The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Toldos

The Rebbe says:

1. The Rebbe explains that all four answers must be connected:

Even though these are four different explanations of this verse, they must all be connected to each other because they are all explaining the same verse.

A proof to this logic:

The Torah says , “You may not wear Shaatnez (a combination of wool and linen together)”. Our Sages in the Mishnayos teach us that the word “Shaatnez” is really made up of three different words- “Shua – smoothed”, “Tavui – spun”, and “Nuz – woven”. The Talmud learns that since these three different words were contracted into one word, one is not liable for wearing a combination of wool and linen unless all three of these processes were done together; only when it was smoothed, spun, and woven together are you liable for the Biblical prohibition of “Shaatnez”.

Therefore, if the Talmud tells us that when three different words are contracted into one word they must have a connection to each other (and therefore you are only liable when you do all three processes together), we must say that when you have different explanations of the same words they are all connected to each other!

If so, we must try to understand the connection between these four explanations.

2. The Rebbe now sets a second goal of understanding the lessons we can learn:

We can easily understand the lessons which the third and fourth explanations teach us, however it is not so readily understood what the first and second explanation are teaching us:
As we mentioned earlier, the third explanation (the explanation given by Chassidus) shows us how the Torah is teaching that a Jew must serve Hashem with both love and fear and it tells us exactly how to go about it; first we must have the lower level of fear, then the lower level of love, then the higher level of love, and finally the higher level of fear.

And the fourth explanation (the explanation given by the Zohar) also teaches us something every important: If a Jew knows that the Mitzvos which he does create great enjoyment as his reward and it will be given to him when Moshiach comes, it makes it easier to fulfill the Mitzvos and adds an excitement in their fulfillment.

However, the first and second explanation, that of the Gemara and the Midrash, do not visibly teach us anything which helps us in our daily lives: How does it help us to know that the nations of the world were scoffing at Avraham and therefore Hashem made Yitzchak’s face look exactly Avraham’s (the first explanation)? And how does it help us to know that Avraham was able to “crown” himself with his son Yitzchak (the second explanation)?

But since our Sages told us that every single story told in the Torah is a lesson for our lives, there must be something deeper here which is teaching us a lesson.

3. The Rebbe now explains the lesson that we can learn from the first and second explanations:

Both the first and second explanations are discussing things which are higher then nature:

The first explanation discusses how Yitzchak was definitely Avraham’s child, and this was something higher then nature because Avraham was physically infertile and the stars were showing that he would never have children .

The second explanation discusses how Avraham and Yitzchak were famous because of each other, and this is something which is higher then nature, as we explained earlier, because usually as the generations go on the people are less great , however here, even though Yitzchak was a generation lower then his father Avraham, Avraham was still able to be “crowned” through Yitzchak.

The lesson we can learn from this is that the Jewish people are not ruled by the laws of nature, spiritually or physically. Our Holy Soul is “truly a part of G-d above” and therefore we have unlimited resources of strength to call upon and nothing gets in our way.

4. The Rebbe now explains the exact wording of the Talmud according to the new dimension that the Rebbe just pointed out:

As we quoted earlier, the Talmud tells us that “all the other nations of the world scoffing and saying, ‘Avraham is not the father of Yitzchak, really Avimelech the king of the Plishtim (Philistines) is the father. Look, for many years Avraham and Sarah were married and Sarah did not give birth; only now, months after Sarah was taken captive by Avimelech did she give birth!’

Hashem’s (G-d’s) responded to this by making Yitzchak’s facial features exactly like Avraham’s so that everyone clearly saw and bore witness to the fact that Avraham Avinu was really Yitzchak’s father beyond the shadow of a doubt”.

The inner dimension of this story goes like this: “The scoffers of the generation”- In every generation there are people who are opposed to Yiddishkeit (Judaism) and Holiness and argue that “Sarah gave birth from Avimelech”- the Jewish people must accept the laws of nature and not try to transcend nature. These people might even agree that we have a spiritual sensitivity and can accomplish great things in the spiritual realms, but they argue however that within physicality we must bow to the ruler of the land –Avimelech- to receive our sustenance.

“Hashem’s (G-d’s) responded to this by making Yitzchak’s facial features exactly like Avraham’s so that everyone clearly saw and bore witness to the fact that Avraham Avinu was really Yitzchak’s father beyond the shadow of a doubt”- The nations of the world admitted and bore witness to the fact that even Blessings in physicality come from Avraham/the Holy Soul (as the Zohar explained earlier) and the Jewish people are not rule by the laws of nature.

5. The Rebbe now finishes off by explaining how all of the four explanations are connected to each other:

The first explanation (about the scoffers) was given by the Talmud. Now, the Talmud is the revealed part of the Torah (Nigleh) which deals with the world on its terms, as bad as it gets: The Talmud speaks about one man damaging another man, monetarily or bodily; the Talmud speaks about false witnesses; the Talmud speaks about stealing, etc. Therefore the Talmud tells us that there are people in every generation who will come and scream that the Jewish people are not different and they must follow the rules of nature just like everybody else; and the Torah answers them is that it is not true, the Jewish people are not the same as everybody else, we are not ruled by nature- we are unlimited.

Then comes the second explanation (about Avraham “crowning” himself with Yitzchak) of the Midrash which is the level in between the revealed part of Torah (the Talmud) and the hidden part of Torah (Chassidus, Kabbalah). Therefore, this explanation still speaks about how the Jewish people are not limited to nature, but it goes up a step and deals with something more refined- how the Jewish people are not even limited to the process of spirituality where “as the generations go on people’s greatness diminishes”.

Then comes the third explanation (about fear and love of Hashem) of Chassidus, which is always there to teach us how to serve Hashem properly, and explains how we can achieve this level of transcending nature: Chassidus tells us that when we serve Hashem with both love and fear, which is against ones nature of either being a person of love/Chessed or a person of fear/Gevurah, we transcend nature and therefore Hashem reciprocates and gives us Blessings which are not limited to nature (just like Avraham who was physically infertile and according to the constellations could not have children, was Blessed with children).

And then comes the fourth explanation (about the enjoyment of the Soul when Moshiach comes) of the Zohar, which is the hidden secrets of the Torah, and tells us what our reward for this service to Hashem will be like when Moshiach comes.

Translated and adapted by Rabbi Shalom Goldberg. Taken from Likutei Sichos Volume Two.