraham was "tipped" as to the fact that he should advocate, as he figured "why else would G-d be telling me if not that I am supposed to do something about it?" (Similar as to how Moshe knew to "argue" with Hashem about destroying the Jewish people after the cheit ha'egel.) But by the akeida, there was no such message, because he was the key player involved and there was no reason he shouldn't have been told.

On another note, someone once pointed out to me that in Selichos, one of the aneinus is addressed to "He Who answered Avraham on Har HaMoriah" - the only time we know of that Avraham went to Har HaMoriah was for the Akeida, and a teacher of mine suggested that he was being answered on a request to spare Yitzchok.

Answer 2

My rav explained: (IY"H, when I see him next week, I will ask him where he got this source, and edit it.) For now, the explanation sounds credible. Sorry - I don't want to reveal his name...

Child sacrifice was common and customary at that time. Therefore, Avraham did not protest the request. Yes, Avraham probably was pained that he would have to sacrifice his own son, but, as he was devoted to G-d's commandment, he surmised that since this was something that everyone else did, it wasn't unusual of G-d to request this of him.

As a matter of fact, this was part of the "test". Hashem tells him at the end, Breishit 22:12 , "NOW I know that you are a G-d fearing person...". Didn't G-d (the angel) know all this before? But, it was to prove that BECAUSE Avraham was G-d fearing, this was the reason that Avraham sacrificed his son, and not because everyone else did it and he was following local custom. In other words, by doing so, Avraham made clear to everyone in the future that Jews DON'T sacrifice their children.

Answer 3

Perhaps the answer is gleaned from this take on the Akeda, which is from a drasha I wrote for Parashat Vayera 5785:

The test of the Akeda is something that the Torah gives to his credit, but it is we who are baffled, and wonder how Avraham could have done it. Sacrificing one’s child is of course the issue, and is something we see as barbaric and horrible today. We would at least expect Avraham to protest, and do so reluctantly, yet we find that he did it with out any hesitation, and with joy. This gives him a bad name sometimes, chas veshalom, especially among more secular people. What can we say to defend him?

As many commentaries point out, one must try to get into the mindset of the times, and turns out it is not that hard. At the time, it was a common belief that one should sacrifice their child, and it was considered as a moral thing to do. Back then, people believed that the ultimate kindness one can do for their child is ensure they have a successful afterlife in the highest of heavens. The priests and shamans of the time would indeed teach that this would happen for children who were sacrificed properly to the right god in the right way. Therefore there was tremendous peer pressure on parents to go with the moral of the time, and go ahead with it. We see something similar even today, with parents, due to secular ideology and morality in our zeitgeist, are being pressured to do things that we would consider wrong, to their children. They really do believe that they are doing the right thing, and are very scared to be cancelled or called horrible parents for not doing it. It is indeed a tremendous challenge.

Avraham would always speak against this. His message was effectively: you are wrong! This is not good for your child! It does not send him straight to the highest of heavens, and even if it did, that is not what Hashem wants. He wants us to live a full life down here, and never kill each other. We earn our Olam Haba through performing Mitzvot down here on earth, and you are ruining it for your child, as well as committing a terrible sin!

He was ridiculed and laughed at for this, and accused of being immoral. Peer pressure, and society can be a very great test, as we see even today.

So when Hashem came to Avraham and told him to sacrifice Yitzchak, the challenge wasn’t just about losing Yitzchak. Actually, the big challenge was, was Avraham wrong? What about his life’s work? His reputation? Can you imagine Hashem coming and asking you to transition your kid into a korban? How is it going to be possible to continue telling people not to do this, if he himself has done it? He was of course sad about losing Yitzchak, and tested to see if he would doubt Hashem’s brachas, yes.

But we now can understand that he wasn’t a monster, who didn’t care about his child. In fact, the opposite, on the inside he was thinking “wow, Yitzchak really is going to go to the highest of heavens, what a privilege!” Indeed the Alshich on his commentary on the Akeda describes that Moriah was the link point between heaven and earth, and the mizbe’ach that Avraham built was positioned right under the heavenly mizbe’ach, and indeed Yitzchak’s Neshama was going to be offered directly to Hashem Himself. The Chida explains in detail the benefit Yitzchak would get out of this.

So, the test wasn’t a test of love, and Avraham wasn’t a terrible parent. He was the greatest of all parents because he actually did speak to Hashem, and had every reason to believe that Yitzchak was going to gain a tremendous amount from this test (see Or Hachaim); indeed for Yitzchak, it wasn’t even considered a test for this reason.

So, Avraham’s main worry was whether he would be able to continue his mission in life, according to Rabbeinu Bachaya, Saadia Gaon, to teach people about Hashem, and educate them about Hashem’s Will, which was against Avodah Zara, and child sacrifice. In the end, Avraham going to do the Akeda, and then being told “No” by Hashem, was the best way to convey the message that Hashem doesn’t want child sacrifices. It reached far and wide and now everyone knew that Avraham was being honest.

So, turns out, whenever we look a little bit deeper at the events in the Torah, even the negative ones, we find tremendous depth and insight into the gadlut of the Kadmonim.

tl;dr Avraham didn't protest because this action was not perceived as a "punishment" in the zeitgeist of the times. It was seen as a wonderful opportunity for Yitzchak to go straight to the highest heavens and greatest Olam Haba. The test was actually that Avraham thoguht Hashem didn't want that, as he had been trying to convince others his whole life. See this shiur, for Rabbi Manis Friedman explaining this idea.

Answer 4

This is a good question, but some more facts need to be taken into consideration:

1. Avraham sacrificed himself in אור כשדים jumping into the fire, we need a source that explains why sacrificing his son is any harder.

2. Itzhok was 37 and lived with his parents. Maybe Avrohom didn't love him "so much" after all and needed to push him out? _{As you can see, I don't accept anything for granted.}

3. We don't know what exactly G-d said to Avraham that made him comply so fast. Tora's description is very scarce only mentioning "וְהַעֲלֵהוּ שָׁם לְעֹלָה" - no mentioning of a bloodshed at all. It was Avrohom's idea to cut the boy (the grownup, sorry).

4. Obeying to a prophecy is a Mitzvah, and Avrohom did it every single time - leaving Ur Kasdim, circumcising himself and his family, sacrificing his son and more. This behavior is consistent with Avrohom, so the only question left should be on arguing about Sodom, not about the Akeidah.

5. The Gemmorah in Sanhedrin 89b states that Avrohom did argue with G-d about the Sacrifice if you like:

את בנך ב' בנים יש לי: את יחידך זה יחיד לאמו וזה יחיד לאמו אשר אהבת תרוייהו רחימנא להו את יצחק וכל כך למה כדי שלא תטרף דעתו עליו

God said to Abraham: “Please take your son, your only, whom you love, Isaac” (Genesis 22:2). When God said: “Your son,” Abraham said: I have two sons. When God said: “Your only,” Abraham said: This son is an only son to his mother, and that son is an only son to his mother. When God said: “Whom you love,” Abraham said: I love both of them. Then God said: “Isaac.”

Now to the "real" answer:

According to Ariz"L (don't remember exactly where) here's an explanation in simple English:

1. Itzhok was 37 and he was "stuck" in life (as he was all Gevurah/feminine etc. That's why he looked so different from Avraham that others started to question his fatherhood. As Avrohom was Chessed). He was so Gevurah he couldn't procreate (we already know that) and therefore make the continuation of the Jewish nation G-d promised to Avrohom.

2. In his prophecy, G-d clearly explained to Avraham that the only way to change the situation was by making a "serious remake" to Itzhok's soul by an extraordinary event of taking his soul out (for the treatment). So he will become a "man" and procreate.

3. The plan worked out so well G-d needed to stop Avrohom from actually hurting his son because Itzhok played along and his soul flew away before the damage.

4. G-d made necessary adjustments to his soul, taking his feminine part out and making Rivkah's soul (don't ask me how).

I don't understand still why it was so hard for Avrohom to explain this to Sarah.