The Weekly Sedra – Toldos – To Whom Does The Progeny Belong?

Reb Mendel of Riminov once pointed upward and proclaimed, “This heaven that you behold with your very eyes, through skepticism it is possible to entirely deny, even prove its inexistence.”

Everyone these days seems to have an opinion about Chabad. On the one hand it is flattering that the once referred to as “sectarian” and “ultra” orthodox organization, to which I belong, has found its way into the minds and hearts of the broader Jewish community. It has even caught the attention of the non Jewish world.

On the other hand, some of the ideas ascribed to the movement – especially regarding its inexplicable success – are often distorted and perplexing. Equally baffling are the sources whence some of these critiques stem.

I never did quite understand why in America, the farther removed one is from a given subject or phenomenon the more credibility and weight his observations seem to carry. I’m told that the reason for this is because the person who is close or involved with an entity is suspect – he is assumed to be “biased.” The outsider, on the other hand, is ostensibly neutral and hence more credible. I’m sorry, but I just don’t buy it.

To begin with, the outsider – be it an academic sitting in his ivory tower, or a journalist; whose supposed desire is only to report the facts – knows far less about the facts than the person who is intricately involved. It hence makes perfect sense to give at least as much credence to the one who has first hand knowledge as to the one who has not.

More importantly however, it is highly doubtful whether the so called neutral outsider is all that neutral after all. Who are we kidding? Does anyone really believe that the academic possesses no bias in his postulations? Has the columnist no agenda? Show me a man with a ticking heart and I’ll show you a person who has a bias on issues of which he or she feels compelled to speak-out. Still, society tends to worship the voice of the self-proclaimed impartial expert – the voice of the outsider; a.k.a. the street.

If it’s any consolation, this phenomenon is not entirely new. In fact, in one form or another this absurdity traces all the way back to primitive culture – as far back as the age of our forefather Avraham. This notion is implied in the first verse of our Parsha: “And these are the offspring of Yitzchak son of Avraham – Avraham begot Yitzchak.” – Genesis 25:19.

The reason for the redundant declaration of Avraham’s relationship with Yitzchak is a topic that has captured the imagination of many Torah commentaries; beginning with Rashi:

Because the scoffers of that generation claimed that Avimelech fathered Yitzchak – a tale spurred by the fact that Sara had been married to Avraham for many decades without a child and has given birth only after being taken by the Philistine king – therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, formed the countenance of Yitzchak to resemble Avraham so that all had to admit, “It was indeed Avraham who begot Yitzchak!” – Rashi

Who are these scoffers and why have they chosen this particular moment to defame the saintliest man to grace our planet – to cast aspersions vis-à-vis the legitimacy of his offspring? Yitzchak was after all a man of sixty by now, married with a family of his own.
The Alshich asserts that the birth of Yaakov and Esav presented a unique opportunity for the skeptics to disparage Avraham whilst creating the allusion that they were out to defend his very honor and reverence.

“It cannot be,” argued the mockers, “that the son of a righteous man like Avraham should be the progenitor of someone the likes of wicked Esav. It is a disgrace to the honor of this sage to allow it to be assumed that this little tyrant is truly his grandchild. Now that the children were born, the truth has finally come out! Yitzchak is evidently not the son of Avraham; he obviously belongs to Avimelach. Just take one look at the child’s errant genetic streak. The proof is in the pudding!”

In classic scorn tradition, the skeptics attempted to spin the exciting news of Avraham’s propagation and perpetuation into an Achilles heel – to undermine its very legitimacy and impact, even as they guised themselves in a cloak of good intentions and righteous indignance.

The notion that Yitzchak has propagated – perpetuating thereby the legacy of Avraham and the Jewish people – was obviously more than they could take. This development had stirred-up the “cynics of that generation.”

As long as there were no children – no perpetuation – the scorners laid-low; they didn’t mind that Yitzchak was the son of Avraham. But now that the legacy of Avraham and Yitzchak had become further secured and really taken hold, it was time to resurrect the scorner-mill.

“Yes, you can be the miracle child of Avraham and Sara; as long as your existence doesn’t signify a sense of permanence and truth – as long as it doesn’t shatter my own sense of truth and comfort. However, when your existence represents something real and enduring – something more real than my own paradigm of reality, that cannot be tolerated.“
How non-coincidental it is that this weekend marks the international conference of Chabad Shluchim (emissaries), at which over 2700 Chabad Rabbis and educators – representing almost every corner of the globe where there is a semblance of a Jewish community – will gather in an awesome celebration of Jewish renaissance and vitality.
During this awesome event the incredible success and power of the Chabad – Lubavitch movement and the profound vision of its Rebbe will inevitably be showcased once again. Not unlike the cynics alluded to in our Parsha, this success tend to rouse the ”cynics of our generation,“ as well.

When Chabad was a small organization, with little promise for a real future, the cynics didn’t seem to mind. They’d even praise the good work of the ”ultra Orthodox“ fringe group. However, now that Chabad has become a global phenomenon, growing exponentially – outpacing every Jewish organization – now that Chabad and its teachings have penetrated the so-called ”main stream“ and is poised for a bright and promising future, the nisht farginers are stirred.

Not that anyone has anything bad to say about the tireless work of Chabad’s vigorous efforts on behalf of Jewish continuity and their tireless global outreach campaign. To the contrary, they praise its success and suggest that others learn from Chabad. They’re even willing to admit that the success of Chabad is nothing short of a modern day miracle, yet they tend to suggest that the child is from Avimelech.

Much of the commentary on the Chabad phenomenon tends to sell it short where it really counts: ”the reason for its success.“ After heaping wonderful praise on the organization, the pundits deftly credit its phenomenal success, not to the fact that its timeless message resonates with Jews across all lines; not because they sense truth in the teachings, something for which their souls starve, but rather to ”Chabad’s extraordinary administrative expertise,“ or the ”tireless dedication of their Rabbis and their charm.”
One ought to realize that such praise is not much better than that of the defenders of Avraham, who were eager to ascribe his progeny to a foreign entity.

Yet, as Rashi points out, the Almighty saw fit to personally intervene, by making it obvious that Yitzchak was the son of Avraham and not Avimelech. G-d will surely continue to ensure the continuity of the Jewish people and the integrity of their message to the world, with the coming of Moshiach speedily in our time.