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The Rebbe says:

1. The first verse in this weeks Parshah says “V’Eyleh toldos Yitzchok ben Avraham, Avraham holid es Yitzchak – And these are the children of Yitzchak the son of Avraham, Avraham was the father of Yitzchak”.

2. Q: The question that begs to be asked here is obvious: Why does the verse say that Avraham was the father of Yitzchak after it already told us that Yitzchak was the son of Avraham?!?

3. Answer number 1: Rashi tells us that although the verse already mentioned that Yitzchak was the son of Avraham it still found it necessary to stress that Avraham fathered Yitzchak to tell us something: There were cynics of that generation saying “Avraham is not the father of Yitzchak, really Avimelech the king of the Plishtim is the father. Look, for many years Avraham and Sarah were married and Sarah did not give birth, only now after Sarah was with Avimelech in his palace did she give birth”. Hashems response to this was that He made Yitzchaks facial features exactly like Avrahams and therefore everyone saw without a doubt that Avraham Avinu was really Yitzchaks father. Therefore the verse says “Avraham fathered Yitzchak” to tell us that there was clear evidence that really Avraham Avinu was Yitzchaks father.

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Toldos

The Rebbe says:

1. The first verse in this weeks Parshah says “V’Eyleh toldos Yitzchok ben Avraham, Avraham holid es Yitzchak – And these are the children of Yitzchak the son of Avraham, Avraham was the father of Yitzchak”.

2. Q: The question that begs to be asked here is obvious: Why does the verse say that Avraham was the father of Yitzchak after it already told us that Yitzchak was the son of Avraham?!?

3. Answer number 1: Rashi tells us that although the verse already mentioned that Yitzchak was the son of Avraham it still found it necessary to stress that Avraham fathered Yitzchak to tell us something: There were cynics of that generation saying “Avraham is not the father of Yitzchak, really Avimelech the king of the Plishtim is the father. Look, for many years Avraham and Sarah were married and Sarah did not give birth, only now after Sarah was with Avimelech in his palace did she give birth”. Hashems response to this was that He made Yitzchaks facial features exactly like Avrahams and therefore everyone saw without a doubt that Avraham Avinu was really Yitzchaks father. Therefore the verse says “Avraham fathered Yitzchak” to tell us that there was clear evidence that really Avraham Avinu was Yitzchaks father.

4. Answer number 2: Medrash Tanchumah says that the reason the verse says that Yitzchak was the son of Avraham and Avraham was the father of Yitzchak is because both Yitzchak and Avraham would talk about the great things of each other. Yitzchak would “crown himself” and glorify himself by saying that Avraham is his father, and Avraham would “crown himself” and glorify himself by saying that Yitzchak is his son.

Even though usually as the generations go on the people are less great, never the less here Yitzchak who was a generation lower then Avraham was able to “crown” Avraham his father. And this is what the verse tells us when it adds that Avraham was the father of Yitzchak- Avraham was able to be glorified by Yitzchak his son.

5. Answer number 3: Chassidus explains like this:

The first Rashi in Parshas Noach tells us “The main offspring of the righteous are good deeds”. So when our verse here says “And these are the children of Yitzchok…” it does not only mean the physical children of Yitzchak, it also refers to the spiritual children. The spiritual offspring of Yitzchak Avinu was Torah, Mitzvos and good deeds.

And this is what the Torah is telling us: How was Yitzchak able to have such great offspring of Torah, Mitzvos and good deeds? Because Avraham was his father.

What was so special about Avraham?

We know that Avraham Avinu was the only Jew in his time. All the inhabitants of the world were on one side (in their belief) and he was on another side. Never the less, not only was Avraham Avinu not afraid to practice his Judaism in private, but he would travel around letting everyone know that Hahem is the master of the universe! He did not say that Hashem is the owner of the world but the world is its own existence, he would tell everyone that the world is a part of Hashem. He would proclaim that there is nothing outside of Hashems existence.

This great conduct of Avraham Avinu was inherited by Yitzchak his son and therefore Yitzchak was able to perform such great deeds. And as we said this is what the verse is teaching us when it says “Avraham was the father of Yitzchak”.

6. The lesson for us in our lives:

We must realize that since Avraham is our father we inherit the strength to light up this world with Torah, Mitzvos and good deeds! Even though we live in a world where the wicked are strong and Hashem conceals Himself so much, we must know that we inherited the strength of our father Avraham to be able to overcome all obstacles and not fear anyone or anything.

Also, we need not reckon with those who think that their own great handiwork got them to where they wanted to go, because we are connected to Hashem in a way which is higher then logic and “normal” reason.

7. When we make our every day conduct a possible dwelling place for Hashem to rest we fulfill the reason of Creation and Hashem will then surely send Moshiach NOW!!!

Taken from Likutei Sichos Chelek Aleph and Gimmel. Translated and adapted by Shalom Goldberg. This Parasha article was sent to CrownHeights.info as part of a weekly mailer from the author.

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  • Anonymous

    Another D’var Torah:

    “And the children struggled together within her… And she went to inquire of the G-d… And the G-d said to her: ‘Two nations are in your womb.’ ” (25:22-23)

    QUESTION: Rashi explains: When Rivkah passed a house of Torah learning, Yaakov struggled to emerge. When she passed a place of idol worship, Eisav struggled to come out. This perplexed her, and she went to inquire about it. A message was conveyed to her through Shem that she was carrying two children.
    Why did this information calm her?

    The Rebbe answers (Likutei Sichos Vol. 1, p183ff.)
    The prophet Eliyahu held a debate with the false prophets of Ba’al during which he challenged them: “How long will you waver between two opinions”. If Hashem is the G-d, follow Him! And if it is the Ba’al, follow him” (1 Kings, 18:21). One may wonder how Eliyahu was able to utter such an option?
    The Rebbe explains the difference between outright idolatry and idolatry which is fence-sitting. Outright idolatry means a person really believes he benefits from his idol. A fence-sitter is in doubt – either he’s unsure as to what to believe in, or he believes in Hashem plus something else.

    The Rebbe says that wavering between two opinions is in many ways WORSE than outright idolatry. GENERALLY, outright idolatry is worse of course. But in terms of TESHUVA, the fence-sitter is worse because it’s harder for him to do Teshuva fully.

    Why?

    1) Because someone who once believed in idolatry, who realizes he was wrong, can fully do Teshuva. The one who wavers and believes in Hashem plus something else or doubts, doesn’t do a full Teshuva because he claims he always believed in G-d.
    I.e. He is uncertain weather he sinned in the first place.

    2) The one who fully believes in idolatry can be a spiritual individual, just a misguided spiritual individual.

    But the one who wavers shows that not only is he not interested in the true G-d, but he is spiritually insensitive. Although he knows Hashem is G-d, he is still willing to give idols some credit, thinking he’ll benefit in some way. Even when he realizes the truth, he does Teshuva only because of personal gain.
    I.e. He is willing to compromise some of his religious beliefs for the sake of convenience or social pressure (his spirituality is corrupted by materialism).

    3) The one who wavers leads others astray because it is not clear that he is a heretic. The idol-worshiper, however, is an outright heretic and is thus an outcast that does not effect the Community. I.e. nobody gets confused by him.

    At the outset, Rivkah thought she was carrying one child who was confused, unable to distinguish between right and wrong, and thus, G-d forbid, capable of running in a different direction each day. Informed that she would give birth to two children, she was relieved, because she could now hope to convince the other child to emulate his righteous brother.