Second of the three patriarchs. The son of Abraham and Sarah, he was the only patriarch to live his entire life in Eretz Israel. Isaac symbolizes the quality of resignation to the Divine will in Judaism, because he readily accepted God's command that he be sacrificed by his father. The story of Abraham's binding of Isaac to the altar is also interpreted as the supreme example of martyrdom, the readiness to sacrifice oneself for God's sake. The institution of the Minhah (afternoon) prayer is attributed to Isaac's having meditated in the field toward evening (Gen. 24:63).
