Toldot (Beresheet: 25:19 - 28:9) part 1 skip to part 2
These are the toldot (offspring) of Yitzchak, son of Avraham Avraham begot Yitzchak. (Beresheet 25:19) The obvious question to this verse is; Why the repetition of Avraham's name? We already have been told that Yitzchak is the son of Avraham, so why does the Torah have the need to further continue with "Avraham begot Yitzchak." The Torah could simply have saved words by stating, these are the offspring of Yitzchak, son of Avraham, and then list the offspring.
There are various answers given by our Sages. One brought down by the Talmud and the Midrash, is that since Sarah was old when she had Yitzchak, and she had just returned from being in the presence of Abimelech, the possibility arose that the people could have slandered Avraham and Sarah by assuming that Avraham was not capable of giving Sarah seed, thus the child, Yitzchak, is from Abimelech, rather than from Avraham. To avoid this, Hashem made Yitzchak's features resemble strongly those of his father, Avraham. Thus, the Torah implies this by stating that he "is" the son of Avraham, and without a doubt, as anyone cans see, "Avraham begot Yitzchak."
Another answer to our question, brought forth by the Midrash, is that "Yitzchak was crowned with Avraham and Avraham was crowned with Yitzchak." Each was the others pride. It is well understood within the esoteric that Avraham represents the attribute of kindness, while Yitzchak represents the attribute of fear, and stringency. This is also a form of communication, or worship, fear and love. Each one of these attributes also branches out into two other levels.
There is the lower level of fear. This level pertains to a fear of harm, personal damage or punishment for sinning against Hashem. There is the higher level of fear, which pertains to ones simple desire to not sin, for fear of becoming separated from the Shechinah (Divine Presence). The lower love is a love which is connected to an ulterior motive. A love driven by reward, i.e., if I do this, it will go well with me. There is the higher love which has no ulterior motive. One only performs the mitzvot because it is the will of Hashem. No questions asked and no answers needed. But how does this Chassidic insight relate to our verse?
If we focus on the order of the names, as they are presented to us by Torah, we see; Yitzchak, Avraham, Avraham, Yitzchak. When man worships his Creator, he may tend to start out with a lower fear [Yitzchak]. This will then lead to a lower love [Avraham]. Then, he will worship with a higher love [Avraham], and ultimately, he will achieve a perfect service, with a higher fear [Yitzchak]. Even though one may start to worship Hashem for ulterior motives, one will eventually come to do so for it's own sake. This process of service is inherited within all of the descendants of Avraham and Yitzchak, for all of Am Yisrael (Nation of Israel) is a descendant of our Patriarchs, and thus, we all have the capacity and the obligation to ascend on High.
In the Zohar, there is a symbolic allusion to the Neshamah (Divine Soul) when the Torah refers to Avraham, and likewise, there is an allusion to the body when referring to Sarah. In Beresheet 23:2, the Torah writes; "Sarah died," meaning the body expired, ceased to function. "Avraham arose above the face of his dead." This alludes to the Neshamah which then rises, leaving the body, and hovering above it, for the Neshamah is eternal. The Torah then continues with Yitchak, which means laughing or rejoicing. This alludes to the pleasure which the soul will receive in the World to Come. So, the verse could be understood as; Pleasure will be the reward to the soul (Yitzchak, the son of Avraham) in the World to Come, if the soul begets pleasures (Avraham begat Yitzchak) by way of its service in this world.
How can there be so many understandings of one verse? Truth of the matter is that there are many more, and they all combine to form one truth, and one insight. This is the general rule, and it is always applicable. When one verse in Torah has multiple interpretations, they are all connected, even though on the surface they may seem to bear no relation to each other whatsoever.
There is one proof of this with the Mishnah, in a section which deals with Sha'atnez (this is the forbidden mixture of wool with linen). The Torah uses the word Sha'atnez to explain this forbidden mixture, and the Sages teach us that this word is actually a combination of three words; Shuah (combed), Tavui (spun), and Nuz (woven). Thus, since the Torah combines these three words to form one word, we also understand that a cloth must meet one of these three specifications in order to be classed as sha'atnez (forbidden mixture). The wool and linen must be combed, spun, and woven together for it to be forbidden to wear. Thus, one may wear linen pants and a wool sweater, as long as one is not fastened to the other in one of the three mentioned fashions. From the above example we can see that if we are to learn a connection between separate letters from separate words, that they combine to form one word, how much more so words and verses which are all in order, but have different understandings. How do all of our above interpretations combine to form one general understanding?
In the Chassidic explanation, we can see that the two poles must be unified in order to ascend to a perfect service, one of perfect love and perfect fear. We also see that both of these attributes are essential in forming a whole, and complete communication, or worship. Love and fear have been compared to a birds wings, one side being love, and the other fear. When they are both perfect, the bird can fly, if the bird only has one of the two wings, he cannot lift himself off of the ground. On one side, man must have a clean and perfect love for Hashem and Torah, as mentioned above, and this will be kept in line by his perfect fear - the fear of separation.
The Zohar, in its explanation of body and soul, relates to us that our service in this world will create spiritual pleasures of which will become revealed to us in the World to Come. How can we understand our first explanation from the Talmud and Midrash, how does this apply to Divine service? Both of these explanations take us outside of the realm of natural order. In the normal course of nature, Avraham and Sarah could not have had a child at their old age. In Beresheet 15:5, when Hashem told Avraham that he would have a son, the Torah says; "He brought him outside." In other words, as our Sages teach, this is an allusion to, "Go out of your rational thought, leave your astrological speculations aside, this is not an issue of nature, but of Divinity... The Divine is above nature, for the 'laws' of nature are set by the Divine."
Continued in part 2 or go back to the top of the page
