Chasidut sobre Génesis 25:2

Everything in nature seeks to return to its root. So as well is a child always attracted to his parental home. Home as the source of one’s life has the quality of a root, and branches are attracted to their roots. Consider the strength of the bond between father and child. The father is the source of the son, he is a root, and the son is an offshoot. Since the attraction to source is so powerful the son seeks to emulate his father and earn his father’s approval.¹⁰²Tzion Ve-Arehah, pg. 31. Similarly every man is attracted to his wife, and when single he feels forlorn and incomplete. This too stems from the need to reconnect to one’s roots. Before birth each soul is a duality, with a male half and a female half. When we are born, only half of a soul enters the world at a time. There is another half, of the opposite gender, that is born into another family. The urge for marriage is a desire to return to the perfect state, the most natural form in which we were originally created. Marriage is not a union of disparate individuals; it is a reunion of the halves that were initially one soul.¹⁰³See further Made in Heaven, pg. 1, note 1. The primordial unity of souls is hinted at in the verse hemmah me-hevel yachad, “They are together from mist.” Since the point of mere soul mist, male was together with female. Perhaps this concept can explain a difficulty that is found in Rabbinic sources about mar-riage. Legal authorities stress that marriage should be performed with symbolic omens of blessing. For instance, ideally one should marry at the beginning of the lunar month when the moon, the symbol of the Jewish nation, is growing in luster. Second, there is a widespread custom to place the wedding canopy under the stars, the artifact of God’s blessing to Abraham that Jews will be as plentiful as the celestial lights. Yet the Rabbis derived the laws of marriage from the purchase of the machpelah cave, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, where Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah are interred. Can a cemetery and death be a good omen? The answer is yes, the machpelah cave indicates the heights of union married individuals can reach. Marriage is not merely a partnership of bodies and lives, it is a reunion of souls. As a result it does not have to end. The body stops living at the point of death but the soul lives on and a marriage where husband and wife are fully connected to each other, continues after death. Even in the next world the two souls are fused. That is why our patriarchs and matriarchs were buried as couples in the same cave, to indicate that during their lifetimes they had fully fused their person-alities, and therefore the bond fully continued on a soulful level after death. Perhaps the name Chevron (where the machpelah cave is located) reflects this concept, since Chevron stems from the word chibbur, “connection.” Deriving the laws of marriage from the purchase of the machpelah cave is a wonderful omen, showing that in marriage an absolute unity can be achieved during the lifetime of the couple and that union can continue after physical death (Emunas Etecha, Parashas Vayetze, pg. 86).
Every nation’s root is their homeland; that is why Englishmen are loyal to England and Americans are loyal to America. The root of the Jewish nation is the Land of Israel. That is why Jews are innately attracted to the Land of Israel. In the realm of person, the roots of the Jewish people are our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God introduced Himself to each with commandments about the Land of Israel. God’s first words to Abraham were Lech lecha, “Leave your land, birthplace, and family and go to the Land that I will show you [Israel]” (Gen. 12:1). To Isaac, He said, “Do not go down to Egypt; reside in the land that I will command you to stay there. Stay in this land [Israel]” (Gen. 25:2-3). And Jacob’s first message was, “I am the God of Abraham…. The land that you are lying on will be given to you and your descendants” (Gen. 28:13). Since the land of Israel is the root of the nation in the dimension of space, in the dimension of people our roots first began their relationships with God through hearing of the bond to the land (Emunas Etecha, Parashas Lech Lecha 5759).
The ultimate redemption will return Jewry to their land and thus will return us to our root. Since marriage is also a return to the root, marriage is the symbol of the redemption. That is why in the blessings celebrating marriage the seventh blessing requests the ultimate redemption. At a time of return to a root it is fitting to pray for the ultimate return to the Source. Thus, the prophet Jeremiah promised, “Once again it will be heard in the cities of Judea and in the outskirts of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness, the sounds of groom and bride, the sounds of people declaring, let us thank God” (Jer. 33:10-11).

In mysticism, the different colors along the spectrum symbolize different Divine attributes.¹²⁸See further Meditation and Kabbalah, pgs. 179-183. The color white symbolizes chesed, unbridled generosity and love. The color red represents din, “harsh justice.” Mitzvos aseh require us to take actions; we must extend ourselves to express our love for God. What we do is the basis of who we are; thus our deeds provide added life to the white bones, the body part that frames a person’s form and shape. Mitzvos lo ta’aseh are injunctions, forbidding acts that are injurious to our spiritual well-being. Observance of these laws entails constriction, pulling oneself in, and refraining from what our sensory urges seek. Scrupulous adherence to the commands of Mitzvos lo ta’aseh is thus an exhibition of din—fear and justice—setting boundaries and rigorously maintaining them.¹²⁹Our forefather Abraham was the ultimate paradigm of chesed, Heavenly giving and love. Abraham even sought to perform kindness with idolators and the sinners of Sodom (see Parashas Vayeira). Since mitzvos aseh are expression of giving, extending oneself for God’s sake, Abraham is the personification of mitzvos aseh. The gematria of Avraham (1+2+200+5+40) is 248, which is the number of mitzvos aseh.
Isaac was the paradigm of din (sometimes called gevurah), setting limits and constriction. Isaac’s greatest moment was when he allowed himself to be bound on the altar, an act of remarkable discipline and withdrawal. Isaac is the personification of mitzvos lo ta’aseh. As a result, when God first appeared to him and gave Isaac a Mitzvah to live in the Land of Israel, it was phrased as a prohibition, “Do not go down to Egypt, stay in this land…” (Gen. 25:2). (Emunas Etecha, Lech Lecha, 5759.) The goal of Mitzvos lo ta’aseh is to preserve the spiritual well-being of the person; thus they parallel sinews that tie the muscles to the bones and maintain the person.¹³⁰The nefesh part of the soul is the part that has 613 “pieces” that correspond to the various body parts. See also Maharal in Tiferes Yisrael, Chapter Four. Rabbi Chaim Vital in Sha’arei Kedushah, Sha’ar 1. Da’as Tefillah, pgs. 97-98, Razei Ha-Bosem, pg. 154.