Comentario sobre Génesis 26:12

בארץ ההוא IN THAT LAND although it (Gerar) had not the sacred importance of Erez Yisroel proper — i. e., as the territory of the seven nations, and is therefore not as fertile as the Holy Land (cf. Ketubot 112a).

בארץ ההיא, even though the soil of this land is exceptionally hard;

ויזרע יצחק בארץ ההיא, in accordance with G’d’s instructions “גור בארץ הזאת” (verse 3)

מאה שערים, ויברכהו. one hundred fold; G'd blessed him. Since we have a general rule that anything that is measured does not qualify for a blessing, the Torah here informs us that G'd blessed Isaac's harvest even though the amount of his harvest had been measured. The Torah also wanted to tell us that despite the phenomenal success of Isaac as a farmer during a famine he did not suffer the effects of an evil eye of anyone who was jealous of his success.

ויזרע...מאה שערים, 100 times as much as they had expected to harvest from this planting.

Despite the fact that it is not as esteemed as Eretz Yisrael itself... Rashi is answering the question: Is not Gerar also in Eretz Yisrael, as Rashi explained above (v. 2)?

In diesem Lande und in diesem Jahre, Land und Jahr waren ungünstig und doch fand er hundert שערים. Im Munde der Weisen heißt allerdings שער auch Maß, allein in תנ"ך kommt es nur als Tor und Marktplatz vor. So 2. B. Kön. 7. 1. Daher heißt auch wohl das Zeitwort שעור: zu Markte sitzen, feilbieten, davon ProRaw Hirsch on Genesis 26: 23, 6.7 ׳אל תלחם את לחם רע עין וגו׳ כי כמו שער בנפשו כן הוא וגו. Wenn der Geizige dich zu Tische ladet, so ist es ihm, als "ob er mit seiner Seele zu Markte sitze", als ob er ein Stück von seinem Leben feilbiete. תאנים שוערים (Jirm. 29, 17) sind "Markthüter", Früchte, die nicht vom Markte kommen, nicht verkäuflich sind, d. h. schlechte Früchte. שערוריה und שערורה in Jirmija und Hosea heißt: Feil- heit. Demgemäß hieße hier מאה שערים: hundert Märkte. Es reichte der Ertrag nicht nur für seinen Bedarf aus, sondern er brachte das Hundertfältige gegen gewöhnliche Erträge davon auf den Markt. —

מאה שערים, Rashi writes that our sages said that the meaning of the expression (שער(ים here is “estimate” for the sake of tithing. [Either, according to Onkelos,] Yitzchok’s harvest was 100 times as much as could be expected, or that he had to tithe 100 times as much as he had expected.

בשנה ההיא IN THAT YEAR although it was not a normal year, being a year of famine.

בשנה ההיא, a year of general drought and even famine.

מאה שערים. In accordance with G’d’s promise to Avraham in Genesis 12,2 ואהיה עמך ואברכך, “I will be with you and bless you,” i.e. with material blessings

'ויברכהו ה, He made him successful in all his undertakings.

They had estimated the amount it ought to produce... מאה שערים means מאה שיעורים (a hundred amounts), as they had estimated it (שערה).

ויברכהו ד׳. So war er zuerst der Gottgesegnete. Indem er den Segen nicht wucherisch aufspeicherte, sondern auf den Markt brachte, kam in dem Hungerjahr sein Segen der allgemeinen Not zu gute, und zuerst erblickte man in ihm nur den von Gott gesegneten Mann.

בארץ ההיה בשנה ההיא In that land and in that year. — Why is there mention of the two — that land and that year? To tell you that that soil was hard and that year was a hard one (Genesis Rabbah 64:6).

מאה שערים, a field which if one plants one measure of seed it produces 100 measures of grain as a harvest.

ויברכהו ה, with money. He sold his crops for cash. According to our sages as quoted by Rashi, the estimate of the size of Yitzchok’s crops given here is to teach us something about tithing properly. [according to Bereshit Rabbah 64,6 the question is why Yitzchok, who must have been aware that blessing does not rest on items which have been measured or weighed, bothered to measure his crop. The answer is that one must not tithe by estimating, but by measuring. If he wanted to tithe correctly, he had to first measure the size of his crop. Ed.] G’d directed the blessing to Yitzchok on account of his concern to tithe correctly, something we also find reflected in Maleachi 3,10 “bring the full tithe into the storehouse and let there be food in My House, and thus put Me to the test-said the Lord of Hosts. I will surely open the floodgates of the sky for you and pour down blessings on you.”

Our Sages said, the purpose of this estimate was for tithing. Rashi is answering the question: Why did they measure [the produce after the initial estimate]? It is stated in Bava Metzia 42a that only something hidden from the eye is blessed, not something that is counted and measured! Thus Rashi explains that Yitzchok wanted to give tithes, and one may not give tithes based on a mere estimate (Avos 1:16).

מאה שערים AN HUNDREDFOLD — for they had estimated how much it should have yielded and it yielded one hundred for every measure which they had estimated. Our Rabbis said that the estimate was made for the purpose of the tithe (Genesis Rabbah 64:6).