Akeidah sweetens din through bittul

בענין העקידה שכתב בזוה"ק לאכללא ימינא בשמאלא דכתיב עושה שלום במרומיו מיכאל מים גבריאל אש והקב"ה עושה שלום ביניהם וכמו כן אלה הצדיקים אברהם ויצחק שהי' מדת כל אחד מהופך מחבירו ובמעשה העקידה נעשין אחד והכל הי' כדי למתק הדין.

Regarding the Akeidah (Binding of Yitzchak), as is written in the holy Zohar: "to include the right within the left," as it is written, "He makes peace in His heights" (Iyov 25:2) — Michael is water, Gavriel is fire, and the Holy One, blessed be He, makes peace between them. So too these tzaddikim, Avraham and Yitzchak, whose individual middah (trait) was the opposite of the other's, yet in the act of the Akeidah they became one — and all of this was in order to sweeten the din (judgment).

The Sefas Emes draws on the Zohar's image of Hashem fusing the opposing forces of water (Michael, chesed) and fire (Gavriel, gevurah). Avraham embodies chesed and Yitzchak gevurah; at the Akeidah these two opposites were united, and the purpose of that union was to sweeten and temper the force of strict judgment.

כדאיתא עלה במחשבה לבראתו במדה"ד וראה שאין העולם מתקיים ושיתף עמו מדה"ר כי מדתו של יצחק היא הגבורה וכתיב לא חשכת ממני כו'.

As it is brought: it arose in [Hashem's] thought to create [the world] with the middas hadin (attribute of strict justice), but He saw that the world could not endure, so He joined to it the middas harachamim (attribute of mercy). For Yitzchak's middah is gevurah (severity), and it is written: "you did not withhold [your son] from Me," etc. (Bereishis 22:12).

Just as Hashem tempered strict justice with mercy so that the world could survive, so too the Akeidah involved Yitzchak's trait of gevurah. The verse praising Avraham for not withholding his son reflects this confrontation with strict din.

כי הי' ח"ו התגברות החושך לולי מעשה העקידה.

For there would have been, God forbid, an overpowering of darkness, were it not for the act of the Akeidah.

Without the Akeidah, the forces of darkness and harsh judgment would have grown too strong in the world.

וז"ש חז"ל שנקרא יצחק בן מביש שבייש א"ה ע"ש פ' חיי שרה.

And this is what Chazal said: that Yitzchak is called "the son who shames," for he shamed the nations of the world — see Parshas Chayei Sarah.

Chazal's description of Yitzchak as one who "shames the nations" alludes to how his gevurah, channeled through the Akeidah, overcame the claim of the nations rooted in darkness.

והרמז כי סבורים האו"ה להתאחד בחושך מכח מדתו של יצחק וע"י שעקד עצמו לפני אאע"ה נתמתק הדין והחושך ברחמים.

And the hint is that the nations of the world think to attach themselves to the darkness by drawing from Yitzchak's middah; but through his binding himself before Avraham Avinu, the din and the darkness were sweetened with rachamim (mercy).

The nations seek to draw power from the side of strict judgment and darkness associated with gevurah. But because Yitzchak willingly bound himself in self-sacrifice, that severity was transformed and tempered with mercy, leaving the nations no hold.

ובמדרש אמור צדקתך כהררי אל משפטיך תהום כו' ע"ש הענין והוא בחי' אברהם ויצחק כי מצד מדת יצחק הי' צריך להיות כל אדם מוסר נפשו לשחיטה בפועל ממש אך נעשה התיקון ע"י הביטול והכוונה ומביאין קרבן בהמה ומצרף הקב"ה מחשבה למעשה.

And in the Midrash on "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your judgments are a great deep" (Tehillim 36:7) — see the matter there. This is the aspect of Avraham and Yitzchak: for from the side of Yitzchak's middah, every person would have had to literally give up his soul to actual slaughter; but the tikkun (rectification) is accomplished through bittul (self-nullification) and intention, and one brings an animal korban (offering), and the Holy One, blessed be He, joins thought to deed.

"Your righteousness" (chesed of Avraham) towers like mountains, while "Your judgments" (gevurah of Yitzchak) run as deep as the abyss. By the strict measure of Yitzchak's trait, a person would owe his very life. But Hashem allows the rectification to come through inner bittul and sincere intention, accepting an animal offering in place of one's own life, for Hashem counts a person's heartfelt intention as if it were the deed itself.

וכן שמעתי מפי מו"ז ז"ל על מאמר תדב"א כל האומר צפונה לפני ה' הקב"ה זוכר לו עקידת יצחק כו'.

And so I heard from the mouth of my grandfather, of blessed memory, on the teaching of Tanna D'vei Eliyahu: whoever recites "tzafonah" (the laws of the offering slaughtered on the north side) before Hashem, the Holy One, blessed be He, remembers for him the Akeidah of Yitzchak, etc.

The Sefas Emes cites a teaching he heard from his grandfather (the Chiddushei HaRim): when a person reads the passage of the korban brought on the north side of the altar, Hashem recalls the merit of the Akeidah on his behalf.

שבזו הפעולה נעשה שיהי' הקרבן בהמה מרוצה כמסירת נפש ממש:

For through this act it comes about that the animal korban is accepted as favorably as actual mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice).

By recalling the Akeidah, the offering of a mere animal is received before Hashem as though the person had literally surrendered his own life.

Summary: At the Akeidah the opposite middos of Avraham (chesed) and Yitzchak (gevurah) were fused into one, sweetening the force of strict judgment and darkness with mercy. By the measure of Yitzchak's gevurah a person would owe his very life, but Hashem accepts inner bittul, sincere intention, and an animal offering in its place — joining thought to deed — so that recalling the Akeidah renders even an animal korban as beloved as true mesiras nefesh.