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Heneini, Abraham dutifully responds to the voice of his God. “I am here” to do your bidding and kill my son.
Three biblical generations later Joseph similarly declares to his father Heneini—I am here. This time, though, the presence of God is interiorized. There are no external voices of a deity, and Joseph's generativity is internally derived. He is the first biblical character to have the capacity to mourn. He and his father Jacob are the first father-son pair to weep together. Nathan Szajnberg's book explores the implications of this evolution from intergenerational violence to meaningful emotional connection between father and son.