In the beginning of this week's parsha, we read, " And Yitzchak entreated God opposite his wife because she was barren. And God allowed Himself to be entreated by him, and his wife Rivkah conceived." Rashi, citing the midrash, explains that both Yitzchak and Rivkah prayed to God for her to conceive, but it was Yitzchak's prayer rather that Rivkah's that was effective in meriting a child for her. Why? Because the prayer of a righteous person - a tzaddik - who is the offspring of a wicked person - a rasha - namely, Rivkah daughter of Besuel - cannot be compared to the prayer of a tzaddik who is the offspring of a tzaddik - namely, Yitzchak son of Avraham. Although this is usually understood to mean that Yitzchok's prayer was superior to Rivkah's because he came from better stock and thus had the additional merit of his father, we have mentioned, in the past ( see Netvort, parshas Toldos , 5762) , that  Rabbi Eliyahu E. Dessler, in his Michtav Me-Eliahu, gives a quite different explanation. Rabbi Dessler says that someone who is the offspring of a tzaddik has a much more difficult time attaining his own personal relationship with God than someone whose parents are wicked. The righteous offspring of a wicked person rebelled against her parents, and thus, her very process of finding God and building her relationship with Him constituted the development of her unique path. However, someone whose father is a tzaddik was raised from infancy to believe in God and to worship and serve Him. For such a person to carve out his own unique relationship with God is much harder, and, therefore, the relationship is that much stronger, and his prayer more readily accepted.

 

Rabbi Dessler's explanation is all the more striking when we take into account Yitzchak's general personality, and what we know about his life. In parshas Toldos we repeatedly read that Yitzchak followed up the actions of his father Avraham. Rabbi Mattisyahu Solomon,in his work  Matnas Chayim, writes that Yitzchok's task was, in fact, to follow in his father's footsteps completely. That is why God appeared to him to tell him not to descend to Egypt in face of the famine. Otherwise, Yitzchak would have gone there, just as his father had when there was a famine. Yitzchak needed to be told explicitly by God not to follow his father in this case. The idea here was that Yitzchak was born to Avraham only after Avraham had his bris milah, and so he was the first to be born in purity, Therefore he needed to continue in his father's ways in a complete sense, to perpetuate his ways. Still, as Rabbi Dessler says, he needed to add his own personal element, as well, and this was perhaps the real greatness of Yitzchak, being able to follow in his father's ways, on the one hand, and yet add his own personal dimension, as well.

 

Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, in his Ta'am Veda'as,does not mention Rabbi Dessler's explanation, but offers what is actually a kind of variation of it. This explanation provides us with a  picture of Yitzchak that is closer to the one presented by  Rabbi Solomon, but can also be seen in the way that we have suggested as  based on Rabbi Dessler's explanation.  Rabbi Sternbuch explains that a tzadik who is the offspring of a rasha is already a ba'al teshuvah, having undergone a process of return, and is therefore aware of the need to constantly examine his actions and improve himself. A tzadik who is the offspring of a tzadik, however, has been trained from early childhood to do the right thing, to serve God, and therefore has a harder time understanding that he must constantly improve himself..  As he grows in his relationship with God, he must realize that the way he acted the day before was insufficient, and he must, in fact, repent for his previous failings. This is much harder for  a tzadik who comes from a tzadik than for a tzadik who comes from  a rasha, and, therefore, his prayer is more readily accepted.

 

Following Rabbi Sternbuch's explanation, we can suggest that, actually, Yitzchak, by constantly doing teshuvah, was actually  following in the footsteps of his father. Rashi in parshas Lech Lecha ( Bereishis, 13:3) explains a verse there as telling  us that when Avraham returned from Egypt, he stayed at the same places that he stayed on his way down to Egypt. We have,in the past (Netvort to parshas Lech Lecha,5761), suggested that the reason he did this was that wherever he stayed, he 'called in the name of God,' meaning that he taught people about God and His goodness. After experiencing God's kindnesses while in Egypt, Avraham realized that he needed to become even more dedicated to Him, and therefore when he taught people about God, he needed to  teach them  in a more intensive way, as well. Therefore,he made a point of returning to the same place that  he had been on the way down to Egypt, in order to correct the failing in his previous teaching that he now perceived. This is analogous to the story told of Rav Saddiah Gaon, whose innkeeper treated him disrespectfully until he discovered who his guest really was. At that time, the innkeeper apologized, and said that had he known the day before what he knew now, he would have acted much differently. When Rav Saadiah returned to his home, he underwent an extreme from of repentance, and explained that  he was inspired by what the innkeeper had told him. Just as the innkeeper,with his new knowledge,realized that he had acted inappropriately the day before,so, too,he,Saadiah, who learned Torah everyday, now knows that the more he learns,the more he understands about God and His kindnesses,,and the more he realizes that his previous service of God fell short. Therefore, he must repent for his earlier failings.  Yitzchak, too, like his father, and like Rav Saadiah Gaon, was constantly increasing his  devotion to God, and repenting, as it were , for his previous failing in serving Him. Thus, according to Rabbi Sternbuch's teaching, Yitzchak, by constantly improving himself in respect to his service of God, was following exactly in his father's footsteps.