Chasidut su Genesi 25:52

I thank God with all my heart,³This opening is based on the verse in Tehillim (111:1). In the counsel⁴“Sod,” in Hebrew, means both counsel and mystery. “In the counsel of those who remain,” “b’sod hanisharim” in Hebrew, is a play on the words of Psalm 111, “b’sod yesharim,” “in the mystery of the upright of heart.” This leads us to the simple principle that the unknown becomes known through proper counsel, which is the aim of this treatise. It is also an allusion to the four major works penned by this author, collectively called Sod Yesharim, as mentioned in the introduction. As is often the case regarding the titles of Hasidic works, the numerical equivalent of the phrase, “sod yesharim,” is “Gershon Henokh.” (=630) It may be that this equation is the least significant of the mysteries contained in the pages of this book. of those who remain⁵“Those who remain and those who love,” refers to members of each generation who yearn for Divine truth. It is as though, at this point in the opening of the work, the author is inviting the souls of the great Torah masters of the past; for he is entering into a battle of the spirit, and not going alone. His polemic is not only armed and positioned with a regiment of prophetic spirits, but with the prophets themselves and the One who speaks to them. All God fearing men who enter into a dialogue with the soul and the “penimiyut,” or internal aspect of the Torah are a part of the counsel, and all who revere the message and morals of prophets and kabbalists and are worthy of the mystery. and those who love, ⁶cf. Megilla 6b, “אוהבי שרידים יושבי רקת”. According to Rashi, “lovers of Israel.” Those who thirst for God’s word, Those love His Torah with truth and wholeness. They do not learn the Torah as a woodsman sharpens his axe, in order to earn a living.⁷See Pirkei Avot, 4:5, Nedarim 62a, where the Sages speak sharply against those who use the Torah in order to gain honor or riches. Nor do they adorn themselves in it like a fur coat.⁸כאדרת שער, cf. Bereshit 25:25, “And the first came out all red, like a hairy garment.” Esav, the hunter, the man of the field, would put on the act of righteous to win his father, Yitzhak’s favor. Those who, “adorn themselves in the Torah as one wears a fancy coat,” were religious men whose saintliness was more an expression of self-aggrandizment than inner dedication. The author was known as a bold fighter, and not afraid to compare many of the self-styled scholars and holy men of his generation to Eisav. Yet they bend their ears to hear the words of the sages. Their hearts yearn to know the truth.

Genesis ‎25,19 “And these are the generations of Yitzchok, the son ‎of Avraham; Avraham begot Yitzchok.” (We have been told in ‎Genesis 21,12 ‎כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע‎, “for your seed (descendants) ‎will be known through Yitzchok.” G’d told Avraham already ‎before Yitzchok was born that although he had another son, ‎Yishmael, his descendants would always be associated with ‎Yitzchok. It was understood that this promise was contingent on ‎Yitzchok becoming a righteous person, a tzaddik, future ‎generations would not trace themselves back to their ancestor ‎Avraham but each generation would only trace itself back to their ‎immediate forbears, i.e. their fathers. In other words, the new ‎element provided by our verse above is that even Yitzchok’s ‎offspring would trace themselves back to their founding patriarch ‎Avraham. We learn from here also that it is up to the “son” to ‎demonstrate by his deeds that he was not only descended from ‎his father but could claim previous generations as his “roots.” ‎When we consider this, the word ‎תולדה‎ is no longer an adjective, ‎an attribute of a person which he came by naturally, without any ‎input of his own, but it is a tribute to the person so described, ‎meaning that he is a worthy descendant of his illustrious forbears.‎

"And Yitzchak entreated God regarding his wife, for she was barren, and God was entreated of him..." (Bereishit 25:21). Regarding his wife entirely, and see Rashi on Genesis 25:21 [which says that it means facing his wife]. And we can continue in precision: "for she was barren" has no explanation, and it should have said "And Rivka was barren, and Yitzchak entreated..." And the commentators pose a further problem regarding what Rashi wrote: "[And God was entreated] to him" [Yitzchak] and not to her, because the prayer of a righteous person child of a righteous person isn't similar to the prayer of a righteous person child of a wicked person. And behold, our Sages of blessed memory said (Ta'anit 25b) regarding Rabbi Eliezer who said 24 prayers and was not answered, and Rabbi Akiva was answered -- not because one was greater than the other, but because this one was forgiving (lit. "passed over his traits"). And it was explained regarding this value[?], that it wished to say that since there was a a child of converts and needed to break his nature and traits and look there -- behold, it seems the opposite, that the prayer of a righteous person child of a wicked person is more acceptable! And we can continue in precision with the language of Rashi, who wrote that the prayer of a righteous person child of a righteous person isn't similar, etc. - he should have said the opposite, that the prayer of a righteous person child of wicked person isn't similar to the prayer of a righteous person child of a righteous person, and [the former] is better. And we can further continue in precision with Rashi's conclusion, that "therefore [God was entreated] to him and not to her", that it's an additional lip [?] and doubled language. And we can also be precise with its saying of "and [God] was entreated" [vaye'ater ויעתר], and our Sages of blessed memory said, (Sukkot 14a) "Why is the prayer of the righteous like a pitchfork [עתר 'eter]? Just as a pitchfork turns grain on the threshing floor from place to place, so too the prayer of the righteous turns the mind of the Holy Blessed One from justice to mercy. What is this verse teaching us that this matter is specifically here? Did Avraham and the rest of the righteous not also pray, and it didn't say this language [ie that God was entreated]? And we can be further precise, in her saying "If so, why do I exist?" she was praying regarding children, which seems as though she was choosing childlessness from the pain of the pregnancy - and certainly this righteous one was not considering this!

The Zohar writes concerning the goal of human completeness (Yitro 78b-79a): “You shall see the work of God that I shall do, it is awesome.” (Shemot, 34:10) Rabbi Elazar said, “It is the completion of everything.” … “It is awesome,” refers to Yaakov,²⁰³In the first of the eighteen benedictions we say, “God of Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov, the Great, the Mighty, and the Awesome God.” “Awesome” (norah) signifies the main quality of the patriarch Yaakov, who thus represents a complete fear of the awesome power of God. It was Yaakov, after his dream of the ladder, who said, “how awesome (norah) is this place!” (Bereshit, 28:17) the ish tam, the man complete in all his attributes.²⁰⁴Generally, in the Zohar, Yaakov Avinu represents the Torah, or the sefirah of Tiferet, which is beauty, balance, and pride. Yaakov and Tiferet also represent completeness. See Bereshit, 25:27, “Yaakov was an ish tam (wholehearted, simple, complete), dwelling in tents.” Yaakov further represents completeness, in that all of his children were completely righteous, as opposed to Avraham who begat Yishmael and Yitskhak who begat Eisav. Wherever you find completeness, it is called “awesome.” … The fear of God rests only in a place of completeness.²⁰⁵“A place of completeness” – see note 185. And in the Zohar, Parshat Shlach (51b): “You have established equity” (Tehillim, 99:4). This is the “middle bar” (Shemot, 26:28),²⁰⁶This was inserted in the midst of the boards comprising the walls of the tabernacle. signifying the Holy One, blessed be He.²⁰⁷In the Zohar, the term “the Holy One,” refers to the sefirah of Tiferet, which corresponds to Yaakov, the Torah, and the trait of “completeness.” Rabbi Yitzhak said, “This is Yaakov.” It is really all the same matter. If the king is complete in all aspects, clearly his knowledge is complete in all aspects. What is the way of this king? He shines continually as the sun, for he is complete. When he judges, he judges for the good and for the bad. When a wise person sees the king’s face shining, he says, “Certainly the king is complete in all aspects; his knowledge is complete and his completeness is above all others. In this shining light of his face I see that he is judging more than I see, yet it is covered.” … So too, the Holy One, blessed be He, is ever complete … For this reason, one must take great care to guard himself from Him.²⁰⁸Meaning to honor God and adhere to His commandments. Fear that is not rooted in the Torah can fall to the low level of the fear of deficiency, as mentioned above. This is as the Tikkunei Zohar, above, explained the verse, “Another withholds unduly, but only comes to lack.” However, the true fear of God, rooted in the Torah and based on faith, is called, “the completion of holy faith.” This is as it is written in the Zohar (Yitro, 79a): What is the meaning of the verse (Bereshit, 28:17), “And Yaakov feared, and said, how awesome (norah) is this place!” What did Yaakov see that he could only describe as dreadful and awe-inspiring (norah)? He saw the absolute completion of holy faith which existed in that place, just as it is above in the upper worlds. Every place that is at such a level of perfection is called, “awesome (norah).”²⁰⁹That is, perfect faith results in an exalted type of fear, more correctly known as “awe.” The Torah is the straight path, and is called the “book of yashar,”²¹⁰Yashar means straight, direct, even. as it is written (Shmuel 2, 1:18), “Is it not written in the book of yashar?” The Torah comes from the middle column,²¹¹There are three columns in the array of the ten Sefirot – right, left, and middle. The middle column joins and synthesizes the opposing forces of right and left, . and is whole, for one who grasps onto the Torah lacks nothing. This is because it straightens and balances a person’s attributes so that he is not steeped in any one extremity, which is what brings him to deficiency. If a person is subjugated to any one of his attributes, and thereby lacks the strength of mind to balance its power and prevent it from becoming extreme, then the attribute is deficient, even if it is a good trait that could otherwise be the source of good behavior. If this attribute is taken to its extremity, and then becomes an involuntary mode of behavior, without any reckoning or deliberation, then the attribute, albeit good, will be used in the wrong way.²¹²This relates to the teaching of the Izhbitzer that there are no bad attributes, only bad applications of good attributes. For example, as R. Gershon Henokh explains here, kindness is neither an inherently good nor evil trait. Used correctly, it is good, but used improperly, as in the case of one who shows kindness to evil-doers, the trait becomes a sin. (This explains the Izhbitzer’s vindication of the sins of various biblical characters. According to him, they never intentionally sinned, but only mistimed the use of certain attributes.) The goal of the Torah is to produce perfected and balanced human beings (symbolized by Yaakov, Tiferet), who always know how to use their character traits in the right way, according to the needs of the situation. An imbalanced person, on the other hand, becomes stuck in a certain mode of behavior, and is unable to deviate from it, even when the situation calls for an alternative approach. This person is deficient in the other traits – a lack that engenders within him a fear of situations in which his innate character trait cannot apply. (See note 177, above.) According to Rav Mordechai Yosef, this person may objectify his lack in the form of an idol, which he will fear, though what he is actually fearing is his own, innate deficiency (his “dark side”). Thus, in praying to the idol to be saved from that which he fears, he is really only praying to his own fear and deficiency. This approach is most likely a Hasidic interpretation of the Kabbalistic concept of the death of the seven Edomite kings (based upon Genesis 36). Each king symbolizes a different trait, or sefirah, used by God to create the world. Nonetheless, these traits were flawed, inasmuch as each one sought to be an exclusive conduit for God’s creative energy: be it Hesed (Love), Gevurah (Severity), or Tiferet (Mercy). This led to the “breaking of the vessels,” and the current, fallen nature of reality, which demands repair. Each “king” said, “I, and only I, will rule.” However, the verses in Genesis do not record the death of the eighth king, Hadar, and they also mention that he had a wife (Meheitavel). In other words, he was the only one who made room for another perspective; thus he did not “die” (i.e. the trait did not shatter), and represents the attribute of “tikkun,” or rectification. This led to the new emanation of the sefirot in which each one contains all ten: love contains wisdom; understanding contains balance, and so forth. In this way, by adapting and being flexible, the vessels could contain God’s light and the world could survive. In the psychological terms used by R. Gershon Henokh, a person on the level of the seven kings will exhibit an inflexible commitment to one particular character trait, and lack the ability to negotiate situations that are not suited to that attribute; whereas the rectified approach means using the whole variety of shades of love, fear, etc, and adapting and relating to the plethora of stimuli one encounters in the world. Take, for example, the trait of kindness, which is clearly a good attribute. However, when it is used indiscriminately and bestowed generously upon cruel people, it becomes destructive; for there is no greater evil than acting kindly toward the cruel.²¹³This is based on the aphorisim of the Midrash (Kohelet Rabbah 7:16): “One who is kind to the cruel will eventually be cruel to the kind.” One who errs in this way upholds and even strengthens destructive forces in the world. Clearly, every attribute must be used with clear and conscious deliberation, at the proper time and in the proper place. In this way, he may “establish equity”²¹⁴As in the verse from Tehillim, 99:4, cited above. in every aspect of his behavior, according to the approach of the Torah. Then, he will be complete and lack nothing.²¹⁵Lacking nothing, he will be free from the lower level of fear. His actions will all be balanced and in line with God’s will. His fear of God will be like that of Yaakov – norah – an expression of awe and faith. Above all, the greatest deficiency a person can have is a lack of emunah (faith). On this it is written in the Zohar (Vayikra, 16b): “And it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty…” (Vayikra, 5:23). Because of this, God withdraws from everything; then God, so to speak, does not exist in creation, and Knesset Yisrael²¹⁶Knesset Yisrael means the “Congregation of the people of Israel,” and is synonymous with the Shechinah, the sefirah of Malchut, the attribute of faith, and the Divine presence which rests upon the Israelite nation. One could say, “God/the Shechinah/faith is hidden from that place.” has left her place. This is as it is written (Yeshayahu, 7:28), “Emunah has perished.” That means that Knesset Yisrael has perished.²¹⁷Meaning, separated from her place. Of this it is said (Tehillim 92:3), “To speak of Your emunah in the nights.”²¹⁸“Speaking of your faith at night,” means that if one has true faith, then even after the sin, when man sits in darkness, so to speak, he can still amend his ways and return to God.

Rabbi Shimon said, “I raise my hands in prayer to He who created the world (see Bereshit, 14:22). Even though our predecessors have revealed hidden supernal knowledge in this verse, one would do well to look into and contemplate the secrets of the book of Adam, because this is the source of the hidden book of Shlomo HaMelech.” (Zohar, Yitro, 70a) Thus we find that Shem and Eiver³⁶Whom tradition identifies as pre-Sinaitic Torah scholars, living from the time of Noach until the days of Yaakov. had a house of study. When Rivkah was pregnant and the twins were fighting in her womb, it says (Bereshit, 25:22), “She went to ask of God.” The Midrash Rabbah (Bereshit, 63) notes that she went to the house of study of Shem and Aiver. The Gemara teaches us that Yaakov hid himself from Eisav in the house of Aiver (Megillah, 17a).

Genesis ‎24,1. “and Avraham had become old, while G’d had ‎blessed him in everything.” According to the Talmud Baba ‎Metzia 87 the concept of ”old age,” was unknown to mankind ‎until Avraham’s being described here in such terms. [According ‎to the Talmud, the statement refers to external features of elderly ‎people stamping them as having lived for many years. This was ‎why up until then anyone looking at Avraham or Yitzchok could ‎not be sure whether he was looking at the father or the son. ‎Ed.]
[If I understand the Talmud correctly, what is meant is ‎that when the Torah had described Adam as having begotten a ‎son in his own image (Genesis 5,3) as opposed to his first two ‎sons, the resemblance between fathers and sons continued ‎unabated until the time when Avraham was described as having ‎aged. Ed.]
The point the Talmud makes is that beneficial ‎largesse provided from the celestial regions for the lower regions ‎of the universe manifests itself in one of two ways. It may be ‎measured in terms familiar to us in this part of the universe, or it ‎may be described in terms of concepts applicable in the celestial ‎regions, seeing that these two domains each have their own set of ‎rules. When this beneficial largesse originates directly in the ‎celestial spheres close to the Creator, it had not become subject to ‎limitations applicable in the parts of the world we live in. [As an ‎example, we may distinguish between nourishment provided by ‎G’d through the earth giving its yield, when such nourishment is ‎subject to limitations that apply on our planet, whereas when G’d ‎fed the Jewish people with manna, such limitations did not apply, ‎as the manna originated directly in one of the seven layers of ‎heaven. Ed.] This latter method of benefiting from G’d’s largesse is ‎reserved exclusively for the Jewish people. The Jewish people ‎have become privy to this (on occasion) due to their having clung ‎to their Creator with such devotion.‎
The other nations sharing this planet with us, receive ‎whatever largesse G’d provides for them only through “nature,” ‎which “processes” such gifts from G’d before it reaches its ‎recipients. This is what is meant when the Torah wrote in Genesis ‎‎25,12-15 ‎ואלה תולדות ישמעאל שנים עשר נשיאים לאומתם‎, “and this is ‎the line of Ishmael, son of Avraham……12 chieftains, etc.” The ‎word: ‎לאומתם‎ is derived from ‎אמה‎, “mother;” when a mother ‎measures her son she uses measuring devices used in our parts of ‎the universe. The Torah (Genesis 25,13, and again in verse 16) ‎adds: ‎בשמותם לתולדותם‎ and ‎בחצריהם ובטירותם‎, “by their names, in ‎the order of their births, and by their villages and their ‎encampments;” these words describe the parameters within ‎which they were privy to G’d’s benevolent largesse. The contrast ‎with which the Torah describes a similar description of the ‎development of the Jewish people can be seen in the words ‎למשפחותם לבית אבותם‎, “according to their family, their respective ‎father’s house”. The word ‎אבותם‎ in this instance is derived from ‎אבה‎, as in ‎לא אבה יבמי‎, “he did not want to perform levirate ‎marriage with me.” (Deuteronomy 25.7) The word ‎אבה‎ is a ‎synonym for ‎רצון‎, “will, desire.” The widow describes that her ‎brother-in-law does not wish to fulfill the will of heaven in ‎maintaining his deceased brother’s name alive.
Let us ‎illustrate by an example more familiar to all of us. A potter ‎intends to create a vase of a certain shape and colour. Before ‎setting out to shape the clay he has a definite image of the ‎finished product in his mind’s eye. This image is known as ‎מחשבה‎, ‎or ‎אב הפעולה‎, “the father of the finished product.” The ‎רצון‎, the ‎will to create a vase, is called ‎אב‎, father, as it precedes even the ‎sculptor’s vision of the final shape and colour of the product is ‎about to embark on creating. The eventual product is known as ‎בני בנים‎, euphemism for “grandchildren.” [In relation to the ‎רצון‎ ‎the initial will to create something. Ed.]
Israel’s drawing down ‎G’d’s largesse to itself is somewhat similar. The process begins ‎with this celestial largesse entering the domain of the physical ‎universe, ‎גבולין‎. [A domain defined by borders both dimensionally ‎and directionally. Ed.] The various shapes and forms this largesse ‎assumes once it has entered our part of the universe is known as ‎בני בנים‎, “grandchildren.” The original ‎רצון‎, G’d’s intention to ‎provide this largesse, is called ‎זקן‎, “an old man.”
When ‎Solomon in Proverbs 17,6 speaks about ‎עטרת זקנים בני בנים‎, loosely ‎translated as “grandchildren are the crown of their elders,” the ‎meaning of this line on a deeper level, is: “the largesse that has ‎been received by Israelites as a result of G’d’s benevolence, is ‎rooted in the will of G’d,” i.e. from this ‎רצון‎ to the world known as ‎בני בנים‎. ‎

Genesis 38,28. “while she was in labor, one of them put ‎out his hand, etc.;” “when he subsequently withdrew his hand, ‎etc.,” “afterwards his brother emerged (completely); he called him ‎Peretz, and he called his brother Zerach.” The name ‎זרח‎, ‎reflects what we are told in Niddah 30 that as long as an ‎embryo is still within the womb of its mother, a light keeps ‎shining above its head. This light enables the embryo to see from ‎one end of the earth to the other. The Talmud uses this parable ‎to describe that as long as the embryo is as innocent of sin as was ‎Adam before he sinned when he could see all parts of the globe, ‎the embryo is in a similarly sublime condition. When it enters our ‎world upon leaving its mother’s womb, an angel slaps his face so ‎that the infant promptly forgets all it had known thus far, and ‎experiences a new awakening which includes its ability to ‎dedicate itself exclusively to the service of its Creator. It is G’d’s ‎will that man’s spiritual maturity will be attained not as a gift ‎sent from heaven, but after he has undergone trials, so that the ‎accomplishment, when it is attained, is the result of his own ‎efforts though aided by G’d once man has initiated it.
‎ This is what the Zohar 1,77 alludes to as ‎אתערותא ‏דלעילה‎, quoting Isaiah 62,6 and psalms 83,2 “do not keep silent,” ‎or “you who make mention of Hashem take no rest,” so ‎that there will always be an awakening from below, as a result of ‎which an awakening from above is aroused. At the same time, so ‎that man does not think that everything in our “lower” world is ‎by definition, irreparably evil, and that all the pleasurable ‎experiences on earth are not only transient, but contribute to our ‎becoming victims of the evil urge, G’d maintains a “window of ‎opportunity,” that is open to a higher world by means of which it ‎is possible to sublimate experiences on earth, hallow them and ‎thus make them instruments of our service of the Lord and our ‎coming ever closer to Him. In other words, man has not been ‎placed on earth in order to negate earth, but in order to be G’d’s ‎tool that elevates the material universe to serve the ‎aggrandizement of His name universally. In kabbalistic parlance, ‎the tool G’d holds out to us humans is called “white light,” as ‎opposed to the physical light that we make use of everyday that ‎is perceived by contrast as “black light.” [I have rephrased ‎some of our author’s words in order to make them easier to ‎follow. Ed.]‎
The author proceeds to explain the description of the twins ‎Peretz and Zerach in terms of the concepts we have just ‎explained. The word ‎פרץ‎, breaking forth, bursting out of one’s ‎mould, describes that on doing this the infant suddenly sees ‎brilliant light, ‎זרח‎. A “dark” womb has suddenly been opened with ‎a vista to overpowering light. In light of that experience the ‎newly born is likely to opt for a denial of all that reminds him of ‎his previous dark, opaque existence. When the infant extends his ‎hand into this brilliant world, G’d extended to this newly born ‎‎(not quite) a glimpse of overpowering light as encouragement, ‎before the soul had a chance to taste all that is wrong and evil on ‎earth. On the other hand, immediately thereafter, in order not to ‎hand man his salvation on a platter so that he cannot claim a ‎share in having personally achieved spiritual maturity, this ‎‎“hand” was withdrawn and replaced by the “twin” brother, ‎symbolizing that life on earth is a “two edged sword.” The author ‎informs us that the Jewish people, though one people, are on ‎occasion referred to as ‎אחים‎, brothers, as in psalms 122,9 ‎למען אחי ‏ורעי‎, “for the sake of my brothers and companions,” so that his ‎allegorical exegesis of why the Torah describes the birth of these ‎twins in such detail appears amply justified.‎

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).

Genesis ‎25,21. “Yitzchok implored Hashem on behalf of his wife;” it ‎is known that the relationship between the masculine and the ‎feminine parts in a marriage is based on the masculine part ‎initiating and the feminine part responding. This relationship is ‎demonstrated clearly as one of total contrast when both partners ‎in the marriage are completely sterile, in the sense that neither is ‎able to contribute his or her part to conception. When the roles ‎of the male and the female appear to be reversed, i.e. the female ‎appearing to initiate and the male appearing to respond, the ‎usual relationship is totally askew. The latter situation was the ‎case here, and this is expressed by the Torah writing the word ‎לנוכח אשתו‎, an expression indicating ‎היפוך‎, a totally reversed ‎situation. This is the reason why the Torah writes of G’d: ‎ויעתר לו‎, ‎‎“G’d was entreated on his account.” The word ‎עתר‎ indicates a ‎‎“reversal,” as we know from Sukkah 14, where the Talmud ‎applies it to a shovel or pitchfork, which is used to turn over the ‎grain.‎

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.

‎Genesis 25,22. she said: “if so (that the children already quarrel ‎within my womb) ,what is the purpose of my existence?” We ‎can understand this complaint of Rivkah on the basis of a ‎comment by the Ari’zal that righteous women are spared ‎the pain and discomfort of pregnancy. Rivkah, while experiencing ‎even more than the normal amount of pain and discomfort ‎during her pregnancy, had concluded that this was proof that G’d ‎had not considered her righteous. Moreover, it is a tenet of our ‎faith that if someone is not a “good” person, such a person will ‎not serve as a receptacle for anything holy or potentially holy. ‎Our sages have based this insight on Leviticus 11,15 ‎את כל עורב ‏למינו‎, “and every subspecies of raven each according to its ‎species” (is forbidden to eat). [The word ‎כל‎ in that verse means ‎that even close association with something ritually unclean, i.e. a ‎raven, is an obstacle to such a person hosting holy spirit, etc. Ed.]‎ According to Bereshit Rabbah 63,6 whenever Rivkah ‎passed a Torah academy Yaakov would make an effort to leave her ‎womb, whereas when she passed a pagan temple Esau would try ‎to leave her womb. Thereupon she went to ask G’d about this ‎strange phenomenon. The Midrash states further that the ‎word ‎זה‎ in our verse refers to the fact that originally, -if not for ‎her complaint- Rivkah was slated to become the mother of all the ‎twelve tribes; seeing that she appeared to find fault with G’d’s ‎arrangement, she was told that she would become the mother of ‎only two sons, one of whom would be Esau. One of the sages in ‎the Midrash takes issue with the literal meaning of Yaakov ‎and Esau respectively having shown awareness of when their ‎mother passed a Torah academy or a pagan temple, and states ‎that, of course, this is merely a simile, and that Rivkah consulted ‎with the heads of the academy founded by Shem and ‎subsequently headed by his great grandson Ever. According to ‎another opinion offered, Rivkah knew that the source of holiness ‎is the One known as ‎אנכי‎, and when she exclaimed ‎למה זה אנכי‎, she ‎expressed her confusion how she could be the receptacle of a son ‎who clearly strived for holiness if she was not worthy. On the ‎other hand, if she were worthy, why did she experience such a ‎difficult pregnancy? G’d put her mind at rest, telling her that her ‎difficulties did not mean that she was not worthy, but that the ‎other son who would be unworthy was the one that caused her ‎present problems.‎

‎Genesis 25,26. “while his hand was holding on to Esau’s heel.” I ‎assume that the reader is aware that Satan, [also known as the ‎angel of death, Esau himself describing himself as headed for ‎death, Ed.] is considered as the protective guardian of Esau. ‎Yaakov was bent on vanquishing this force, (also known as the ‎poison resulting in death) so that this force would not overwhelm ‎us, his descendants. It is noteworthy that the numerical value of ‎the word ‎עקב‎ (172) is twice the numerical value of the attribute ‎of Justice, ‎אלוהים‎ (86). Symbolically speaking, Yaakov used this ‎numerical superiority of the letters in his name to challenge the ‎supremacy of Justice when not tempered by Mercy.‎

Genesis 25,28. “Yitzchok loved Esau for he had a taste ‎for game;” (normal translation). Our author, following a ‎kabbalistic approach demonstrated ever since his approach to ‎Genesis 3,1 (page 22) where he referred to certain sparks that fell ‎off the Shechinah and landed somewhere in our world, has ‎considered it the task and intense desire of the tzaddik to ‎snare (hunt and capture) some of these 88 sparks of the Divine ‎and make them his own in order to restore them to their origin. ‎Accordingly, Yitzchok views Esau as in pursuit of this valuable ‎‎“game,” hoping that his son Esau, the hunter, could help him in ‎his quest. Although he was aware that Esau’s “hunting” was ‎concerned with physical bounty, he hoped to sublimate his skills ‎to pursuing something more spiritual by teaching him Torah, ‎thus elevating him spiritually. After all, according to our ‎tradition, the souls of famous converts to Judaism such as ‎Shemayah and Avtalyon as well as the great scholar Rabbi Meir, ‎are all reported to be descendants of Esau’s soul. There are more ‎such “sparks” to be found on this planet until the messiah will ‎come. (Sanhedrin 96)‎

Genesis 29,11. “Yaakov gave Rachel a kiss, etc;” ‎‎[note that the Torah does not refer to Rachel’s physical ‎appearance until verse 17 after Yaakov had already worked for ‎him for over a month. Ed.]‎
Genesis 29,17. “and Rachel was shapely and ‎beautiful.” At first glance it is surprising that the Torah ‎appears to link Yaakov’s falling in love with Rachel in verse 18, ‎ויאהב יעקב את רחל‎, “Yaakov loved Rachel,” to the description ‎of her physical assets in verse 17. Is it possible that Yaakov, the ‎most highly admired of our patriarchs, was attracted by Rachel’s ‎physical features, and that this is why the Torah reports matters ‎in this sequence? Our sages called our attention to Yaakov’s ‎message to his brother Esau in Genesis 32,4 where he told him ‎עם ‏לבן גרתי‎, ”I have remained a stranger while with Lavan, etc.” The ‎numerical value of the letters in the word ‎גרתי‎, equals 613, the ‎number of commandments in the Torah. Yaakov reminded his ‎brother that during the entire period that he spent in Charan he ‎had observed the Torah, and therefore had little to fear. A man ‎who could make such a statement certainly did not marry Rachel ‎because he was smitten by lust to possess her shapely body. ‎Anyone who observes the 613 commandments is well aware of ‎the statement by Solomon in Proverbs 31,30 that ‎שקר החן והבך ‏היופי‎, that external attributes such as physical beauty or even a ‎graceful walk, etc., are deceptive and offer no clue to the owner’s ‎character.‎
We must look further for the reason why the Torah made a ‎point of mentioning Rachel’s physical attributes. I have heard ‎from my revered teacher the Maggid of Mezeritch Dov Baer, of ‎sainted memory, that we must understand this as follows. We ‎know that the principal attribute used by Yaakov in serving the ‎Lord is the attribute known as ‎תפארת‎, harmony, located in the ‎center of diagrams of the 10 emanations, ‎ספירות‎. Any physical ‎matter on earth, containing a “spark” from this emanation, is ‎spiritually elevated by the presence of this spark, regardless of ‎how secular it is by nature. Through this spark of the attribute of ‎תפארת‎, its host is brought closer to its roots in the celestial ‎regions, and engages in some degree of service to the Lord.‎
We must look further for the reason why the Torah made a ‎point of mentioning Rachel’s physical attributes. I have heard ‎from my revered teacher the Maggid of Mezeritch Dov Baer, of ‎sainted memory, that we must understand this as follows. We ‎know that the principal attribute used by Yaakov in serving the ‎Lord is the attribute known as ‎תפארת‎, harmony, located in the ‎center of diagrams of the 10 emanations, ‎ספירות‎. Any physical ‎matter on earth, containing a “spark” from this emanation, is ‎spiritually elevated by the presence of this spark, regardless of ‎how secular it is by nature. Through this spark of the attribute of ‎תפארת‎, its host is brought closer to its roots in the celestial ‎regions, and engages in some degree of service to the Lord.‎
When the Torah (Genesis 39,13) reports that Joseph ‎וינס ויצא ‏החוצה‎, “fled and went “outside,” to escape the efforts of ‎Potiphar’s wife to seduce him, he did so because he realized that ‎that woman had used her mode of dress to lure him into a sinful ‎relationship (Yuma 35). She had employed whatever holy ‎spark she possessed in a reverse manner, instead of a means to ‎come closer to her Creator. When Joseph escaped from her ‎presence he took with him this “holy spark” thereby serving his ‎Creator and paving the way for this “spark” that had escaped ‎from the Shechinah to find its way back to its roots.‎
It is known that Joseph, though, of course also serving the ‎Lord, did not do so by using principally the attribute of harmony ‎as his father was in the habit of doing. However, at this critical ‎juncture, in his fateful seclusion with the wife of his master ‎Potiphar, he resorted to the attribute of ‎תפארת‎ as the means to ‎avoid sinning.‎
It is also known that every tzaddik who serves the Lord, ‎regardless of which of the attributes in the diagram of the ‎emanations he uses as his primary model, will be granted a vision ‎of the tzaddik who had made that attribute his primary role ‎model in serving the Lord. When the Talmud Sotah 36 ‎relates that at the critical moment before the seduction, Joseph ‎had a vision of his father, it is a vision of the emanation of ‎תפארת‎ ‎that the Talmud refers to as having been seen by Joseph.‎

The reference to ‎גמלים באים‎ “camels approaching,” is not to ‎be understood literally, according to our author, but as a simile ‎meaning the same as ‎גומל‎ in our daily ‎עמידה‎ prayer, where it ‎means that G’d responds to kindness with more ‎kindness.
Another way of understanding the line: ‎וירא והנה ‏גמלים באים‎, is that the righteous who serve the Lord truly ‎experience a feeling of transcendental satisfaction from doing so ‎even while still in this imperfect world which our bodies inhabit. ‎Rivkah experienced an echo of this, and this is what is meant ‎when the Torah reports her reaction to seeing her future ‎husband Yitzchok for the first time; ‎ותפול מעל הגמל‎, normally ‎translated as “she fell from the camel,” has to be understood as ‎similar to Genesis 25,19 where the word the words ‎על פני כל אחיו ‏נפל‎ has to be understood as “he (Ishmael) landed;” parallel to this ‎we read here that Rivkah landed above the “camel,” i.e. in loftier ‎spiritual regions. She perceived for the first time the “taste” of ‎serving the Creator based on super-terrestrial dimensions.‎

Genesis ‎25,13. “And these are the names of Yishmael’s children ‎according to their names and their further developments.” ‎According to Rashi the line is to be understood as the Torah ‎recording the names in the chronological order in which they ‎were born. The reason why Rashi emphasizes this is because ‎there are numerous occasions when the Torah does not list the ‎name of the children in this order, for instance: Genesis 9,18 ‎when the Torah lists the names of Noach’s sons as ‎שם, חם, ויפת‎, ‎naming ‎שם‎ first, although Yaphet was the firstborn. Similarly, in ‎Genesis 25,9 where Avraham’s burial is described, Yitzchok is ‎mentioned ahead of his older brother Yishmael as he was the ‎more righteous of the two.‎

Genesis ‎25,13. “And these are the names of Yishmael’s children ‎according to their names and their further developments.” ‎According to Rashi the line is to be understood as the Torah ‎recording the names in the chronological order in which they ‎were born. The reason why Rashi emphasizes this is because ‎there are numerous occasions when the Torah does not list the ‎name of the children in this order, for instance: Genesis 9,18 ‎when the Torah lists the names of Noach’s sons as ‎שם, חם, ויפת‎, ‎naming ‎שם‎ first, although Yaphet was the firstborn. Similarly, in ‎Genesis 25,9 where Avraham’s burial is described, Yitzchok is ‎mentioned ahead of his older brother Yishmael as he was the ‎more righteous of the two.‎

‎Genesis 25,17. Concerning Rashi’s comment based on Rabbi ‎Chiya that the reason that the lifetime of Yishmael was listed in ‎the Torah is to show that Yaakov spent 14 years hiding in the ‎academy founded by Shem and subsequently headed by his great-‎grandson Ever; surely it is strange that this piece of information ‎was of such significance that the Torah had to write about it, ‎albeit as an allusion! Why did the Torah not simply write that ‎Yaakov hid there instead of adding a paragraph of seven verses ‎detailing Yishmael’s descendants?!
The intention of the Torah ‎was to illustrate the influence of a tzaddik in elevating ‎people in his immediate proximity to a spiritually higher level. It ‎also demonstrates that when a tzaddik loses this ability to ‎elevate his environment spiritually he has to go into hiding ‎instead, as through his failure he arouses G’d’s wrath at the ‎wicked and his remaining in their environment would expose him ‎to the judgment G’d has in store for them. Isaiah 26,20 makes this ‎point when he writes: ‎חבי כמעט רגע וגו'‏‎, “hide for a brief moment ‎and lock the doors behind you!” (Compare the Zohar’s I ‎‎182, comment on this verse) This was also the reason why Elijah ‎hid during the years of famine that he had decreed (Kings I 17,2) ‎so that the ravens had to bring him food. At that time it was ‎beyond Elijah’s powers to spiritually elevate the people of his ‎generation. Eventually, as described in the same Book, Elijah was ‎commanded by G’d to come out of hiding, as by that time the ‎ground had been prepared for his message to resonate among ‎some of the people. His success is recorded in King’s I 18,39, ‎although, alas it was short-lived. It is a fact that for a while at ‎least, Yaakov’s encounter with Esau resulted in a spiritual ‎elevation of his brother Esau, who even wanted to share the world ‎with him. The reason why Yaakov succeeded partially with Esau ‎though failing with Yishmael, was that Esau was his twin brother, ‎as opposed to Yishmael who was only his uncle. [Esau voluntarily ‎vacated the land of Israel (Canaan) in order not to compete with ‎his brother. (Genesis 36,6-8) Ed.] When the Torah lists the years ‎Yishmael lived, it was to inform us that he lived that many years ‎only on account of his nephew Yaakov’s merit. If Yaakov had ‎been able to bring about a spiritual reawakening of his uncle, he ‎would not have had to hide.‎

Everything that has been handed down to us about Avram ‎suggests that he was unwavering in his faith in G’d from his very ‎youth, and certainly did not have any theological relapses. ‎Nachmanides stated with absolute certainty, basing himself on ‎Genesis 25,8 that Avram had always considered anything that ‎happened to him as being G’d’s desire and meant for his own ‎good. Nachmanides understood this as being the meaning of the ‎words: ‎זקן ושבע ימים‎, “of old age, satisfied and satisfied in years.” ‎Contrary to most people, who are described in Kohelet ‎Rabbah, 5,9 as leaving behind many unfulfilled aspirations ‎when they die, Avraham died fully fulfilled. In Baba Batra ‎‎117, as well as in Sanhedrin 91 the meaning of the word ‎מורשה‎ is discussed, there being different opinions of how the ‎distribution of the ancestral plots in the Land of Israel was ‎determined by lottery; if the lottery only applied to the tribal ‎allocations, or to families. The discussion also concerns whether ‎only Jews who partook in the Exodus or their offspring were ‎allocated land, or whether the allocation included Jews who had ‎lived before that period, including Avram, Yitzchok, etc. Avram’s ‎question of ‎במה אדע כי אירשנה‎, meant: “how will I know that I ‎personally will be included in the distribution of the land at that ‎time? He knew that he would not inherit a plot of land in Israel as ‎part of his father Terach’s merit, as he had been the first convert ‎to Judaism, something that was confirmed in Sukkah 49. ‎Since he did not endure slavery in Egypt as did the generation of ‎the Exodus, he was not sure that he would qualify at the time of ‎the distribution.
Avram’s question had been triggered by G’d ‎saying to him:, ‎לתת לך את הארץ הזאת לרשתה‎, “to give to you this ‎land in order to inherit it.” (15,7) Avram wanted to know if he ‎would live long enough to take part in the distribution of the ‎land in Joshua’s time, or how he was to understand the words: ‎לתת לך‎, “to give to you.” The Talmud in Sukkah 49 quotes ‎psalms 47,10 where we encounter the expression ‎עם אלוקי אברהם‎, ‎‎“the nation that worships the G’d of Avraham”; a sage raised ‎question whether G’d perhaps is not also the G’d of the people of ‎Yitzchok and the G’d of the people of Yaakov.” The answer given ‎is that Avraham was the first convert from which the Jewish ‎people developed, so that he enjoys a special status. As a reward, ‎G’d gave the land of Israel especially to him. Avraham wanted to ‎know if, since the land of Israel becomes a ‎מורשה‎, his share would ‎be due to his father bequeathing it to him. The term ‎ירש‎, “to ‎inherit,” always implies that one inherits from a father. If ‎Avram’s question had been ‎במה אדע כי תתן לי‎, “how will I know ‎that You give it to me,” it would have been inappropriate, of ‎course. G’d had spoken about “giving;” Avram asked only about ‎the hereditary aspect, ‎אירשנה‎.
We will deal with the expression ‎במה אדע‎, somewhat later in this paragraph.‎ When G’d introduced His reply to Avram’s question with the ‎words: ‎ידוע תדע כי גר יהיה זרעך‎, “you must truly realize that your ‎descendants will be strangers, etc.,” this can best be understood ‎when referring to a commentary by the Zohar I 87 on the ‎verse: (Genesis 2,4)‎אלה תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם ‏‎. The letter ‎ה‎ in ‎smaller script in the middle of this word alerts the reader not to ‎read the word as a single word, but as ‎באברהם ברא‎, i.e. G’d created ‎the universe on account of, or with the eventual assistance of ‎Avraham.” Had G’d not foreseen that someone like Avram will be ‎born, He would not have considered it worth His while to create ‎the human race. The fact that Avraham, on his own, without ‎prompting, would proclaim the name of the Creator, made it ‎worth G’d’s while to put up with all the sins man would commit. ‎Avraham would be the one to acquaint his peers with the concept ‎that G’d is One, is unique, is in charge of the universe and yet had ‎granted the creatures he made in His image freedom of choice to ‎choose their own path in life. The fact that this Avraham would ‎sire a Yitzchok, and Yitzchok in turn would sire a Yaakov who ‎raised 12 sons who would form the nucleus of the Jewish nation, a ‎nation of priests, made it all worthwhile for G’d. When the Jewish ‎people collectively accepted G’d’s Torah, without critically ‎examining what was written therein first, this was a crowning ‎moment not only for the Jewish people, but it enabled G’d to ‎converse with a mortal human being, Moses, as if he were on His ‎own level, i.e. ‎פנים אל פנים‎, face to face.‎
When G’d introduced His reply to Avram’s question with the ‎words: ‎ידוע תדע כי גר יהיה זרעך‎, “you must truly realize that your ‎descendants will be strangers, etc.,” this can best be understood ‎when referring to a commentary by the Zohar I 87 on the ‎verse: (Genesis 2,4)‎אלה תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם ‏‎. The letter ‎ה‎ in ‎smaller script in the middle of this word alerts the reader not to ‎read the word as a single word, but as ‎באברהם ברא‎, i.e. G’d created ‎the universe on account of, or with the eventual assistance of ‎Avraham.” Had G’d not foreseen that someone like Avram will be ‎born, He would not have considered it worth His while to create ‎the human race. The fact that Avraham, on his own, without ‎prompting, would proclaim the name of the Creator, made it ‎worth G’d’s while to put up with all the sins man would commit. ‎Avraham would be the one to acquaint his peers with the concept ‎that G’d is One, is unique, is in charge of the universe and yet had ‎granted the creatures he made in His image freedom of choice to ‎choose their own path in life. The fact that this Avraham would ‎sire a Yitzchok, and Yitzchok in turn would sire a Yaakov who ‎raised 12 sons who would form the nucleus of the Jewish nation, a ‎nation of priests, made it all worthwhile for G’d. When the Jewish ‎people collectively accepted G’d’s Torah, without critically ‎examining what was written therein first, this was a crowning ‎moment not only for the Jewish people, but it enabled G’d to ‎converse with a mortal human being, Moses, as if he were on His ‎own level, i.e. ‎פנים אל פנים‎, face to face.
Moses reminded the people in Deut. 5,4 how 40 years earlier, ‎when most of them had not yet been alive, G’d had addressed the ‎whole nation on the ‎פנים אל פנים‎ “face to face level,” [until the ‎people asked Moses to be their interpreter instead. Ed.] At that ‎time all creatures on earth were in awe of their Creator. When the ‎people had consecrated the Tabernacle in the desert as a “home” ‎for Hashem in the lower parts of the universe, G’d took delight in ‎the world He had created, as we know from Taanit 26 where ‎the Talmud understands Song of Songs 3,11 ‎ביום חתונתו וביום שמחת ‏לבו‎, “on His wedding day, the day when His heart rejoices,” as ‎referring to G’d’s feelings on the day of the revelation at Mount ‎Sinai, and the day when the Tabernacle was consecrated, ‎respectively. This is the kind of ‎נחת רוח‎, “pleasure, satisfaction,” ‎that man in the lower part of the universe can contribute to G’d ‎in the loftier spheres, in heaven. On both of these occasions the ‎joy was reciprocal, G’d showing that He can associate with ‎earthlings and take pleasure from this. The Israelites’ enthusiastic ‎response after the splitting of the sea and their miraculous and ‎escape from Pharaoh’s pursuing armies, was another occasion ‎when the reciprocal nature of the relationship between G’d and ‎His “chosen” people was demonstrated publicly. Nowadays, ‎almost 4000 years later, we recall these events and praise the Lord ‎every week when we pronounce the blessings over wine. Not a ‎day goes by without our giving thanks to the Lord for the Exodus ‎from Egypt‎.
At the time when Avram lived, the world, i.e. the planet earth ‎and man on it, was still in a state of semi-collapse, its continued ‎existence far from assured, until Yitzchok and Yaakov continued ‎the work that Avram had started when he kept proclaiming the ‎power and goodness of the Creator. This assurance of the earth’s ‎continued existence was only confirmed with the creation of the ‎Jewish people, and this people’s leaving Egypt as G’d’s people, ‎after having slaughtered the Passover, and proven that they ‎considered the Creator as their highest authority.
The Tur, commenting on why we mention the Exodus ‎of Egypt in the weekly Kiddush, as opposed to the ‎‎Kiddush on the festivals whose link to the Exodus is self-‎evident, explains that the Sabbath harbours within it the ‎כח ‏המוליד‎, the power that enables creatures to regenerate themselves ‎by producing offspring. This “power” is conditional on the ‎observance of the Sabbath (in some form). Terach, Avram’s ‎father, while able to produce physical offspring, was unable to ‎produce offspring equipped with the kind of soul that would be ‎active in spreading the message that G’d is the one and only ‎Creator. [I have not been able to find where the Tur writes ‎this, although he writes about man as well as most other living ‎creatures becoming endowed with the ability to procreate bodies ‎in his Torah commentary. (Genesis 2,3)

The belief that the thoughts that cross the minds of parents ‎engaged in marital intercourse influence the spiritual focus of a ‎child conceived as the result of their union, is universally ‎accepted in the writings of our sages, and especially so in ‎Nachmanides’ essay ‎האמונה והבטחון‎, chapter 15, page 395 in ‎כתבי ‏רמב'ן‎, published by Mossad Harav Kook. [The authorship of this ‎volume has not been determined with accuracy even nowadays. ‎Rabbi Chayim David Chavell, whose edition I am using, devotes 11 ‎pages to his introduction when he explains that there is some ‎genetic spiritual input by both the father and the mother into ‎the soul of the child they produce.
If I understand the ‎message in these words, it is that this input is transmitted only at ‎the time when the parents conceive the child, and it outweighs ‎what the parents try to teach the youngster after he or she has ‎been born. It follows that if the parents are interested in ‎transmitting their own and their ancestors’ good characteristics ‎to their own children, they must not only live according to these ‎principles, but even conduct themselves according to these ‎principles in the privacy of their bedrooms. Perhaps this sheds ‎some light on the lament of many parents who have one or more ‎children who do not follow in their footsteps and who fail to ‎understand this. Ed.]
Pessachim 50 urging us to be ‎careful to perpetuate the good practices of our forefathers ‎meticulously, the Talmud quotes Proverbs 1,8 ‎שמע בני מוסר אביך ‏ואל תטוש תורת אמך‎, “my son, hear the moral instruction of your ‎father, and do not forsake the teachings of your mother.” It is ‎clear from the Torah’s description of Terach before he had sired ‎children (assuming he became a monotheist later) that the ‎thoughts we have described did not occur to him when he and his ‎wife conceived Avram. In fact, if Terach had been a believer in the ‎one and only G’d, much of the credit Avraham accumulated ‎would have been due to his father.
Avraham was the first ‎human being, who, by absorbing some of the “sparks” of the ‎‎Shechinah which we discussed on pages 21-22 was able to ‎transmit such spiritual values by means of his semen. He himself ‎had absorbed only the kind of material input from his father and ‎mother as is capable of being defined through DNA in our days. In ‎the parlance of our sages this input of physical matter by the ‎mother is known as ‎אודם‎, primarily cells which produce blood, ‎whereas the input by her male partner consists primarily of ‎לובן‎, ‎albumen.
Terach and his wife contributed only elements of ‎the material terrestrial part of the universe to the fetus of ‎Avraham, whereas G’d, anxious to see an eventual Jewish people ‎emerge from that embryo, contributed characteristics that ‎stemmed from the spiritual spheres of the universe. This is the ‎meaning of Avram’s question “how do I know that I will inherit?” ‎The word ‎דעת‎ or ‎ידע‎ always describes a close attachment to the ‎subject or object it describes. Avram wanted to know which ‎spiritual characteristic links him to his existence in the terrestrial ‎world, a link described in Proverbs 1,8 as ‎אבי‎ in the verse ‎שמע בני ‏מוסר אביך‎, in which Solomon cautions his listeners to carefully ‎perpetuate the moral lessons absorbed from ‎אביך‎, your father, i.e. ‎your roots. His question was prompted by his realization that he ‎could certainly not be expected to perpetuate the moral lessons ‎that he had been taught in the house of his father Terach. If he ‎were to do this, how could he possibly bequeath to his offspring ‎the qualities needed to become G’d’s people? He knew ‎instinctively that this could happen only if he had in his genes ‎spiritual input from a higher world. The characteristic that ‎represented this spiritual input is know as ‎אב‎, part of the name ‎אברהם‎. The word ‎ירושה‎, inheritance, is always used in connection ‎with inheritance from one’s father; hence seeing that the word ‎אב‎, father, was part of his name this was the link that enabled him ‎to become the first patriarch of the Jewish people. Avram ‎understood that the origin of the Jewish people, a concept in ‎G’d’s mind and the contribution He had made as the third partner ‎in any human being to Avram’s genes, were of the same kind, so ‎that the Jewish people could truly be described as having its ‎terrestrial root in Avraham, as he would be called shortly before ‎Yitzchok was born.
When G’d told him that he should realize ‎that his offspring would begin their collective life as “strangers,” ‎i.e. as a new nation in the families of nations, it was this strain ‎that he shared his spiritual origin with. He would henceforth ‎have to concentrate on his role as the spiritual root of that nation ‎as and when it would become such. G’d reminded him already in ‎verse 7 that this was the purpose for which He had saved him ‎from the fiery furnace in Ur Kasdim continuing this theme in ‎verse 18 when He entered into a sacred covenant with Avram. He ‎had given him a preview that the development of this nation of ‎which he would become the founding father, would undergo a ‎difficult “adolescence” and that these difficulties once endured ‎and overcome with His help would qualify them for their historic ‎mission as trailblazers of monotheism. Although Terach is ‎credited with having sired Avram, (Genesis 11,26) this was merely ‎a biological phenomenon; he was in no way an ancestor of Avram ‎in the sense that Avram as the son would continue a tradition ‎sacred to his father.To the question of how we are to understand ‎Genesis 15,15 ‎ואתה תבוא אל אבותיך בשלום תקבר בשיבה טובה‎, “as for ‎you, you will join your “fathers’ in peace and will be buried in a ‎ripe old age,” the word ‎אבותיך‎ does not refer to Terach; but is an ‎assurance that Avram would die without sharing the servitude his ‎descendants would experience.
The Zohar I 78 ‎commenting on Genesis 12,5 ‎ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן‎, writes that ‎Terach became a penitent, but that this does not mean that ‎Avraham would be reunited with his father in the life after death, ‎but since our sages had difficulty in how to understand the ‎words: ‎ואתה תבוא אל אבותיך בשלום‎, they understood this as Terach ‎sanctifying the name of Avraham’s G’d while still alive. The name ‎of “G’d” in that verse therefore is ‎אב‎, the spiritual genes that we ‎described above as having been injected by G’d into the ovum ‎that eventually developed into Avram.
[We may understand ‎this as Terach establishing a horizontal spiritual bond with his ‎son through his penitence instead of the vertical bond created ‎when a father passes on his spiritual values to his son. Ed.]
If ‎you find it difficult to accept the argument that Terach is not to ‎be regarded as Avram’s “father” in verse 15, consider the ‎following statement in Yevamot 22. ‎גר שנתגייר כקטן שנולד דמי‎, ‎‎“a convert after conversion is comparable to that of a newly born ‎baby.” He has no residue of the spiritual input normally ‎transmitted by the respective genes of his father and mother. The ‎only spiritual force active within him is that of the soul which has ‎been given to him by his Creator. He is no longer called after his ‎father, when called up to the Torah, the name of his father, the ‎gentile, is not even alluded to. The reason is that he no longer ‎contains the spiritual input his father had transmitted to him at ‎birth. The separation of such a convert from his biological father ‎is so absolute, that according to Biblical Jewish law the convert is ‎free to marry his biological mother, or sister, (assuming either of ‎them has converted). [If the Rabbis forbade this, it is because it ‎raises suspicions that the conversion had ulterior motives. Ed.]. ‎Avram/Avraham both because he was a convert, and because his ‎name was changed by G’d before he sired Yitzchok, was no longer ‎connected to Terach at all. When the Torah writes in Genesis ‎‎25,19 ‎ואלה תולדות יצחק בן אברהם, אברהם הוליד את יצחק‎, “and these ‎are the generations of Yitzchok; son of Avraham; Avraham had ‎sired Yitzchok,” the Torah makes a point of describing Yitzchok ‎as descendant of Avraham, whereas it never described Avraham as ‎a descendant of Terach. The term “father,” is mentioned in the ‎Torah only in connection with the characteristic ‎אב‎ which G’d ‎had supplied to Avram, and which helped him to sanctify G’d’s ‎Holy name to large groups of people as we explained previously.