The Binding of Isaac (Genesis 22) is one of the most dramatic and challenging narratives in the Hebrew Bible. It has served as a focal point of inspiration, controversy, and interpretation in both Jewish tradition and Western philosophy. This course explores the tension between divine command and ethical obligation as it emerges in the Akedah, tracing responses from classical rabbinic interpretation (Midrash Rabbah, Midrash Tanhuma) to modern and postmodern thinkers such as Philo, Maimonides, Kant, Buber, Kierkegaard, Lévinas, and Derrida. We will ask whether the apparent contradiction between ethics and religion can be reconciled, and if so, how. Special attention will be given to the hermeneutical and interpretive difficulties of the text itself, as well as to the way different traditions have read and re-read the story. Finally, the course will address the Akedah as a site of Jewish–Christian dialogue, raising broader questions about faith, morality, freedom, and interpretation across traditions.
- Kursleiter*in: Tomer Raudanski