Parashat Toldot
Kislev 2nd, 5770; November 19th.
Parashat Toldot
Rabbi Shlomo Hecht yahadut.for.you@gmail.com
My rabbis, graduates of Yeshivat Mercaz Harav, were telling me about the Theory of their rabbi, Rabbi Zvi Yehudah Kook, regarding the book of Bereshit – Genesis.
According to this theory, Bereshit is divided to groups of two portions each. Two for the creation – (Bereshit and Noah); two for Avraham – (Lech lech and Vayera), two for Yitzhak, two for Yaakov, two for the brothers while separated, and two for the brothers together. This division has significance in understanding the focal point of each Parasha. But the biggest challenge of this theory resides in these potions – Yitzhak’s portion. The problem is that Yitzhak is almost completely absent in “his” portions. In Chaye Sara We do not see Yitzhak participating in Sarah’s mourning, neither do we see him takes a share in choosing his bride. Only in the end of Chaye Sara we see his first encounters with his wife, Rivka.
In our Parasha, Toldot, things are generally happening to Yitzhak, without his initiation. A large share of the Parasha goes to the birth and growth of the twins, and to the stealing of the blessings, where Yitzhak is passive and playing a secondary role. Only in the central part of Toldot we get to meet Yitzhak as the hero. Even there, he seems to be a faded copy of the glory of his father, Avraham. He does not fight with anybody, he does not reach out to the people around him, he does not have allies from the lords of the land, and even his wife is not taken away, where Sarah was taken away twice. Yitzhak prefers life of solitude and loneliness in the desert – in the valley of Grar, in the well of “Be’er Lachay Roee, and in the desert near Be’er Sheva. He does not like the city life in Hebron and Be’er Sheva itself, until later in his life.
Yitzhak demonstrates a Jewish person that prefers to withdraw into himself, and not to negotiate with the world. He is not like Avraham, that acts, changes, challenges the world around him, breaks the statues, converts the people and fights with the kings. He is also different from Yaakov that lives deep in the world – makes his way, fights with the angel, negotiate with Lavan and Esau, and steals the blessings.
Yitzhak does not want anything with the world around him. He lives alone, busy with his spiritual work and his living, and gives away any influence he could reach, in order to avoid the challenges and the heart breaks. That why we attribute Yitzhak with the attribute of Gvura, courage, that is related in Judaism to concentration, limitation, and self-restriction.
Not every person has the capabilities and the environment of Avraham. A situation where a person can really change his environment and make a real, significant action is rare. It is mostly applicable in new settlements and institutions. Even then, not everybody takes upon himself what is needed to make this change.
Most of us are in the situation of Yaakov. We need to act and operate within a given situation, and to do the best in the existing conditions. Yitzhak presents us with an alternative of withdrawing and choosing the isolation, in the purpose of gathering the required spiritual strength to come back and move forward. This solitude can be the Breslav seclusion, several minutes each day, it can be a several months sabbatical in a Yeshiva, and it can be the pause of several years of torah learning between the high school and life itself,
The ability to stop our rush through life, even at the price of giving up some grounds of power or money, is in itself what will give us a new base for our new momentum in g-ds worship. It is possible that eventually we will find ourselves, like Yitzhak, getting to that same position we could reach without this withdrawal, and even better, in a better mind, better shape and happier soul
Shabbat Shalom