Summary of parashat Rosh HaShanah
God remembers Sarah and gives her and Abraham a son, who is named Isaac, whose meaning is "he will laugh"; Abraham is 100 years old and Sarah is 90. Isaac is circumcised on the eighth day.
Hagar and Ishmael are cast out of Abraham's house and wander in the desert; God hears the cries of the dying boy and saves his life, showing his mother a well of water. The Philistine king Abimelech makes a covenant with Abraham at Beersheba.
God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son on Mount Moriah (the Temple Mount) in Jerusalem. Isaac is bound and placed on the altar, and Abraham raises the knife to slit his son's throat. A voice from heaven calls him to stop, telling him that this was only a test; a ram, whose horns were caught in a thicket, is offered in Isaac's place.
