Yitzhak is perhaps the most mysterious of all the Avot. We hear very little about him compared to his father and sons. His defining moments are all passive; he is given a bris milah, unlike his father who circumcised himself; he is taken up to Har Moriah and bound to the altar; a wife is taken for him. Perhaps most emphatically, when he is to bless his first-born-son, he sits (seemingly) passive as Ya’akov, thinly disguised and with his own voice, receives the blessing Yitzhak thought he was giving Esav.
The truth is that Yitzhak is passive because he is allowing the Higher Divine Will to channel through him. What is this Divine Will? It is the one that was grasped by Avraham, the master of Hachnasat Orchim, bringing in guests. Who is the Ultimate Guest? Hashem, who, as the Ba’al Ha’Tanya states, only wants to have a dwelling place in the lower regions. Yitzhak fully digested this aspect of Avraham’s chesed, kindness. Really, at this point, the line between Avraham’s outward kindness and Yitzhak’s restraint are quite blurred. Avraham, to allow for “guests,” had to commit an act of total restraint and contraction to make space for them. This blurred line is alluded to in the first verse of the parsha: “These are the generations of Yitzhak son of Avraham, Avraham birthed Yitzhak.” Yitzhak fully embodied the ideals of his father. However, the world did not need another Avraham.
Yitzhak saw the truth and necessity of Hashem’s Will, and he was therefore able to allow himself to be used in whatever capacity necessary for that Ideal to be realized, climaxing in giving the blessing to Ya’akov. Readers might tend to wonder, “How could Yitzhak not have known what was going on? He was a prophet! He was one of the forefathers!” This claim is compounded by the idea, “And Ya’akov -- how could he lie?!? He was a prophet! He was one of the avot!”
If you say that Ya’akov wasn’t lying, then you need Rashi, who explains Ya’akov’s response to Yitzhak’s “Who are you?”, which is (unpunctuated) “I Esav your firstborn”, (to mean, with punctuation,) “It is I. Esav is your first born.” So if we hold like Rashi, that Yitzhak wasn’t lying, and assume that Yitzhak knew the thinness of Ya’akov’s near-lies and was still willing to let it happen, then we see Yitzhak’s amazing trait of restraint (internal gevorah) which allows that Something Greater to channel through “him” and into the world. Emes. Truth! The blessing goes to………..Ya’akov.
Let us simply assume that Yitzhak did not know it was Ya’akov in Esav’s clothing. When Ya’akov walked into the tent, he felt his hands tingling with Hashem’s ruach. When Ya’akov attempted his deception, Yitzhak was able to trust in the Divine Will that had put the tingle of blessing in his hands and look beyond his sensory perceptions. This might be a higher level of restraint than to consciously allow one’s self to be used; that is, to know one is being used, to know deeply that one can let go of one’s own desire to steer his life in a certain direction; can let go of his attachment to his senses, trusting that the One who commanded him, “And do not follow after your hearts and after your eyes”, knows better than he does what must be done by him. For there are matters that are only externally determined by what happens on the surface – the real substance occurs below the surface.
Kislev, as described by Nechama Nadborny in The Twelve Dimensions of Israel, is a month of vision. She encourages us to achieve and constantly refine a vision of redemption that we might strive toward realizing in our lives. “As we envision the perfection and completion of redemption we may gain insight into the individual role we may fulfill in joining that process rather than working against the fulfillment of Divine Will.” This is like Yitzhak’s being inspired by Hashem’s Will as revealed to Avraham, that is, having a dwelling place in the lower speheres. Nadborny writes “The true vision appears when one becomes a clear vessel to receive, devoid of personal yearnings or desires. To be sure, complete objectivity is impossible to reach. We must therefore continually review our goals and re-evaluate the influences that are shaping our visions. This involves looking at our immediate life-situation as well as the information that is shaping our perceptions.” The truth is, in giving ourselves solid, non-negotiable goals/visions of ourselves, we are vastly limiting ourselves. “When we refuse to let go of our fantasies, we block the blessings that we are capable of receiving . Even in our wildest fantasies we are willing to accept self-imposed limitations.” As we have discussed, expectations prevent us from being able to receive Hashem’s new and perfect, custom-made Influx. An example is “Last shabbes was the greatest. I only hope that this week’s can be as good as last week’s.” Such a hope actually limits the possibility of a constant newness, which is one of the greatest blessings one can receive. It implies a lack of bitachon, trust. This lack of trust in the possibility of growth and expansion reveals itself in the attempt to play out certain past moments that sit, idealized, in the memory; this can be a serious hazard to relationship, with brothers, texts, self, prospective/ present wife, and especially Hashem. We must be able to let go of our ideas of goodness in order to let the Higher Will play over and through us. Yitzhak was able to re-evaluate; he thought he was to bless Esav. Ya’akov came before him. He did not resist-
-Just as a tree does not resist as its’ leaves fall. It does not hold on to an eternal vision of bearing fruit. It recognizes that there is a need to let this year’s fruit and foliage fall, and to fold itself inward. As winter comes, cold, dark and dreary, even frightening and claustrophobic, so does rain come, cold, damp and foreboding. The decay of fall mixes with the waters of winter to nurture what will be next year’s greenery. So too our sprit, as it has struggled to flower even amidst the drought of summer, the spirit that has grasped real, tangible teachings, truths, and results, must now release its grasp on them and let them fall. For they are not the end. Just as last year’s acheivements and patterns have become old, so too will this year’s. Holding on to old ideas, patterns, and habits is what creates tension and stress, the main ingredients of the illnesses that besiege us this time of year. If we are not able to let go willingly, Hashem will put us in bed and give us a good long time to meditate on letting go. To let go willingly, we must trust ourselves that our spirit has grasped the essential core of what we have attained and has successfully integrated what must be integrated, and that what falls away is only that which carried that core. That carrier, which is psolet, waste, can now be allowed to fall and break down into its elements and be integrated into the body that will soon bear new, more exciting fruits. We cannot hope that this fallen waste will be fruit again – we can, however, hope that what once was a taste of newness that inspired us to move into unknown territory can now become a solid part of the tree that will bear new fruit which will inspire us to move into unknown territory, etc. This process of clarification, birrur, is essential for one who wants to be a part of realizing Hashem’s will in the world. In order to effectively clarify, one must bite off only as much as he can chew, chew and process it with one’s own G-d-granted means (the 32 teeth of wisdom) until it can be properly integrated into the body, and then swallow and allow his non-conscious bodily functions to digest what can be used and refuse what must be refused. The organ associated with this month, the large intestine, is involved in the removal of that which cannot be used.
Yitzhak epitomized this avodah by allowing Hashem to constantly determine his reality for him. This required amazing levels of restraint, just like Avraham was required to do when he was forced to restrain his hopabout his son Yitzhak and his understanding of what Hashem had told him would come of his son when he heeded the Divine Command to take his beloved son and bind him upon an altar. I bless us all that we should have the clarity to know when to hold on to our dreams and goals and expectations and when to let them go in favor of the Higher that lies beyond.
The Ba’al Ha’Tanya says that, though Avraham’s main task in the world was Hachnasat Orchim, bringing guests, i.e. Hashem, into his home, Yitzhak’s main task was the digging of wells. Interestingly, the wells Yitzhak digs at first are wells that his father dug and that the Plishtim filled in and covered over. Often we are inspired for a moment, i.e. discovering a well, and then the inspiration leaves us – the well of living waters of inspiration is covered over. We must be willing to dig these out again, for they are not fruits which should go at season’s end, but rather they are waters that will flow and nourish eternally. Hagar’s well appeared to her in moment of thirst – we often find the deepest wells when we are only seeking a moment’s satiation. But these wells, accesses into that which is more eternal, can and must be drawn from again and again – for ourselves and to quench the thirst of our friends AND their camels. The dust that the Plishtim use to fill it is like the fruit’s outer shell that must decay naturally. The livingness of the living waters is dammed by grasping too tightly to the origianl form from which the “livingness” first occurred and thereby deny the process that opens new possiblities for vitality. When Hashem gives us the gift of newness, we must refine our ability to examine what was given to us, to separate out what can and must be used eternally and what must be tossed away or allowed to decay. That eternal aspect, which will again and again take on new forms, will require again and again the act of clarification. This is a refined aspect of gevurah, to have the patience and courage to find new inspiration in what already has been given, through hard work and trust in the process. If we can cultivate this ability, then we cease constantly needing new flashes of insight and vision to be inspired.
Rav Gavriel Goldfeder
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Rav Gavriel Goldfeder is one of the first semicha recipients of the yeshiva. A graduate of Drew University in Religious Studies, he came to Bat Ayin after stints in other yeshivot and found a spiritual and intellectual home. Here he met his wife, Ketriellah, who was a student in our short-lived Women's Yeshiva. Upon graduation, Gavriel took the position of rabbi of the Aish Kodesh Congregation in Boulder, Colorado and together with Ketriellah and their growing family, they are busy creating (in Gavriel's words), "a community infused with Torah values, passion for learning and prayer, consideration of one another, and action, as well as deep celebration of the joys of life." |