Parshas Toldos
1. “These are the generations of Yitzchak the son of Avraham; Avraham begot Yitzchak.” Our Sages explain that the Torah’s repetition in this verse comes to teach us that, in addition to Yitzchak being “the son of Avraham,” it is emphasized that “Avraham begot Yitzchak,” because Yitzchak resembled Avraham in his facial features—“for the scoffers of the generation would say, ‘Sarah conceived from Avimelech…’ So the Holy One, blessed be He, shaped Yitzchak’s facial features to resemble Avraham.”
Commentators have already asked: This matter—the refutation of the scoffers who claimed “Sarah conceived from Avimelech”—would have been appropriate to tell us in proximity to the story of Yitzchak’s birth. Why did the Torah wait until now—in Parshas Toldos—to negate this claim?
It appears that, although the reason for making “Yitzchak’s facial features resemble Avraham” was to refute the words of the scoffers, this is also connected to a fundamental matter that remains relevant even after their words have been refuted—it pertains to the very essence and mission of Yitzchak.
Therefore, this point appears specifically at the (beginning of) Parshas Toldos, because the main focus of this parshah—“these”—is the account of “the generations of Yitzchak,” the events of Yitzchak’s life.
(In Parshas Chayei Sarah, the narrative continues with the matters of Avraham; from Parshas Vayeitzei, the story of Yaakov begins; but in Parshas Toldos, the story centers on Yitzchak’s life, to the extent that one of the explanations of “These are the generations of Yitzchak” is—“the events and happenings of his life.”)
Thus, the Torah emphasizes that in recounting the matters of Yitzchak (“the generations of Yitzchak”), it is important to know that “Avraham begot Yitzchak”—that Yitzchak “resembled” Avraham.
2. Regarding the character and mission of Yitzchak, we find two seemingly opposite aspects:
It is well known that Yitzchak’s defining trait is the attribute of awe—“the fear of Yitzchak.” This is the difference between the service of Avraham and that of Yitzchak: Avraham’s service was characterized by the attribute of love and kindness—“Avraham, My beloved”—whereas Yitzchak’s was characterized by awe and fear.
Yet, on the other hand, there are several aspects of Yitzchak that indicate a connection and association with the attribute of love and kindness:
a) His beginning, the time of his birth: Our Sages say, “Yitzchak was born on Pesach,” and it is known that the three pilgrimage festivals correspond to the three Patriarchs—Pesach to Avraham, Shavuos to Yitzchak, and Sukkos to Yaakov. Thus, Yitzchak’s birth was during the festival associated with Avraham. Clearly, this is not coincidental, but rather reflects the essential nature of Yitzchak’s birth: since Yitzchak’s being “resembled” Avraham (love and kindness), his birth (in the literal sense) was also during “Avraham’s festival.”
b) His name: “Yitzchak” comes from the word “laughter”—as in “G‑d has made laughter for me”—an expression of joy. And joy is the opposite of the attribute of awe and fear—yet Yitzchak is called by a name that signifies joy.
c) His general character—“And the man became great… until he became very great”—the ultimate in kindness and greatness.
d) “And I will multiply his offspring (because) I have given him Yitzchak.”
And more.
3. At first glance, one might explain this based on the well-known idea that, although the service of Avraham and Yitzchak followed two different and even opposite paths, the intent was that Avraham’s primary service was in the attribute of kindness, but not that it was limited to that alone; it also included the attribute of might and awe, as is explicit regarding Avraham—“Now I know that you are a G‑d-fearing man.” Similarly, with Yitzchak, his service also included the attribute of kindness, though his primary service was in awe.
Accordingly, we could explain that when the Torah says “Avraham begot Yitzchak,” and that G‑d “shaped Yitzchak’s facial features to resemble Avraham,” the intent is not only his physical appearance, but also his “spiritual visage”—that is, his character and service. It comes to teach us that Yitzchak’s service included the service of love (of Avraham).
However, this explanation does not seem sufficient, for since Yitzchak’s name—used by everyone, at all times—is specifically associated with joy, it must be that this is the very essence of Yitzchak’s identity.
Furthermore: It is known that there is a difference between “gila” and “simcha”—that “gila” refers to a feeling of joy that is not so openly revealed. That is why “gila” can exist together with awe and trembling, as it says, “Serve the L‑rd with awe, and rejoice (gilu) with trembling.” In contrast, “simcha” is an open and revealed joy. According to this, the fact that he is called Yitzchak, after the feeling (the revealed feeling) of “laughter” (tzchok), indicates not the “gila” that is included within the attribute of awe—“and rejoice with trembling”—but specifically the open and revealed joy of “simcha.”
From this it is understood that Yitzchak’s “resemblance” to Avraham is not only due to the inter-inclusion of the attributes (that in Yitzchak’s service, too, the attribute of love is present), but rather that joy is a unique and primary quality in Yitzchak.
4. The matter can be explained as follows:
Among the differences between love (the attribute of Avraham) and awe (the attribute of Yitzchak): The nature of love is that it brings the lover closer to the beloved, and in this there is no movement of self-nullification of the lover toward the beloved. On the contrary, in love, the existence of the lover is felt—he becomes close. In contrast, the nature of awe is that the person becomes nullified and loses his own strength and sense of self in relation to the one he fears.
An example of this is the difference between a son and a servant:
The relationship between a son and his father is primarily based on the feeling of love between them—and the son’s love for his father does not nullify the son’s own existence; rather, as he exists, he feels closeness (and love) toward his father. In contrast, the relationship of a servant to his master is primarily connected to the attribute of awe (the servant’s fear of his master), whose nature and effect is self-nullification—the servant accepts the yoke of his master and is subjugated and nullified to him.
And so it is in the service of G‑d:
It is known that the Jewish people are “whether as children or as servants”: “You are children to the L‑rd your G‑d,” “They are My servants.” Contemplating G‑d’s closeness to Israel—“for You are our Father”—arouses and reveals love for G‑d; contemplating that G‑d is “our King” arouses and reveals awe and self-nullification.
The difference between these two attributes (love of G‑d and awe of Him) in their effect on a person’s soul is: love arouses a person’s closeness to G‑d; awe brings about a feeling of self-nullification and humility before Him.
5. Now, regarding the attribute of “bitul” (self-nullification) and humility, we find that not only must one be careful that this does not cause a person to become, G‑d forbid, a “doormat to be trampled,” but furthermore, that bitul also serves as a preparation and qualification for closeness to G‑d. That is, the purpose of awe and bitul is not that a person should come to the conclusion that he is nothing and that is all; rather, on the contrary, since he is nullified, he is able to draw close to G‑d.
Indeed, the closeness to G‑d that comes through the prior step of bitul is even greater than the closeness that comes from love alone. For since the attribute of love is connected with a sense of one’s own existence (that he is drawing close to G‑d), and a person is a created being with limitations, therefore, even his closeness to G‑d is limited. Only when a person nullifies himself (by arousing within himself the attribute of awe) does he prepare himself to be a vessel for the revelation of G‑dliness that is beyond all measure and limitation. As the verse says, “I dwell in exaltedness and holiness, but with the contrite and humble of spirit”—the exaltedness and holiness of G‑d dwells specifically with one who is “contrite and humble of spirit.”
As we also find in the above example (section 4) of a servant and a master, as our Sages say: “The servant of a king is a king”—that is, specifically because he is a servant, he is a “vessel” through which the strength of the king is revealed; since his entire existence is that of the king’s servant, and he has no independent existence or strength at all, all his strength is nothing but the strength of the king revealed through him.
6. This is also one of the explanations in the request, “And let my soul be as dust to all; open my heart in Your Torah.” At first glance, these two matters seem to be opposites: “And let my soul be as dust to all” expresses complete bitul, like dust “that everyone tramples upon”; while “open my heart in Your Torah” is, on the contrary, an expression of “existence” (the heart that feels and understands), and even more so—an opening of the heart, which is a movement of expansiveness and broadening (the opposite of bitul). How, then, can it be that the way to open one’s heart to the Torah of Hashem is by first saying, “And let my soul be as dust to all”?
But this itself is the answer: Without this introduction of “And let my soul be as dust to all,” if a person’s preparation to receive the words of Torah is only through the effort of his mind and intellect, and nothing more, he cannot reach a true opening of the heart “in Your Torah.” For the Torah is the wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, which is infinitely beyond the (limited) intellect of a created being—and by his own power, a person can only grasp the most limited portion of it.
However, when a person nullifies himself, to the point that he feels himself like dust—“And let my soul be as dust to all”—then it is specifically through this that he becomes fit to receive the Torah of the Holy One, blessed be He, even to the point of understanding and comprehension, and more than that, in the manner of “open my heart in Your Torah”—to reach a true expansiveness of the opening of the heart, and to absorb “Your Torah” (that is, the Torah of Hashem as it is above the intellect of a created being). This is because, in this opening of the heart, there is no sense of one’s own existence (which would prevent the absorption of the Torah of the Holy One, blessed be He, which is utterly beyond the existence of created beings)—its entire quality is the opening of the heart in holiness.
7. According to all the above, we can also explain regarding Yitzchak:
The awe in Yitzchak was a preparation and qualification for the joy and opening of the heart in the service of Hashem, which comes through the prior step of bitul. Therefore, he is called Yitzchak—from the root meaning laughter and joy, which indicates expansiveness and spreading forth (even to an expansiveness without limitation, as is known that joy breaks through all boundaries). For in the awe and bitul of Yitzchak, there is revealed an intensification of vitality, the true expansiveness of holiness (“open my heart in Your Torah”).
This is what the verse teaches us—“And these are the generations of Yitzchak the son of Avraham; Avraham begot Yitzchak”—that Yitzchak resembled Avraham (to the extent that his birth was specifically on Pesach, the festival corresponding to Avraham). For the spiritual work of Yitzchak in the attribute of awe is also a drawing close to the Holy One, blessed be He; but since it is an unlimited closeness (beyond the existence of created beings), it comes specifically through awe and bitul.
This idea—that the spiritual work of Yitzchak is joy and the opening of the heart, which indicates a movement of expansiveness—is also expressed in his life as a soul in a body, even in the physicality of the body. We find in Yitzchak, in particular, expansiveness (also) in the most literal, physical sense—and this is the subject of most of the parsha:
The beginning of the narrative (about Yitzchak himself) is G‑d’s command to him, “Do not go down to Egypt… Dwell in this land…”—which is not found by Avraham or Yaakov. The reason is because “you (specifically) are a perfect burnt offering”—it is specifically Yitzchak who was sanctified with such holiness that “the lands outside of Israel are not fitting for you” (in accordance with what was explained above, that through the awe and bitul of Yitzchak, he becomes a vessel for holiness that is beyond the world).
And through this, he received an abundance of G‑d’s blessings, as the narrative continues about the blessings Yitzchak received while in Gerar, until, as mentioned above, “And the man became great, and he grew continually greater until he was very great”—a greatness beyond all measure and limitation.
Afterwards comes the story about the wells that Yitzchak dug, which concludes and is sealed with—“And he called its name Rechovos… for now the L‑rd has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land”—expansiveness in holiness.
And afterwards—the lengthy account regarding the blessings of Yitzchak, which are the most exalted blessings, “such that we do not find blessings like these by Avraham or Yaakov,” even the blessings of Moshe are not like the blessings of Yitzchak—for it is specifically through the attribute of awe and bitul of Yitzchak that expansiveness is drawn down, an intensification of vitality (and abundance) that is beyond all measure and limitation.
8. The explanation of the connection between the attribute of awe (yirah) of Yitzchak and the concept of “expansiveness” (harchavah) on a deeper level is as follows:
Our Sages said: “The Patriarchs are indeed the [Divine] chariot,” for just as a chariot is completely nullified to the will of its driver, who directs it as he wishes, so too with the Patriarchs—all their matters and actions were “directed” by the supernal will.
This is also true regarding the attributes of the Patriarchs—one with kindness, another with might, and so on. The intent is not that the reason and source of their particular attribute was due to the nature of their souls, but rather because they were a “chariot” for that supernal attribute: Avraham was a chariot for the supernal attribute of kindness, and in accordance with this attribute, all his conduct was guided; therefore, his principal service was in the attribute of love.
Similarly, with Yitzchak, who was a chariot for the supernal attribute of might (gevurah), and therefore his principal service was in the attribute of awe (yirah).
9. Now, regarding the supernal attribute of might (gevurah), it is explained that in its root and source, its essence is not judgment and restriction (withholding influence), but on the contrary, gevurah comes from the term “intensification,” an intensification of vitality (as in the phrase “gevurot geshamim”—the might of rains).
The difference between the attribute of kindness and the attribute of might is that the attribute of kindness, since its nature is to bestow to another, therefore the influence comes in a way that the recipient is able to receive it. In contrast, the attribute of might is an influence with great intensity (an influence according to the level of the “giver”)—except that from this, there later extends and devolves the concept of restriction and might (withholding the influence) in its literal sense, especially when the recipient is unable to contain such a great abundance.
Thus, not only is the concept of supernal might and judgment not for the sake of judgment itself, G‑d forbid, but the entire purpose of judgment is only kindness [as is known regarding the punishments of the Torah, that their purpose is not the punishment itself, G‑d forbid, but rather to cleanse and purify the person until his sin is atoned for; therefore, the entire Torah—including its matters of punishment—is called “a Torah of kindness”]. Moreover, the very attribute of supernal might in its root and source is not a matter of judgment and withholding influence, but on the contrary—specifically an intensification of influence.
10. And from His two attributes, kindness and might, are drawn forth and extended within a person the two attributes of love and awe in his service of G‑d:
From the supernal attribute of kindness, which is the bestowal of His kindness in a manner commensurate with the creations and their ability to receive, there is drawn into a person the feeling of love, for when one senses the kindness of the Holy One, blessed be He, “as water reflects a face to a face,” a person is aroused to draw close to G‑d.
And the supernal attribute of might—an intensification of influence (beyond the measure and limitation of the creations)—arouses in a person the feeling of awe and bitul (self-nullification), through which he is able to receive even this intensified abundance (as explained above, that the bitul of “Let my soul be as dust to all” is a vessel for “Open my heart in Your Torah”).
It is thus understood that the attribute of awe of Yitzchak is not the opposite of the attribute of love of Avraham—for the essence and purpose of awe and bitul is so that the intensified kindness from above should shine upon him, and he should draw close to G‑d with even greater strength and intensity.
This is the reason that specifically with Yitzchak we find the matter of blessing in such abundance, “such that we do not find blessings like these by Avraham or Yaakov,” as mentioned above—for it is specifically through the attribute of awe of Yitzchak that the intensified abundance, which is beyond measure and limitation, is drawn down—the blessing of “abundant good for the house of Israel… according to His abundant kindnesses,” abundant good both materially and spiritually, and in both together, and specifically in good that is visible and revealed, below ten handbreadths, in the most literal sense.
(From a talk of Shabbos Parshas Acharei, 5741)
Key Lesson
Yitzchak’s attribute was awe, yet G‑d shaped his features to resemble Avraham’s, and his very name means laughter. Awe and self-nullification are not an end in themselves: “Let my soul be as dust to all” is what makes a person a vessel for “Open my heart in Your Torah.” When a Jew sets aside his sense of self, he can receive what is beyond all measure and limitation: joy, expansiveness and abundant blessing, in good that is visible and revealed.