Parashat Toledot 5770
The Profound Word
Howard S. Joseph
http://TheProfoundWord.com
Measure for Measure
Are our Ancestors, the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, to be looked as models of perfection? What would that even mean to us? Must we justify everything they did as perfect? Or can we recognize their failings – their sins- even when trying to overcome them? Or maybe their greatness is that they are portrayed as in the thick of difficult social, familial and moral situations in which they strive for resolution according to some lofty principles yet recognize their shortcomings?
This week’s parashah raises these and many other questions. Patriarchs and Matriarchs are certainly not presented as on some lofty pedestal. It’s hard to tell that the ‘good guys’ are such while the supposed ‘bad guy’ seems to be the innocent victim of foolishness and deceit.
While Neziv addresses some of these questions he presents a very naturalistic ethics that he carries throughout the Torah: our good or bad deeds have consequences in the way our lives work out. Good deeds can bring good circumstances and bad deeds bad circumstances; all is measure for measure. There is no mystery here. This is the orderly way in which God created the world – the principle of ‘din’ as seen in Bereishit. We are all part of it. The processes of cause and effect dominate life. The Torah is given to help guide us through the myriad decisions that life demands.
Neziv focuses on two Midrash Rabbah texts:
1. WHEN ESAU HEARD THE WORDS OF HIS FATHER, HE CRIED WITH AN EXCEEDING GREAT AND BITTER CRY. (27, 34). R. Hanina said: Whoever maintains that the Holy One, blessed be He, is lax [in dispensing justice], may his bowels become lax! He is merely long-suffering, but [ultimately] collects His due. Jacob made Esau break out into a cry but once, and where was he punished for it? In Shushan, the castle, as it says, And he [Mordecai] cried with a loud and bitter cry,…. (Esther 4, 1). [Soncino Translation]
2. AND FETCH ME FROM THENCE TWO GOOD KIDS OF THE GOATS. (27,9) GOOD?: R. Berekiah commented in R. Helbo’s name: They are good for thee and good for thy descendants. Good for thee, since thou wilt receive the blessings through them; and good for thy descendants, who will be pardoned through them on the Day of Atonement, as it is written, For on this day shall atonement be made for you, etc. (Lev. 16, 30).2
Rebecca asks Jacob to bring her two goats to be prepared for Isaac. He then proceeds with the ruse. When Esau later brings Isaac his own preparations the ruse is discovered. Esau bursts out into his bitter cry. Neziv is interested in that the midrash ignores Isaac’s distress reported just before Esau’s: Isaac shuddered a great shudder. Why is Jacob punished for hurting his brother but not his father? The latter might seem to be of equal or even greater severity? And what has all this to do with any concern for the future Yom Kippur celebrations? Is there some permanent failure that must be atoned for forever so that it becomes institutionalized in the annual Temple ceremonies of the holiest day of the year?
Neziv comments at length in HRD at 27,9:
“… these are the two goats of Yom HaKippurim, one for Hashem and one for Azazel [the one marched out and left to die in the wilderness.] This is quite amazing [peleh]. What connection do these two goats have to Yom HaKippurim?
This is the explanation: We must know that all evil qualities in the world are part of the creation, that Hashem also created them, as it says, ‘He created light and evil….’ Therefore, we must say that even in them there is some good. This is similar to a dangerous poison which can definitely be used occasionally to help the sick. Yet we still call it poison – sam hamavet – because usually it is death causing. Also, when we wish to use it for a medicine we require the exceeding care of a physician. Only very little can be used and great care taken not to use too much which is dangerous. So, too, evil qualities can be put to good use at a particular moment. But we have to make sure to do this only with the advice of an expert master and very sparingly so as not to do more than necessary.
So the time had come for Jacob to utilize the qualities of lying and deceit. This becomes ‘a sin for a sacred purpose’ – averah lishmah – which can be a great thing in its proper moment just as a mitzvah itself. Similarly, the two goats: one is for a holy purpose, for Hashem; the other is destined, as it were, to the powers of uncleanness, God forbid, which can defile us. However, in its proper moment and according to the command of God, it too is a mitzvah similar to the goat that is for Hashem [brought to the Temple.] This teaches us that even the unclean powers are rooted in the Blessed One….
This was Rebecca’s intention when she told Jacob to bring two goats. They are similar to the two goats of Yom HaKippurim: one for Hashem and one for Azazel. They are both equal in their mitzvah respect even though one is destined for the holiness of the Temple and the other for the opposite. So, too, Jacob’s two actions: The first is correct in obeying his mother’s request; the second is incorrect through the lying by which he deceived his father. But both are ultimately considered in the category of mitzvah for they served to bring the blessings [rightfully to Jacob.]“
Now Neziv addresses the difference between Esau’s and Isaac’s distress.
“… When engaging in an averah lishmah – an evil deed for a sacred purpose – one must be exceedingly careful not to have any personal pleasure from it, unlike the case of doing a mitzvah in which the doer may benefit but the mitzvah is unaffected by it and remains a mitzvah. An averah lishmah is different: the pleasure one receives is itself a sin….
Here Jacob had no pleasure in hurting his father, and certainly was sad about it, but he couldn’t avoid it. However, in regard to Esau’s cry Jacob was happy and therefore was ultimately punished, for he had caused this by an averah lishmah from which he was forbidden to derive any pleasure.”
Neziv then refers us forward to Exodus 32,27 [HRD] where he has more to say on the subject. The contest is the aftermath of the Golden Calf episode. The Levites are charged with killing those who celebrated with the calf. This is, of course, a very dangerous moment. Unbridled killing can run amok destroying innocent and guilty together. Maybe too old grudges will be settled under the cover of the moment. Doing this for the sake of Heaven is a risky proposition.
“From here we learn that one who chases the wicked who is really guilty, it is important that the pursuer not be one who hates him and desires ill for him. Pursuit is a dangerous activity and if the pursuit comes for personal pleasure as well, then the pursuer will not be considered innocent. [He then refers us back to our Genesis section.]…. for regarding Isaac’s trembling Jacob definitely felt regret but it was unavoidable, but Esau’s pain gave Jacob pleasure and he was therefore punished, even though the essential issue of deceiving Esau was proper and necessary.
Support for this position can be seen on Midrash Kohelet on the verse -God will seek the pursued’. This is explained : even when a righteous person pursues the wicked. In other words, if the pursuer has some selfish pleasure in this he will be punished for it.”
This Biblical verse gives Neziv his ultimate support for his position.
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The theme of not benefiting from a deed for the sake of Heaven is extensively documented. Abraham refuses compensation after helping defeat foreign invaders. So, too, in a war for the purpose of destroying idolatry one cannot use the spoils. Simon and Levi take the spoils of Shekhem. Saul makes this error and thinks he can justify it by sacrificing some captured cattle to God to help appease Samuel. In the Book of Esther, the battle against the Persians is won but we are told that the Jews did not take spoils. The war is for the sake of Heaven and not for personal gain.
Talmudic sources examine the actions of Yael who seduced the evil Sisera in order to kill him. It is concluded that despite sexual intercourse with him she derived no pleasure for he was so thoroughly despicable. She was focused on rescuing the nation – a great mitzvah.
Esther too is questioned. Considered an already married woman how could she have let herself be taken by the king as a wife? Esther was forced into this, was totally passive with the king, and succeeded in rescuing the whole nation which was under the king’s control. Seen in this light the concept of averah lishmah is a great concern in Biblical and Rabbinic literature. It is obviously a real problem for real people and a major challenge for those who would be righteous.
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Engaging in an averah lishmah or a mitzvah that comes through a sin is truly a wild card, almost a no-win situation. The greatest among us have tried it and failed to some degree. The consequences may take generations to unfold but there will be consequences. Cause and effect, measure for measure will prevail. Short term gain may be had at long term expense.
The world is a complex of good and bad qualities that are mingled together in creation. The original chaos is ordered but still exists and can rear its head when aroused. Our control is limited. Do not play with fire. You might find yourself like the second goat being marched out into the wilderness to eventually lie broken after being pushed form a cliff. Yom Kippur’s central Temple celebration reminds us to avoid these rationalization and temptations that our sin can lead to good.
Neziv sees the Ancestors as caught up in the thick webs of life, striving to find the proper way forward. Rebecca and Jacob feared the covenant would be lost and God’s promise to Rebecca would remain unfulfilled. Who knows? Maybe another way would be found. Maybe Isaac had other ideas that would work to preserve the covenant into the future. How would Esau turn out if given a chance?
These are the profound words for this week.
Shabbat Shalom
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Postscript
Rebecca and Isaac
Neziv sees the foreshadowing of the problems of Toledot already at the end of Hayyei Sarah. As Rebecca approaches Canaan with the servant she unknowingly sees Isaac praying in the fields. He sees the camel caravan approaching. When she sees him she falls off of the camel.
Neziv in HD:
She saw him – while still standing in prayer and looking awesome as an angel….
And she fell from the camel – out of fear and awe. However, she still did not know who had caused this fear. If she had not been sitting on the same camel with him but rather behind him and then saw the servant conversing with the man in a normal manner – her fear would have subsided so that when she learned his identity she would have had already calmed down. But she was sitting with him on the camel and during her moment of fear she asked the servant who he was. Who is this austere and fearsome man who terrifies me? – as said in Bereishit Rabbah – [I could not find this reference -hsj] When she was told that this was her husband she then ‘took the veil and covered herself.’This was done out of great fear and shame as if she understood that she was not fitting to be his wife. From this moment on fear was implanted in her heart and she was never with Isaac as Sarah was with Abraham or Rachel with Jacob. For when they had any issues to discuss they did not hesitate to speak to them. But not Rebecca.
This is all an introduction to the story to come in Toledot for Isaac and Rebecca had conflicting outlooks. Rebecca could not speak openly to Isaac to convince him clearly that she knew the truth about Esau: that he was a fraud. And, of course, during the time of the blessings…. If Rebecca had been with Isaac as were Sarah and Rachel with their husbands these [intrigues ] would not have occurred.
So many questions. Who was Isaac? Why did he appear so fearsome to Rebecca? Was this a result of the Akedah experience which transformed him into an other-worldly angelic type or an austere and imposing personality? Did Rebecca and her family even know of the Akedah? Would they have agreed to the marriage under these circumstances? Why really was Isaac not marriageable to the local Canaanite population many of whom were Abraham’s allies and friends? It seems that the impact of the terror of the Akedah lies behind many of these issues. Terror and Holocaust survivors bear awful scars. They have trouble trusting and communicating especially discussing the traumatic events they believe no one can understand. Was this the cause of Isaac’s imposing presence?
And where was Isaac during the burial and mourning for his mother? Rebecca brings him comfort for the loss of his mother and he loves her. But does she love him in the same way? Can she? Later we learn that she loves Jacob. But, can this asymmetrical marriage succeed? After all, we learned early in Genesis that God wanted a wife to be an ‘ezer kenegdo’, a companion to Adam. Neziv there explained that the man needs her help in all aspects of life each man according to his specific situation. Rebecca already felt that she may not be able to do this for the awesome man she is married to and now meeting for the first time. She enters married life in fear and shame ? not a wholesome beginning.
However, she is committed to the venture and to making sure that the blessing and mission of Abraham will continue into the future. But as we see she cannot communicate with Isaac, sharing her feelings and concerns. Nor does she try to understand what is going on in his mind. Does he really intend to give Esau the blessing of Abraham or just an ordinary blessing? Without attempting to find out she proceeds with her planned deception.
A small note.
At the end of the parashah, [28:7] we are told that Jacob listened to his father and to his mother. Maybe this is a sign that Isaac and Rebecca are healing their communication problems.