Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen are among the greatest songwriters of the 20th century. Both are Jewish, both draw on the biblical story of the sacrifice of Isaac. Yet while Dylan questions Abraham’s obedience, Cohen gives the son a voice — Isaac’s voice. Two songs, two perspectives, and an uncomfortable question: How far can faith go?
What would we say today if a father claimed that God had commanded him to kill his son? Would we admire him for his faith or call the police? And what would the son actually have to say — the one who is supposed to lie on the altar? These are precisely the questions posed by two of the most significant Jewish songwriters of our time, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. Both grapple with one of the most harrowing stories in the Bible — the burnt offering of Isaac, known in Hebrew as the Akedat Yitzchak — עקדת יצחק. And both engage deeply with this sacred story.
Imagine the 1960s: the hippies are heading to Woodstock, singing about love and...
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