Must One Believe In Absurdities?

On Rosh Hashana we read the parsha of the Akeida. The Ran [דרוש הששי עמ' ק"ו] says that the whole story of the Akeida could not have been possible if not for our faith in life after death:

שאם לא יהיה הגמול והעונש כי אם בעולם הזה, היעלה על הדעת שאברהם אבינו ע"ה יעקוד בנו יחידו מצד איזה ערֵבות מושגת בעולם הזה, למען יאכל אחר כך מעדנים? אבל לְמַה שידע כי ביחס הטוב המושג מאהבת ה' יתברך, אשר הוא החיים הנצחיים, כל הטובות המוּקשוֹת אליו כאפס ותוהו - בז ליצחק, וקל בעיניו הטוב הגדול אשר היה לו בן. הנה אין ספק שאחר המעשה הזה שעשה עמודו של עולם לא יסתפק שום משכיל כי יש לנפש גמול נכבד בעבודתו יתברך, אשר לא ישוער ולא ידומה.

Says the Ran - If all of the reward was in this world, could it be possible that Avraham would sacrifice his son?? He is going to kill his son in order that Hashem give him a nice Ferrari and house in the Hamptons?! Can't be. It must be that there is life after death and since as a reward for the Akeidah, Yitzchak would receive this amazing reward, it was worthwhile. For how can one compare the pathetic reward in this world to what we have in store for us there in the sublime world of the souls? This is a incontrovertible proof for reward in our life after death.

So is that it?? The whole Akeida was in order to get some Olam Haba???

Rav Chasdai Kreskas [אור ה' עמ' של"ד] cites his Rebbi the Ran and then says:

"מפורסם לאברהם אבינו ובניו ותלמידיו כמו שקיבל משם ועבר, ונתאמת אצלו בייעוד בעניין העקדה, כי אחר שהובטחו אברהם ויצחק באומרו כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע, (ו)אלמלא שהיה אפשר לשלם לו ולהחליף הטוב המדומה בטוב האמיתי, לא היה ענין לה"

Avraham had a tradition from Shem and Ever that there was life after death and this was corroborated by the test of the Akeidah. For after Avraham was promised that a great nation would come from Yitzchak, how could he be commanded to sacrifice him??? If not for the fact that he was destined to receive  much greater reward for sacrificing his son, it wouldn't have been possible to receive such a command.

So again - the Akeidah was just about getting Olam Haba???

I saw the following suggestion: Some say that Avraham was ASKED to perform the Akeidah and not commanded [קח נא - please take your son and sacrifice him]. So Hashem said - Be mochel on the reward of having a great nation for the faaaar greater reward of Olam Haba. Otherwise, the Akeidah won't make sense and Hashem's commandments have to make sense. As Rabbi J.D. Bleich writes: "Judaism does not teach that God requires of man a "leap of faith" in the Kierkegaardian sense, i.e. blind faith to the extent of acceptance of the absurd. It teaches, rather, that God's beneficence assures man that his diligence and perseverance will ultimately lead to understanding and intellectual satisfaction".

This is an important principle. Many Christians believe BECAUSE their faith doesn't make sense.

Crucifixus est Dei Filius,

 non pudet, quia pudendum est;

et mortuus est Dei Filius, prorsus credibile est, quia ineptum est;

et sepultus resurrexit, certum est, quia impossibile.— (De Carne Christi V, 4)

"The Son of God was crucified: there is no shame, because it is shameful.And the Son of God died: it is by all means to be believed, because it is absurd. And, buried, He rose again: it is certain, because impossible."

They believe BECAUSE it is absurd. 

Or in Latin: Credo quia absurdum - I believe because it is absurd. 

Ahhhhhh!!!

We aren't far off. We ALSO believe that other religions are absurd. And that is why we DON'T believe in them:-). 

We believe in Torah because it makes sense. The Akeidah had to make sense. The Ran and Rav Chasdai say that the only way it made sense is if we believe in life after death.  

We learn gemara and it has to make sense. If it doesn't, we keep learning until it does. We ask questions on the Chumash because it has to make sense. TORAH HAS TO MAKE SENSE. [Saying that it is a גזירת הכתוב also makes sense. Hashem doesn't have to explain EVERYTHING to us. It makes sense - just not to us here and now]. 

The Kuzari says:

"חלילה לאל מהיות דבר התורה סותר עדות דבר הנראה עין בעין או דבר שהוכח במופת שכלי", ובמילים אחרות: "יש הבדל בין אומרנו שהנבואה למעלה מהשכל האנושי, ובין אומרנו שהיא סותרת השכל... אומרנו שהנבואה למעלה מן השכל הרצון בו שיש דברים רבים יוודעו מצד הנבואה ואי אפשר שיוודעו מצד המופת [השכלי], לא שהדברים שיחייבם המופת [השכלי] תכחישם הנבואה.

Prophecy is not AGAINST logic but ABOVE logic. What logic can't perceive - prophecy can. The Torah is true and logical, it just takes time to understand the depth of the logic.