And the land did not bear them to dwell together (yachdav), for their possessions were many, and they could not dwell together (yachdav). (Breishis 13:6)
And Avraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder, and we will prostrate ourselves and return to you.” And Avraham took the wood for the burnt offering, and he placed – upon his son Yitzchok, and he took into his hand the fire and the knife, and they both went together (yachdav). And Yitzchok spoke to Avraham his father, and he said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” And Avraham said, “G-d will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And they both went together (yachdav). (Breishis 22:5-8)
and they both went together (yachdav): Avraham, who knew that he was going to slaughter his son, was going as willingly and joyfully as Yitzchok, who was unaware of the matter. — Rashi
And although Yitzchok understood that he was going to be slaughtered, “they both went together (yachdav),” with the same heart. – Rashi
There is an expression that sounds counterintuitive but as time goes by, it is making more and more sense to me; “Nothing fails like success!” Lot provides for us a classic example. Once he became wealthy, suddenly there was not enough room in all of Eretz Yisrael for his shepherds and Avraham’s shepherds to dwell together. From here we see that all it takes is one unscrupulous partner to disrupt the peace.
It’s fascinating that the verse uses the same expression two times, “They could not dwell together (yachdav).” Now, every time a word is used in the Torah it is conceptually connected to other places where the same word or cluster of words is used. Here we have a perfect sample with regard to the term “yachdav” – “together”. On the way to the Akeida that term shows up again two times but in a positive way, “VaYelchu Shneyem Yachdav”.
One time is in praise of Avraham who is keeping pace with Yitzchok who is unaware of the goal of the mission, and the second time is in praise of Yitzchok even after he is aware of where he is heading to.
Rav Hirsch points out that in Jewish living there is no such thing as a “generation gap”. Parents and children for thousands of years since, and Jewish families have been loyally and dutifully keeping Shabbos, donning Talis and Tefillin, and praying for generation after generation.
When money or power, or any selfish agenda is the goal of even one party then togetherness becomes impossible. When people have the same spiritual ambition there is no space between their hearts. When there’s room in the heart there’s room in the home. The Talmud in Tractate Sanhedrin says poetically, “When we had love we could live on the edge of a sword!”
At some point Avraham, the man of kindliness, had to part ways with Lot and when he did HASHEM prophecy returned, as it says, “And HASHEM said to Avram after Lot had parted from him, “Please raise your eyes and see, from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your seed to eternity. (Breishis 13:14-15) Keeping company with Lot caused more than strife. It blocked Avraham’s spiritual reception.
On the way to the Akeida Avraham had been walking for three days with Yitzchok, but there were companions escorting them, Eliezer and Yishmael. Only after they separated, “And Avraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder…”, does the Torah tells us about the unity of their hearts in a common mission. Bilaam prophetically described the Jewish People as, “Am levaded yishkon” – “a nation that dwells alone”. “Alone” here means separate from the influences of the nations of the world. We are a unified nation with a singular mission under the direction of HASHEM Echod! So, while we may seem alone and living on the edge of a sword, yet in the most important way we are never alone.