Parshas Vayeira – I Know What I Know

The Midrash Rabah in Bereishis reveals to us a conversation the Sattan (Samael) had with Avraham Avinu on his way to the akeida, in a last-ditch effort to dissuade him from doing it. The Midrash says:

“Samael came to our patriarch Avraham. He said to him:
‘Old man, old man – have you lost your heart? Are you going to slaughter the son who was granted to you at the age of one hundred years?’

He [Avraham] said to him:
‘It is with this understanding [that I am going].’

He [Samael] said to him:
‘Tomorrow, He (Hashem) will tell you that you are a shedder of blood because you shed the blood of your son.’

He [Avraham] said:
‘It is with this understanding [that I am going].’”

The Yefei Toar explains their conversation. He says Samael was claiming that Avraham never got a nevuah, he made up on his own to do the akeida and that he is a murderer. And what was Avraham’s response? “‘It is with this understanding [that I am going].’” In other words: I hear what you are saying, but I know what I know.

Rav Hennach Leibowitz highlights the simplicity and depth of Avraham’s reply, because although Avraham was as smart and as sure as he was, and certainly capable of defending his position with more substantial evidence and elaborate arguments, he nevertheless chose to curb his conversation with Samael, lest he shake his certainty and cast even the slightest doubt about what he was doing.

This chazal should be used as the playbook for our personal challenges because sometimes the best way to win over the Yetzer Harah is by acknowledging his position but showing him that we are sure about what we know.

This tactic is also very effective for dealing with fear and anxiety which our imagination (Yetzer Hara) causes us to think are very real and extant. We are not smart enough to disprove him, but we can acknowledge his position, show him that we are sure about what we know, and LIVE through our fears and anxieties.

For example, in a situation where a person afraid of heights needs to walk across a suspension bridge, their yetzer harah will plant a fear and claim that it is not safe because they may fall. As soon as that thought enters their mind, it must be acknowledged, but dismissed because although I can’t disprove the possibility that I will fall, I know what I know, which is that I am safe, and now I will cross the bridge.

Have a wonderful Shabbos!

Have a wonderful Shabbos!

Rabbi Anton