Monday, July 22, 2019

Are there any Jewish or Hebrew traditions that hold that the Passover and the binding of Isaac were on the same day (15 Nisan)?



Are there any Jewish or Hebrew traditions that hold that the Passover and the binding of Isaac were on the same day (15 Nisan)?


I answered this question on Christianity SE (Had the Catholic Church a tradition of commemorating Abraham's sacrifice?) and it got me to see if I could find a Jewish traditions that holds that Abraham's sacrifice occurred on the same day that Moses lead the Hebrew people out of bondage?


Does anyone know of any possible Jewish traditions on this line of thinking and their respected sources? I have been unable to find any.


I have always been interested in religious traditions and I mean no offence in asking this question, even though I be a gentile.


Related: Date of the Akeida? This question is not asking about a Binding of Isaac and 15 of Nisan tradition.



Answer




One of the sources that I quoted in this answer, a commentary by R. Yitzchak Meir Alter, indeed asserts that the Binding of Isaac took place on the first day of Passover, 15 Nissan. Below is the original Hebrew text in which he wrote this:


Chiddushei HaRim Al HaTorah, Parshat Vayeira



יצחק אבינו ע"ה נעקד בפסח ונעקדו עמו כל נשמות ישראל ונטהרו וזכו לקשר השבע מדות אל הקדושה בקשר אמיץ בכח העקידה וזהו וישב אברהם בבאר שבע היינו שבע המדות הקדושות ובכח העקידה שהיתה ביום ט"ו בניסן הי' לו ולזרעו אחריו כח קדוש לתקן את השבע דמדות במצות ספירת העומר שהוא שבע שבתות



The parts that I bolded are where he says, respectively:



Isaac our father, peace be unto him, was bound on Passover.



And:




The Binding, which was on the 15th day of Nissan



It should be noted, though, that this is a rather late source, and does not cite any earlier sources for its claim. The more mainstream view, as I cited in the above mentioned answer, appears to be that the Binding occurred on Rosh Hashana (1st of Tishrei) or Yom Kippur (10th of Tishrei).


It is possible that R. Alter was basing his claim on a passage from Exodus Rabba which states in reference to the month of Nissan:


Exodus Rabba Parsha 15



ובו נולד יצחק ובו נעקד


And in it Isaac was born, and in it he was bound




Indeed, R. David Luria explicitly cites this passage as saying that the Binding occurred on Passover:


Beiur Radal L'Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer 31:44



אבל באגדה דשמות פט"ו אמרו שהעקדה היה בפסח עיין שם


But in the Agadah of Shemot Parsha 15, they said that the Binding was on Passover; see there.



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