"I will remember my covenant with Yaakov, and also my covenant with Yizhaq, and I will remember my covenant with Avraham" (26: 42).
There is no need to remember the covenant in the case of Yizhaq because (Rashi explains) "the ashes of Yizhaq appear before Hashem, gathered, and placed on the altar".
Rashi seems to be saying that remembering is an occasional matter. Sometimes one remembers and sometimes one's mind is elsewhere. That is the situation with the covenant of Avraham and Yaakov. Hashem promises that the covenant will be remembered because it might be forgotten. However, the covenant with Yizhaq can never be forgotten. The ashes of Yizhaq are gathered and placed on the altar, and Hashem is always turned in the direction of the altar. He does not need to remember.
The gemara (in bracchot 62b), explains a verse in Chronicles I, "when He was about to destroy, Hashem beheld, and he relented of the evil" (21: 15). What did Hashem behold? Rav says that he saw our father Yaakov! Shmuel says that He saw the dust of Yizhaq. This we are told is the reference in Bresheit: "Hashem will show him [future tense] a lamb for a burnt offering" (22: 8).
In fact, in another verse of the story of the sacrifice of Yizhaq, Rashi makes the point again. "Avraham called the place 'Hashem yireh (will see)', as it is said this day: Hashem will be seen on the mountain" (22: 14).
Rashi notes (based on the medrash, Tanchuma 23): "On this day in all the future generations, the ashes of Yizhaq will be seen, still piled up as if he had actually been sacrificed, and this will be atonement for the people of Yisrael".
The remembrance of the ashes of Yizhaq, which, in fact, do not really exist; after all, Yizhaq agreed to have himself sacrificed but Hashem did not allow it. Nevertheless, it is a though the ashes do exist. An existence which has its source only in the Mind of Heaven, according to Rashi, does not have to be remembered, but is always present in consideration of the fate of the people of Yisrael.
In the view of Heaven, it doesn't matter that Yizhaq was not sacrificed. For Hashem there is perfect knowledge that he would have allowed himself to be sacrificed, and therefore the memory in Heaven is not that Yizhaq might have done it but that he actually did. In Heaven, there is a pile of dust on the altar which is permanent and comes from Yizhaq's sacrifice.
The covenant on the other hand needs to be remembered. This implies that the people do not always deserve consideration. They might not deserve to be remembered as parties to the agreement. Therefore the three Avot (fathers) together make the contract (covenant) ironclad. Avraham and Yaakov are the signers of the contract and guarantee that it will be remembered in times when merit is eclipsed. Yizhaq, however, is not simply part of the overall covenant arrangement. Yizhaq has independently assured a merciful judgment for the people by his compliance with Hashem's will at the sacrifice. The notion of remembering Yizhaq's sacrifice is unnecessary, even incorrect.
Gut Shabbos, Chaim Brovender
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