From: JoshHoff@aol.com
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2008 5:59 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort:parshas Toldos,5769
Life Begins at Forty
By Rabbi Joshua ( generationally known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
In honor of my
cousins,Michael and Sarita ( nee Shapira) Moss, on the occasion of their
fortieth wedding anniversary, which occurs today, Friday, November 28. May they
enjoy many more years together in happiness and good health.
This week's parsha begins by telling us," These are the generations of
Yitzchak,son of Avraham; Avraham , begat Yitzhak. And Yitzchak was forty years
old when he took Rivkah daughter of Besuel the Aramean of Padan-aram sister of
Lavan the Aramean as a wife for himself (Bereishis,25:19-20).Several
questions arise in trying to understand these two verses,First,why does the
Torah add the seemingly redundant statement that "Avraham begat Yitzchak,'
after it just referred to Yitzcahk as the son of Avraham? Second,why doesn't
the Torah immediately tell us who Yitzchak's children were after the first verse,
rather than interrupting with mentioning his marriage to Rivkah, and
then the couples' inability, for many years, to have children,and
their prayers to God to remedy that situation,until,finally,in verses 24 and
25, it does finally mention the birth of Yakov and Eisav? Finally,why does the
Torah tell us that Yakov was forty years old when he married Yitzchak? Why is
that information important?.Rashi, Ramban,and other classical commentators deal
with some or all of these questions, each commentator accounting for the
various difficulties with a number of different factors. However,I would like
to apply one central idea that we mentioned in last week's message to answer
all of the questions by explaining them as reflecting one basic
underlying factor.
We mentioned last week Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik's idea that the patriarchs
and matriarchs acted as teams, and,for that reason,after the death of Sarah,the
Torah tells us very little about Avraham's life,beyond his arrangement,through
his servant Eliezer,of the marriage of Yitzchak, even though he lived for
almost sixty more years after Sarah's death..The Ramban says that the
patriarchs were active in developing the collective character of the Jewish
nation,and we explained,on that basis that,according to Rabbi Soloveitchik,they
only did so in conjunction with their wives.Thus,when Avraham married Keturah
after Sarah's death,the children born to them were not included in he ranks of
the Jewish nation,and Avraham eventually sent them away to the land of the
east,as the Torah tells us( Bereishis,25:6). Because Avraham understood that,in
order to continue the process of the development of the collective character of
the nation Yitzchak would need to marry Avraham charged Eliezer with finding
him a wife. Based on this notion,we can now answer the questions we asked on
the opening verses of parshas Toldos.
The Torah repeats the fact that Avraham begat Yitzchak,it seems,in order to
emphasize the role that both of them played in developing the collective nature
of the Jewish nation. Avraham,we are told, begat Yitzchak,passed over that
mission to him once Sarah died, In order for Yitzchak to carry on that
work,however,he needed to get married,and,therefore,the Torah immediately tells
us that he was forty when he married Rivkah,because that is when his life as a
link in the chain of the development of the collective character of the Jewish
nation,in conjunction with his wife,really began,The Torah then tells us of the
difficulty that the couple had in giving birth to children,because that played
a role in their emerging relationship, and the ultimate manner in which the
blessings would be given over to Yakov, which in turn determined the
manner in which Yakov married his two wives,with whom he would carry on the development
of the nation into the next generation..Thus,a sensitivity to the role that the
patriarchs and matriarchs played,as teams,in the development of the collective
character of the Jewish nation can help us understand the opening verses of
this week's parsha,as well as the events that the Torah goes on to
relate.
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