Shabbat Toldot 5760 Eby

Jonathan Serebrin's BarMitzvah 5756

Celebrating a bar-mitzvah is, definitely, a Jewish thing, don’t you agree, Jonathan? For the last number of weeks we have been reading in the Torah the story of our patriarch, Abraham. We revere Abraham not because he was perfect, but because he was our father. Not just Abraham, but also Isaac and Jacob are not portrayed by the Torah as men without flaws, or saints who could do no wrong. They show traits that we recognize as weakness -- in ourselves as well as in them. What sets them apart, and what we try to learn to emulate, is the courage of their convictions which is evident in moments of luminous insight and supreme self-denial. One such moment was the Akeda – Isaac’s binding on the altar on Mount Moriah. But such moments also take their toll. Isaac never seems to have recovered from his binding at the hands of his father. Abraham may have passed the divine test at Moriah, but Isaac’s religious growth was permanently stunted. Later, in Genesis 31:42, we are told that the name by which God was known to Isaac is Pakhad Yitzkhak – “the Fear of Isaac,” a name of God not found anywhere else in the Torah. Does the nomenclature suggest that Isaac knew God only as a scary and demanding presence, a source of dread, as God surely must have appeared to him at Moriah?

What we do know from this week’s parasha is that “Isaac favored Esau because he had a taste for game, while Rebekah favored Jacob.” [Gen. 25:28] It is the more virile, robust, and adventurous of his two sons that Isaac showers with attention. Unlike Rebekah, he is oblivious to the divine wish that the religious legacy of Abraham pass through the line of Jacob. True to his name, Yitzhak, whose name means “he shall laugh,”wanted to enjoy life. Actually, the real hero of this part of the ancestral saga is Rebekah, who displays an unfailing religious sensibility throughout. The fact that she accepted the invitation to marry Isaac from a total stranger proves her awareness of God’s hand in the remarkable events of her life right from the start of her time on the stage of history. In the midst of a difficult and painful pregnancy, with twins in her womb, she turns to inquire of God herself, without benefit of any intermediary [Gen. 25:22]. Rebekah rises to protect Jacob and her husband’s heritage -- because she alone senses that religious leadership in the family ought not to be the exclusive prerogative of the first-born son. Her advocacy marks a brave first step toward opening the ranks of religious leadership to all who are religiously qualified. So, today it is you who is leading the congregation, accepting your part in this saga of the seed of Abraham, and, to be sure, of Sarah, in the tragic fate of Isaac, and the just cause of Rebekah’s choice. May you continue to live up to our expectations, and may we always rejoice in your happy occasions.

5757

Legend has it that mankind was "happy go lucky" until people made up their mind to go ahead and get married. Don't get me wrong, I accept my fate and agree with God, when he said that “it is not good for man to live alone,” and I bless Him for giving me my dear wife as a help mate, Leah -- but don't you think that sometimes "family" gets to be a burden rather than a joy?

A case in point is our father Yitzkhak, and the reading of the Torah this Shabbat illustrates it quite well. Listen to the opening words of our portion:

"These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebecca, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. The children struggled together within her; and she said, "If it is to be this way, why do I live?" So she went to inquire of the Lord . And the Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger." [Gen 25:19-24]

What is wrong with this text? Did you notice? "The generations of Isaac," the text says -- which is another way of saying the history of Isaac. Yet this story begins with Abraham was the father of Isaac, and continues after one verse to bring in Rebecca, and her struggle to give birth to twins. I don't know if you are aware of it -- but it is no small task raising twins. It is not the same as raising two children who are a year apart. It is a unique and difficult experience. In many communities, nowadays, there are support groups for parents of twins. They need it, I know!

As difficult as it is to be the parent of twins, and as difficult as it is to have gifted and successful children -- and as rough as it is to be the child of a great and famous parent -- the worst is to be both! You do not find many of those! J.S. Bach had a number of successful children -- but their children did not leave a musical (or any other kind of) legacy. You may recall the famous French authors, Alexander Dumas – father and son. But the only "father and grandson" combination I can think of is in the Mendelssohn family.

Moses Mendelssohn (1729-86) has been called the greatest of 18th-century Jewish philosophers. He influenced Immanuel Kant and a generation of German philosophers as well as the course of Jewish philosophy. His collected works fill seven volumes and were published in 1843-45. He was born on Sept. 26, 1729, in Dessau, Anhal, in eastern Germany, the son of a poor scribe. He studied German and Latin and was introduced to the philosophy of Maimonides by his teacher David Frankel. He followed Frankel to Berlin, where he became acquainted with Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, who modeled the central figure of his drama 'Nathan the Wise' after Mendelssohn. In 1763 Mendelssohn won a prize in a literary contest of the Prussian Academy of Arts. As a result King Frederick the Great of Prussia deemed him a "privileged Jew" who would not suffer the usual burdens placed on Jews. Mendelssohn began work on his translation of the Torah in 1780. The translation was written in German and printed with Hebrew characters, and it was considered a stepping-stone to the German language and life beyond the ghetto. Mendelssohn struggled to find a way for Jews to acculturate to German society while maintaining their Jewish values. He died in Berlin on Jan. 4, 1786. Most encyclopedias do not list his sons, but do mention that his grandson was Felix Mendelssohn, the composer.

Felix (1809-47), the composer, pianist, and conductor was a pivotal figure of 19th-century romanticism. He was also a major force in the revival of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. His father, Abraham, was a successful banker in Hamburg when Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was born on Feb. 3, 1809. During his boyhood young Mendelssohn wrote many compositions, and he appeared as a pianist in 1818. By 1827 he had composed an overture to 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', his first mature work. Felix Mendelssohn conducted Bach's 'St. Matthew Passion' in Berlin in 1829, an event that marked a revival in the performance of Bach's vocal music. That year he was in London, where he conducted his own 'Symphony in C Minor.' This was the first of ten trips to Great Britain, where he established his main reputation and became a favorite of Queen Victoria.

In 1833 Mendelssohn became music director in Dusseldorf, Germany, where he introduced the masses of Beethoven and Cherubini and the cantatas of Bach. Two years later he was appointed conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, soon making it the most prestigious symphonic organization in Germany. In 1843 he founded the Leipzig Conservatory, where he and Robert Schumann taught composition. After the sudden death of his sister Fanny, to whom he was quite attached, in May 1847, his health deteriorated and he died on November 2.

Abraham Mendelssohn tried to have a distinguished life -- but failed. He baptized his children and gave them the added name Bartholdy to try and shield them from his own childhood experience of suffering from anti-Semitism. He failed, his son Felix never used the added name, and his daughter actually called herself Rebecca Mendelssohn Meden Bartholdy – Meden being the Greek for 'never.' In his last days, Abraham Mendelssohn commented, "it was my lack of luck to be born the son of a famous man, and spend my last days as the father of a famous son!' Ah, family... Often it requires a great talent in diplomacy, in patience, in tolerance, and in self control just to keep them all happy. Without family we could all be individuals, taken at our face value. With family, sometimes we are made "guilty by association."

Yitzkhak avinu, our second patriarch, was the transition generation from the founder, Abraham, to the father of the twelve -- Jacob. His moment of glory occurred early in his life, and is forever associated with Abraham more than it was with him -- the Akeda – the binding upon the altar at Moriah. However, we are deeply indebted to him -- for living on, for carrying on the traditions of his father, and for passing them on to Jacob, and to all the coming generations.

Amen

5760

This week’s Torah reading is the portion Toldot, the sixth portion in the book of Beresheet, Genesis, comprising the end of chapter 25, from verse 19 – to chapter 28, verse 9. The word ‘toldot’ means ‘generations’ or ‘history,’ and is spelled three different ways in the Torah! The text begins with the words, "And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son; Abraham fathered Isaac; Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca for his wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Padan-Aram, the sister to Laban the Aramean.

Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebeccah his wife conceived." [Gen. 25:19-21] The text goes on to speak of the birth of Yitzkhak’s twin sons, Essav and Ya’akov. The Torah dedicates three portions, with a total of 378 verses, to the history of our first patriarch, Avraham. The Torah also dedicates three portions, with a total of 387 verses, to our third patriarch, Ya’akov. The second, or middle, patriarch gets only one portion, with only 106 verses. Is this fair? Is Yitzkhak deprived?

Does the Torah, and Jewish history, treat this ‘middle father’ unjustly? On the face of it, it sure looks that way. However, we are taught that Torah is a three layered text: pshat, the simple text as it stands by a casual reading of the text; drash, the delving into the meaning of the text based on interpretation of the words; and seter, the secrets of the text that are evident only to those who are familiar not only with the words but with the Hebrew language that contains sub-texts and a wealth of meaning generated by the syntax of the verses and the choice of synonyms that accommodate extra-textual meaning.

God Himself, when asked by Moses for His name, informs all who read the Torah, "And God said to Moses, Eheyeh asher Eheyeh; and he said, Thus shall you say to the people of Israel, Eheyeh has sent me to you." [Exodus 3:14] It is clear that His name is ‘Eheyeh’ – which means I am, or I will be. The consonants of the Hebrew have numerical values. The first consonant, Alef, is one, the second, beyt, is two — and so on to the last, the twenty second consonant, tav, which is four hundred.

Words have a numerical value which is the sum of the value of the consonants that make up the word. The numerical value of the name ‘Eheyeh’ is twenty one. If we add the digits, two and one, the final sum will be three.

All truth, all that which is real and affirmative and alive stems from our God. It is the energy, or power of God which drives our world and all existence. "Three to the power," in mathematics, means three times three, and gives us the sum of nine. The text say that God told Moses, "Eheyeh asher Eheyeh," I am that I am — and mathematically ‘that’ is a symbol of multiplication, making the ‘formula’ (I am that I am) 21 times 21 — which is 441. Truth is Emet, with a value of 441! If we add the digits four, four and one — we get 9. The root of nine is three, just as the root of truth is God. The People Israel have their root in the three fathers, who had a covenant with the Eternal Father, our Creator, ‘Eheyeh.’ Note that our first and third patriarchs had their story told in three portions, and the sum of the verses, 378 and 387 is 18, whose end-sum is nine — ‘emet!’

In the book of Ecclesiastes, which is also called ‘The Wisdom of Solomon,’ we read, "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falls; for he has not another to help him up.

Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; a threefold cord is not quickly broken." [Ecc. 4:9-12] What is this all about? How does this relate to our portion and the issue at hand? Avraham was a great man, one who related to God, who argued with God over issues of justice and wickedness, "And Abraham drew near, and said, Will you also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" [Gen. 18:23] Yet, alone he would have lived and died unnoticed – and would have been forgotten. "Two are better than one." He needed Sarah for a wife; he needed Yitzkhak for a son. Ya’akov was blessed by God, given wives and concubines, and children – sons upon sons.

However, a tree needs more than branches and leaves – it needs roots! Where would Ya’akov have come from had it not been for Yitzkhak? "A threefold cord is not quickly broken." Where would have been the truth of Avraham and the continuity of Ya’akov without the steadfast connection of the ‘middle father?’

Avraham was, without a doubt, the ultimate believer. He sought God and found Him. He heard God and followed Him. He loved God and accepted Him as a bride accepts her groom. So our first patriarch gave us Judaism’s faith. Ya’akov was, without a doubt, the ultimate father. Almost against his will he became the husband of two, master of two more, and the father of thirteen children that we know of – and how many more that we do not... Ya’akov was the worthy name-giver of the ‘Children of Israel." So our third patriarch gave us Judaism’s people.

Yitzkhak, the ‘middle father,’ the second patriarch, alone of the patriarchs and their immediate descendants, lived his whole life in the Land of Canaan, which became known as the "Promised Land," or "the Land of Israel." He gave us the third element of Eternal Yisrael – our connectivity to Judaism’s land, which he consecrated by his presence, and the connectivity with one another. As he was the bridge between his father and his faith, and his son and his large family, so do we all continue ‘midor ledor’ – from one generation to the next.

Where is the ‘secret’ proof of this message? "A threefold cord is not quickly broken." We are the Shabbat people, and we are taught that as much as we have guarded the Shabbat, it is the Shabbat that guarded us and kept us alive. So Avraham and Ya’akov had three portions telling their story – together it comes to six, as in "the six days of creation." Then comes the one day that God hallowed. Shabbat, standing alone and unique, is the portion of Yitzkhak. Look at the sum of its verses, one hundred and six! Add the digits and you get the end-sum of seven!

How amazing, how revealing, how mysteriously clear! You may recall that I told you earlier that the name of our portion, ‘toldot,’ is spelled three different ways in the Torah – well, the way it is spelled this week occurs seven times in the Torah, and the numerical value of the word is 840, giving us the end-sum of 3! From the root comes the Shabbat. The children Israel, born of the threefold root and Avraham, Yitzkhak and Ya’akov, as "A threefold cord," was not, is not, nor ever will be broken. Give praise to our God, whose Torah is the essence and distillation of truth. Amen

5761

This week, once again, at the end of five weeks of reading the Torah from B’resheet, and three weeks after reading the story of our first patriarch, we come to the portion Toldot, the sixth portion in Genesis, comprising the end of chapter 25, from verse 19 – to chapter 28, verse 9. The word ‘toldot’ means ‘generations’ or ‘history,’ and is spelled three different ways in the Torah! The text begins with the words, “Ve’ele Toldot Yitzkhak – And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son; Abraham fathered Isaac; Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca for his wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Padan-Aram, the sister to Laban the Aramean. Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebeccah his wife conceived.” [Gen. 25:19-21] The text of this portion is divided into three segments by content. The first speaks of the birth of Yitzkhak’s twin sons, Essav and Ya’akov. The second tells us of the life of our second patriarch, and the third deals with the rivalry between Ya’akov and Essav. I mentioned last year that the Torah dedicates three portions, with a total of 378 verses, to the history of our first patriarch, Avraham; it dedicates three portions, with a total of 387 verses, to our third patriarch, Ya’akov. The second, or middle, patriarch gets only one portion, with only 106 verses. Last year I asked if it was fair, or if father Yitzkhak was deprived? This year, in line with my plan to used the Torah as a jumping point into the contemporary I would like to suggest to you that the three patriarchs are symbolic of the make-up of each and every one of us: We are all made of three parts which are not equal in volume or content. First we are a manifestation of all that has past before us, which is to say our roots. This is the Abraham in us, which is made up of our history, our beginning. The first patriarch’s name, originally, was “av ram” - meaning ‘a great father.’ God, in covenant, added the ‘h’ to his name, making him “Avraham” the anagram of which is “ahav ram” - meaning ‘he who loves the Exalted One,’ or ‘Lover of God.’ This is our history.

From our history we come to our existence. What do we know about our life? We are weak and prone to fail. We eke out our living by the sweat of our brow, and are at the mercy of nature and chance, threatened and placed in jeopardy by others who are like us, flesh and blood, creatures of caprice and unbridled passion, of loves and hatreds. We are temporary as we are contemporary, capable and full of potential, prone to err as we are to discover and uphold universal truths. We are successful and failing, prideful and humble, the stuff of legends - and of jokes. We are Yitzkhak, the second patriarch.

What use is our life, and for what purpose are we struggling here on earth if not for all of the future generations? It is this great and vast future, in which our seed multiplies and our triumphs become part of the building blocks of human character in all the coming generations, that is our purpose and our father Ya’akov. Here we see the promise of God fulfilled. In Ya’akov we recognize the potential of all our efforts and our striving. Here a refugee from the threat of annihilation, by the power of his personality and the blessings of God Almighty becomes the father of twelve who in his own lifetime become a clan of seventy souls. We see the human pyramid grow and build a firm base upon which future generations will find their safety and their succor. Once again we read the words of our great and wise king, Solomon, “ Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falls; for he has not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” [Eccle. 4:9-12] While by ourselves we are at best one strong creative and independent individual, combined with our history and wedded to our future we are a current, a force of nature that cannot be blocked, stopped, or denied. Am Yisrael Kha’y – the People Israel lives, and we are a part, always, of the flowing river of God’s love, and of Life.

Amen

Shabbat shalom

Toldot 5763

This Shabbat is the first in the month of November - that, you all know. However, I will bet that few of you are aware that it is the first Shabbat in the month of Kislev as well, last Tuesday and Wednesday having been "Rosh Khodesh"- the beginning of the month. Since we celebrate the renewing of the Torah cycle on Simkhat Torah, which comes at the very end of the first month of the new year - this must be the sixth portion of the new cycle. This week's reading in the Torah is the portion Toldot, comprising the end of chapter 25, from verse 19 – to chapter 28, verse 9. The text begins with the words, "Ve'ele Toldot Yitzkhak – And these are the generations of Isaac..." However, the text continues with the words, "... Abraham's son; Abraham fathered Isaac; And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah for his wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Padan-Aram, the sister to Laban the Aramean. And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together inside her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord." [Gen. 25:19-21] We ask ourselves, with more than a little curiosity, "why do we need to have Father Yitzkhak's pedigree? Would we mistake him with some other Yitzhak?" And we can further ask, if this is to be the story of Yitzhak, why do we, at once, speak about his wife?
This can be a sensitive issue with some men who feel that in our tradition, it is much more difficult to be a man than in other societies. Men have obligations, not rights. Others, more steeped in tradition, would respond by saying, "does it not say in the Torah, ‘Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be one flesh.' [Gen 2:24]?" If we accept the Torah's teaching, then we recognize that "his wife"is, in fact, a part of him (and he a part of her, to be sure, all you women's lib people...) – and there is no problem with the text. The two of them are struggling to have heirs to whom they can pass on the wonderful traditions learned by Abraham and continued by Yitzhak.
Now let's look back at the text and see the struggle for continuity: Sarah our mother could not conceive, and when the angels came and informed her of her coming happy occasion of birthing Yitzhak - she laughed. The whole event was a laughing matter to her: a joy, a release, a fulfillment of promises made long before. Not so for Yitzhak and his wife, Rivkah. While his name may have been laughter – his life was far from it! His story, presented this week in our portion, begins with the word "Toldot." The root of this word is "Yod," "Lamed" and "Dalet" – which means ‘birth.' It is not surprising, then, if the verse, which begins with "this is the story of Yitzhak," turns out to be the story of Rebecca and the twins much more than his story!
And maybe, just maybe, there is a message here, between the lines, over the lines, a subliminal message that every Jewish mother knows, as she asks her grown son, "so, when will you bring home some nice Jewish girl?" This is not a joke, and I am not being cynical or cute - nor am I trying to ingratiate myself with my women folk – wife, mother in law, or daughters. I suggest, quite seriously, that the Torah is quite correct when it teaches that God himself observed that "It is not good that the man should be alone;" and "for Adam there was not found a help to match him." [ibid 2:18,20]
Yitzhak is the middle patriarch, which, of course, means ‘father.' How can we expect him to be a father unless we speak about his wife and her struggle to become a mother? Which, to my mind, carries an important eye opening fact to all of us, men: without women, we would not last beyond one generation! Abraham, Yitzhak and Ya'akov were most fortunate that God related to them and made covenants with them. However, they were much more blessed by the women that they got as wives! It was the women, Sarah, Rebecca, Rakhel and Leah, who contributed their special God given ability to bear children to make the promise become a reality. Let us never forget, and let us always appreciate the companionship, the trust, the love and the devotion that every generation of Jewish women brought to their men, to insure the perpetuity of God's promise in the new life that they brought into the world.

Amen

Toldot 5764

This week's reading in the Torah is the portion Toldot, which means ‘generations' – or history. It begins with the words, "And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son; Abraham fathered Isaac; Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca for his wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Padan-Aram, the sister to Laban the Aramean. Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived." [Gen. 25:19-21]
Itzkhak Avinu, our father Isaac, was a unique person in the history of Judaism. He went directly from being his father's son to being his son's father. His ‘place' in the account of the patriarchs is the shortest and seemingly the least significant. Beyond that, the Text seems to say that Yitzkhak was a tool of his father and a fool of his wife and son. The relationship between Yitzkhak and his wife was very different than that of his father, Abraham, with his mother, Sarah. We don't ever read of any kind of communication between Yitzkhak and Rebecca. The Torah text may suggest the reason for this: "And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said to the servant, What man is this who walks in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master; therefore she took a veil, and covered herself." [Gen. 24:64,65] Normally we understand this passage to suggest that Rebecca behaved in the manner of the Middle East and the ancient world where modesty dictated that women's faces are not seen. However, I would like to suggest to you that the words " she took a veil, and covered herself" actually tell us that she "veiled" her emotions and thoughts, and rarely, if ever, confronted her husband, Yitzkhak with her concerns.
Next the text tells us that "it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, " [Ibid. 27:1] and commentary informs us that he was blind because he could not see, or perceive, that Esau was not a worthy successor to his father Abraham, and to himself as the head of the family. Hence, his "blindness" makes necessary the guile and coniving of Rebecca with her favored son, Yaakov.
A few weeks ago, we read the haftarah from Isaiah which included the following passage: "Hear, you deaf; and look, you blind, that you may see. Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger whom I sent? Who is blind as he who is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant? Seeing many things, but you observe not; opening the ears, but he hears not. The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the Torah, and make it glorious." [Isaiah 42:18-21] I thought of this passage as I was studying this week's portion, and I asked myself, "Who was blind, and who could see clearly?" Was it really Yitzkhak who did not know what his sons were like, and was the cunning and cheating of the mother and her "good son" really necessary?
You know, I'm sure, that "the proof of the pudding is in the tasting..." – so look at the blessing of Yitzkhak to (the one he is led to believe is) his son Esau: "See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed; Therefore God give you of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine; Let people serve you, and nations bow down to you; be lord over your brothers, and let your mother's sons bow down to you; cursed be every one who curses you, and blessed be he who blesses you." [Gen. 27:27-29] What sort of a blessing is this? It is a physical, touchy-feely blessing, dealing with life in the immediate and most concrete sense. What is missing from this blessing? Any spirituality or higher moral atributes.
It is interesting to note that Ya'akov, the "good son" that rebecca favored, went along with his mother's plan, worrying only about getting caught in the act of cheating his father and taking the place of his brother. He protests to his mother, "My father perhaps will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing." [Ibid. 27:12] It never enters his mind to ask his mother what would happen, inevitably, when Esau returns from the field, and the ruse is discovered...
What does happen, you may recall, is that Yitzkhak says to Esau that a blessing once given cannot be withdrawn, and he must accept his fate. Yet, does the cheated father hold a grudge against his son Yaakov and his wife? No, indeed. In fact, we read in the text that for once Rebecca turns to her husband and discusses plans for Ya'akov's future - even if she does not give an honest and full report of what is on her mind: "46. And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these who are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life be to me?" [Ibid 27:46]
Yitzkhak is the one who sends his son to the house of his brother-in-law. He blesses him before he leaves with the following words, "And God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a multitude of people; And give the blessing of Abraham to you, and to your seed with you; that you may inherit the land where you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham." [Ibid. 28:3,4] Compare this blessing to the one obtained under false pretense earlier. Which is the "better" blessing?
Jacob escapes the wrath of his brother, but must make penance for his transgression against his father and his brother. He lives for twenty years with the arch-deceiver of all times, Lavan the Aramean. He is cheated on his wedding day, he is cheated at payday, and he is almost cheated out of his future before he is ready to "resume his place" as third patriarch. His mother, poor, misguided rebecca, is dealt with even more cruelly. She is deprived of her favorite son, she is not allowed to see his off-springs, her grand children, and the Torah does not even mention her death. In fact, in the aftermath of her misguided interruption in the affairs of her husband and her sons she is never heard of again, except in the verse "And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried beneath Beth-El under an oak; and the name of it was called Allon-Bachuth." [Ibid. 35:8] We have never heard of Deborah, and should not care for the fact that she died. I believe the verse was placed here to remind us that we never heard of the death of the nurse's mistress!
Now we can fully understand the words of Isaiah, "Who is blind as he who is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant? " It turns out that the blind saw clearly and acted as was expected of him, and it was the wise and the visionary who went astray after his and her own interpretation of which way the future should unravel. A good lesson to keep in mind as we struggle with our own problems. The words of the prophet Isaiah come to mind, "Be broken up, O you people, and be dismayed; and give ear, all you of far countries; gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come to nothing; speak the word, and it shall not stand; for God is with us. Utzu etza vtofar, dabru davar vlo yakum, ki imanu el!" [Isaiah 8:90.10] May the Lord our God continue to be with us, to guide and protect us, to lead us on His path to the land and the time of His promise. Amen