A.
Eli‘ezer, Avraham’s servant, brings Rivqa back to become Yitzhaq’s bride. Till now, of course, she had not yet met her future husband. As the two approach Avraham’s encampment, they spy the prospective groom: ויצחק בא מבוא באר לחי ראי והוא יושב בארץ הנגב: ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה לפנות ערב וישא עיניו וירא והנה גמלים באים: (“And Yitzhaq came from coming [mi-bo’] [to] Bë’ér La-Hai Ro’i; and he [was] dwelling in the land of the Negev. And Yitzhaq went out to converse [la-suah] in the field toward evening; and he raised his eyes and saw, and behold, camels [were] coming”; XXIV, 52-53).
The first thing which strikes the eye is the apparently awkward wording of our first verse. The reader with a living sense of the Hebrew language would expect to read simply, Vë-Yitzhaq ba’ mi-Bë’ér La-Hai Ro’i; the word bo’ seems intrusive and unnecessary.
The Talmud sees in our second verse testimony that Yitzhaq was preparing to pray, deducing from the timing that it was he who originated the final service of the day, minha (עיי' ברכות כ"ו:). If so, why does the verse not state straightforwardly that he was coming out lë-hithpallél, the usual word for prayer, rather than “to converse” in the field?
And whilst we are asking, why do we need to know that he was “dwelling in the Negev”? How does that advance our narrative? And why do we need to know that “he raised his eyes,” when the simple statement that “he saw camels coming” would seem adequate?
B.
The Zohar is at pains to tell us repeatedly that Yitzhaq’s salient characteristic was gëvura, “might, power,” or din, “judgment” (עיי' למשל ח"א קל"ז., ח"ב קפ"ו., וח"ג י"ח. בין השאר) in so pure a state that, as Rashi notes in his famous comment on Genesis I, 1, the world would not long have endured in his presence. For this reason, he married late, after the ‘Aqeida (which took place when he was 37 years old). The purpose of the ‘Aqeida, we learn elsewhere, was לאכללא אשא במיש ומיא באשא, “to combine fire with water and water with fire”; זוה"ק ח"א קי"ט:, ניצוצי אורות שם, ועוד)), i.e., to temper din with hesed (“kindness”), the salient characteristic of his father, Avraham (cf. Micha VII, 20), from which the amalgam of rahamim would emerge (cf. Rashi cited supra). Only then could he safely reproduce, as the result would be Ya‘aqov, the ish emeth (Micha, ibid.), for emeth, “truth” is the embodiment of both din and hesed, and therefore rahamim.
This reshaping of the world through the amalgamation of Yitzhaq’s din and Avraham’s hesed finds allusion in next week’s parasha, where we read: וישב יצחק ויחפר את בארות המים אשר חפרו בימי אברהם אביו ויסתמום פלשתים אחר מות אברהם וקרא להן שמות כשמות אשר קרא להן אביו: (“And Yitzhaq redug the wells of water [bë’éroth ha-mayim] which had been dug in the days of his father Avraham, and the Pëlishtim had shut them up after the death of Avraham, and he called them by names like the names which his father had called them”; XXVI, 18).
C.
With this in mind, we can begin to answer our questions. Vë-Yitzhaq ba’ mi-bo’ is rendered by Onqëlos ויצחק אתא ממתוהי, roughly, “And Yitzhaq came from whence he had come.” Yitzhaq’s origin and whole pattern of life before the ‘Aqeida had been based upon gëvura, upon din, but the amalgamation of din and hesed which resulted from the ‘aqeida now brought him out of that position, such that he found himself retracing his father’s steps.
This is the meaning of his redigging wells of water (that is, hesed) which his father had dug previously, in order that he might access that hesed and apply it to his native gëvura. Hazal tell us that Avraham’s purpose in digging these wells was to spread hesed throughout the region, planting his followers beside them so that, as people would come to avail themselves of the water and hospitality, they could be reminded of the Source of all this goodness, and thank Him for His bounty (בראשות רבה פס"ד סי' ז').
The Pëlishtim had shut these operations down; now Yitzhaq, his din having been amalgamated with hesed to form rahamim, was reopening them. As always, metaphysical reformulations are effected by physical actions in this world: The sabbath and holidays are sanctified through blessings on wine, for instance, or a metaphysical blockage is cleared by removal of the foreskin through circumcision. Every mitzva ma‘asith, practical commandment carried out in this world has metaphysical ramifications.
So, Yitzhaq felt obligated to retrace his father’s steps and reopen his wells in order to consolidate and complete what was started at the ‘aqeida. The name mentioned in our passage, Bë’ér La-Hai Ro’i, means roughly “The well of the Living One [i.e., G-d] Ro’i.” This last word is derived from the most common root meaning “to see,” réysh-alef-hé. Hazal tell us: ראי' עלי' אתמר "ואתה תחזה מכל העם אנשי חיל יראי אלקים אנשי אמת". וכמה נטורי תרעין תמן דאתקריאו עיני ד' ועלייהו אתמר "פקח עיניך וראה את שוממותינו" (“Concerning rë’iya, "sight”] it is said, ‘And you shall discern from all the people men of valour, G-d-fearing, men of truth’ [Exodus XVIII, 20]. And there are several guardians of gates who are called Ha-Shem’s eyes, concerning whom it is said, ‘Open Your eyes and see our desolations’ [Daniel IX, 18]; תקו"ז קכ"ב. בגירסת הגר"א וע"ע זוה"ק ח"ג רנ"ו: ברעיא מהימנא).
The verse from Exodus cited above forms part of Yithro’s advice to Moshe about the appointment of judges in Israel, and it may be deduced from both this and the quotation from Daniel that rë’iya involves knowledge, discernment, and judgment. The reference to “guardians of gates” concerns the מ"ט שערי בינה, “49 gates of bina” (“understanding, discernment”) which were destined to be given to Moshe, essential equipment for the acquisition and dissemination of Torah (ראש השנה כ"א:, נדרים ל"ח. וזוה"ק ח"ב קט"ו. וח"ג רט"ז.), which also find allusion in the gimatriya of our intrusive word mi-bo’, 49.
With this in mind, we note that the Zohar asserts numerous times that din is rooted in bina (עיי' למשל ח"א קנ"א., ח"ב ס"ד., ח"ג י: ועוד), which suggests that this specific well, dedicated to the Living G-d Who is the Source of knowledge, discernment, and judgment, represents the epitome of Yitzhaq’s reëxcavation of his father’s wells with the proper intent to amalgamate din and hesed.
Yitzhaq’s “dwelling in the land of the Negev” is also an allusion to this supremely important effort. We find concerning the verse: ויסע אברם הלוך ונסוע הנגבה (“And Avram traveled about toward the Negev”; Genesis XII, 9 that דא דרום הוא חולקי' דאברהם "הלוך ונסוע" דרגא בתר דרגא עד דסליק לדרום ותמן אתקשר כדקא יאות (“this is the south, Avraham’s portion; ‘traveling about’, level after level, until he reached the south and there was fittingly connected”; זוה"ק ח"א פ.), i.e., Avraham steadily rose in his application of the quality of hesed, level on level, until he had thoroughly mastered the trait. Hence Yitzhaq’s dwelling in the spiritual place which his father had pioneered is a testimony to the completion of his mission to effect the and consolidate the amalgamation of his native din with hesed which his father had initiated at the ‘aqeida.
D.
ויצא יצחק ךשוח בשדה לפנות ערב', begins our second verse, tëfilla being compared to siha, “conversation, dialogue”, as we have said.
There are two words translatable “field” in the Holy Language, sade and heqel. Rashi defines the difference between them by commenting on the description of ‘Ésav in Genesis XXV, 27 as an ish sade, that it is כמשמעו איש בטל וצודה בקשתו חיות ועופות (“as it sounds, an idle man hunting animals and birds with his bow”), i.e. a wild and uncultivated place. By following in his father’s pioneering footsteps, and effecting the world-changing amalgamation of din and hesed to produce rahamim, which reflects the true nature of the world inhabited and informed by humanity, and thus preparing the world for the advent of Ya‘aqov, the ish ha-emeth (“man of truth”), Yitzhaq was himself a pioneer, engaging with his tëfilloth the wild and unsettled nature of the world; in this light, we can read li-fnoth ‘erev as lë-fannoth ‘erev, “to dispel the night” and darkness there, ultimately to replace it with the light of Torah, as Ya‘aqov would become Yisra’él, and bring into existence the bënei Yisra’él who would receive the Torah.
Va-yissa’ ‘éynav, “and he raised his eyes.” We have already seen that Hazal assert that the “guardians of the gates” of bina are the ‘éynei Ha-Shem. The gimatriya of ‘éynav is fittingly 146, the same as that of hochma u-vina, “wisdom and discernment.” By preparing the necessary foundation on which the Torah-nation was laid, Yitzhaq was raising up the cause of wisdom and discernment in the world, va-yar’; and he himself saw, he brought rë’iya closer to fruition in this world.
This was what Rivqa the prophetess saw, as she approached Avraham’s encampment and beheld her future husband, whose work she would do so much to advance, by raising and nurturing a Ya‘aqov.
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