The Babylonian Talmud (TaÕanit 15a) records that on fast days called in response to community suffering, for example, a drought, the Israelites prayed: “May He Who answered Abraham on Mount Moriah answer [us],” a prayer that is still recited as part of the Yom Kippur liturgy. The Jerusalem Talmud states that Abraham was praying for God to relieve him of the terrible command to kill his son (TaÕanit 2:4). While this tradition confirms that Abraham did wish to kill Isaac, we must try to understand the text as it is written, in which Abraham remained silent about Isaac until the end of the Akedah.
