Exciting and new. Spontaneous. Pioneering. Who comes to mind when we use these words? Now try thoughtful, rooted, devoted. Different people? This week in Toldot we deepen our understanding of Yitzchak, our forefather who, it seems to me, is thoughtful, deliberate, devoted and reliable in ways that perhaps we do not celebrate nearly enough.
His own story, the one he controls for himself after the Akeidah, actually began last week. As Rivka arrives to marry him, we are told that “Yitzchak had just come from the vicinity of Be’er-lachai-roei, for he was settled in the Negev region / וְיִצְחָק֙ בָּ֣א מִבּ֔וֹא בְּאֵ֥ר לַחַ֖י רֹאִ֑י וְה֥וּא יוֹשֵׁ֖ב בְּאֶ֥רֶץ הַנֶּֽגֶב׃.” (Gen. 24:62) This place is known to us from an event that occurred before Yitzchak was born, when Hagar fled Sarah’s mistreatment. Hagar finds herself by a well when an angel assures her that she will be protected, and she therefore “called the name of the Lord who spoke to her ‘you are El-roei,’ because she said, ‘I see that I am seen.’ Therefore the well was called Be’er-lachai-roei / וַתִּקְרָ֤א שֵׁם־יְהֹוָה֙ הַדֹּבֵ֣ר אֵלֶ֔יהָ אַתָּ֖ה אֵ֣ל רֳאִ֑י כִּ֣י אָֽמְרָ֗ה הֲגַ֥ם הֲלֹ֛ם רָאִ֖יתִי אַחֲרֵ֥י רֹאִֽי׃ עַל־כֵּן֙ קָרָ֣א לַבְּאֵ֔ר בְּאֵ֥ר לַחַ֖י רֹאִ֑י.” (Gen. 16:13-14) Then, after Yitzchak and Rivka marry, they return there to settle down. (Gen. 25:11)
What draws Yitzchak to that place, of all places? In Dirshuni, a collection of midrashim written by women, Ayala Tzeruyah prompts us to, “Look at how much Yitzchak loved Hagar / צאנה וראינה כמה אהב יצחק את הגר.” (p. 41) This was true even though they were not related, and he could have been justified in not feeling particularly connected with her. Tzeruyah highlights that Yitzchak showed this love at the same time we see “how much he honors his mother Sarah / וכמה כיבד את שרה אמו.” This, of course, is demonstrated when Yitzchak first meets Rivka and promptly “brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he took Rivka as his wife. Yitzchak loved her, and found comfort after his mother’s death / וַיְבִאֶ֣הָ יִצְחָ֗ק הָאֹ֙הֱלָה֙ שָׂרָ֣ה אִמּ֔וֹ וַיִּקַּ֧ח אֶת־רִבְקָ֛ה וַתְּהִי־ל֥וֹ לְאִשָּׁ֖ה וַיֶּאֱהָבֶ֑הָ וַיִּנָּחֵ֥ם יִצְחָ֖ק אַחֲרֵ֥י אִמּֽוֹ׃.” (Gen. 25:67)
Yitzchak's qualities of being thoughtful, rooted and devoted are frequently demonstrated in other ways as well. As the parsha begins, we are told, “these are the toldot of Yitzchak; Avraham gave birth to Yitzchak / וְאֵ֛לֶּה תּוֹלְדֹ֥ת יִצְחָ֖ק בֶּן־אַבְרָהָ֑ם אַבְרָהָ֖ם הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־יִצְחָֽק.” (Gen. 25:19) The word toldot, usually understood to mean descendants, instead refers here to Yitzchak’s father. In other words, Yitzchak’s future – his legacy – is defined by his past. When Rivka has difficulty conceiving, we are immediately told “Isaac pled with the Lord for his wife, because she was infertile; and the Lord was receptive and his wife Rivka conceived / וַיֶּעְתַּ֨ר יִצְחָ֤ק לַֽיהֹוָה֙ לְנֹ֣כַח אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ כִּ֥י עֲקָרָ֖ה הִ֑וא וַיֵּעָ֤תֶר לוֹ֙ יְהֹוָ֔ה וַתַּ֖הַר רִבְקָ֥ה אִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃.” (Gen. 25:21) And when Yitzchak needed water, “he dug the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham…, and he gave them the same names that his father had given them / וַיָּ֨שׇׁב יִצְחָ֜ק וַיַּחְפֹּ֣ר אֶת־בְּאֵרֹ֣ת הַמַּ֗יִם אֲשֶׁ֤ר חָֽפְרוּ֙ בִּימֵי֙ אַבְרָהָ֣ם אָבִ֔יו…, וַיִּקְרָ֤א לָהֶן֙ שֵׁמ֔וֹת כַּשֵּׁמֹ֕ת אֲשֶׁר־קָרָ֥א לָהֶ֖ן אָבִֽיו׃.” (Gen. 26:18)
As I reflected on the character of Yitzchak, I was somehow reminded of a Midrash that Rashi actually connects with the first time that Bnei Yisrael are attacked by Amalek: “A man carried his son upon his shoulder and went out on a journey. The son saw something and said, ‘Father, pick up that thing and give it to me,’ and he gave it to him, and thus a second time and third time. They met a certain man to whom the son said, ‘Have you seen my father anywhere?’ His father said to him, ‘Don’t you know where I am?’ He therefore took him off of him and a dog came and bit him.” (Ex. 17:8; Tanchuma Yitro 3)
Why did this (somewhat harsh) Midrash come to my mind, I wondered. Yes, both the boy and Yitzchak stood on the shoulders of their ancestors. However, unlike the boy, Yitzchak was acutely aware and showed deep appreciation for the proverbial shoulders he was on. So what lesson, if any, can be learned by connecting the Midrash to our context here? Perhaps when Avraham bound Yitzchak on an altar and was poised to sacrifice him, he was like that boy whose father took him off his shoulders. Maybe, for Yitzchak, that moment was the equivalent of being bitten, as it were, when he was shown the challenging and potentially dangerous side of faith in God. Yes, as a result, Yitzchak likely appreciated God more, just as the child in the Midrash. But even more than that, he grew up to be a thoughtful, rooted and devoted person. By displaying these qualities, Yitzchak set an example for us all.
Shabbat shalom!
Rabbi Jack Nahmod
Middle School Judaic Studies Head (Ivrit/Limudei Kodesh/Tefillah)
