Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Toledoth - 25

Toledoth 25:19
וְאֵ֛לֶּה תּוֹלְדֹ֥ת יִצְחָ֖ק בֶּן־אַבְרָהָ֑ם אַבְרָהָ֖ם הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־יִצְחָֽק׃
And this is the history of Yitzchok son of Avraham, Avraham fathered Yitzchok
Our Sages already deal with the issue that we already know from the previous Parsha that Yitzchok is the son of Avraham. Why does this pasuk need to tell us that again, and then repeat it?
It would appear that the first statement, "Yitzchok son of Avraham," is teaching us that Yitzchok was identical to Avraham in terms of his appearance and conduct, that he followed the path of God to engage in acts of justice and righteousness as did his father. The latter part of the pasuk "Avraham fathered Yitzchok" is there to explain why it was that Avraham merited to father a child who was just like him. He had this child after he was called אברהם, AvraHAm, after the letter ה was added to his name and he was infused with the Schechina which is frequently symbolized with the letter ה. The presence of the Schechina was a direct result of his circumcision, because prior to his circumcision, before the ה was added to his name, when the Schechina was not completely infused within him, he fathered a son like Yishmael. 


Toledoth 25:21
וַיֶּעְתַּ֨ר יִצְחָ֤ק לַֽיהֹוָה֙ לְנֹ֣כַח אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ And Yitzchak prayed to God towards his wife
When he prayed he faced and focused upon her. He wanted her to know that he cared about her and loved her completely, and had no intentions of taking another wife because she was childless.

Toledoth 25:23
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה לָ֗הּ שְׁנֵ֤י גיים גוֹיִם֙ בְּבִטְנֵ֔ךְ וּשְׁנֵ֣י לְאֻמִּ֔ים מִמֵּעַ֖יִךְ יִפָּרֵ֑דוּ וּלְאֹם֙ מִלְאֹ֣ם יֶֽאֱמָ֔ץ וְרַ֖ב 
יַעֲבֹ֥ד צָעִֽיר׃
And God said to her, there are two nations in your stomach and two nationalities will separate from your womb. One nation will struggle with the other and the younger will serve the elder.
Perhaps this message was delivered by an intermediary, namely Shem, who then passed the message on to her. It is also possible that she prophesied as she was a righteous woman who was fit for prophecy. The usage of לה, to her, indicates the message was delivered directly to her.
I would suggest that God wanted to speak directly to her in order to calm her. He creates peace in the heavens and surely He can make peace in the womb of this complete woman. The word of God filled the womb of this fine woman and quieted the strife.
These two גוים, nations, the progenitors of two great nations, incorporated within themselves all of the sparks (spiritual DNA) of the nations they would beget. For this reason the word used in the written Torah is spelled גיים (rather than גוים, as it is pronounced) and understood by the Sages to mean גאים, exalted ones, as the first ancestor is exalted and incorporates within itself all the sparks of its offspring.
Our Sages further teach us that these two גאים are represented by Antoninus and Rebbe. They represent these two nations in peace and harmony with each other, with Antoninus, the Roman emperor, humbling himself before Rebbe and learning from him to symbolize the future times when the best of Edom will bow before Israel in order to rectify the world.

No comments:

Post a Comment