(סג) וַיֵּצֵ֥א יִצְחָ֛ק לָשׂ֥וּחַ בַּשָּׂדֶ֖ה לִפְנ֣וֹת עָ֑רֶב וַיִּשָּׂ֤א עֵינָיו֙ וַיַּ֔רְא וְהִנֵּ֥ה גְמַלִּ֖ים בָּאִֽים׃
(63) And Isaac went out meditating (walking) in the field toward evening and, looking up, he saw camels approaching.
(כ) או יבואר, וירא והנה באר בשדה והנה שם שלשה עדרי צאן רובצים עליה וכו'. דאיתא בגמרא (פסחים פח.) לא כאברהם שקראו הר ולא כיצחק שקראו שדה אלא כיעקב שקראו בית. והענין, כי שדה אין בו דירת קבע ופשיטא בהר אכן בבית ודאי דירת קבע הוא. והנה יש שלש מדות יראה אהבה והתפארות הבורא. והנה קודם שהיה להשכינה דירת קבע בארץ לא היה להג' מדות הנ"ל גם כן מקום שיבואו לארץ. ולזאת אמר וירא והנה באר בשדה, שנקראת עדיין שדה בלא קביעות. והנה ג' עדרי צאן רובצים, מלשון האם רובצת על האפרוחים (דברים כב, ו) כי לא היה השכינה עדיין בארץ. והטעם והאבן גדולה על פי הבאר, רצה לומר האבן הקליפה שעדיין שולטת. ולזה ויגש יעקב ויגל את האבן מעל פי הבאר ויקרא את שמו בית אל, והבן:
(20) An alternate approach to the paragraph commencing with: וירא והנה באר בשדה, “he looked, and here there was a well in the field, etc.;” The Talmud Pessachim 88 draws attention to Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov each using a different simile when trying to condense their concept of G’d. Avraham saw G’d in terms of a הר, “mountain,” i.e. something far above our level towering above man. Yitzchok perceived him as שדה, a field, covering huge expanses of earth, but sharing earth with man. Yaakov perceived Him as בית, i.e. an intimate term, viewing G’d as if He were at home with human beings. A major difference between Yaakov’s concept of G’d and that of his forefathers, is that the former did not view G’d as being “at home” permanently on earth, whereas Yaakov did perceive Him as constantly accompanying man, much as a house is the symbol of a permanent presence. [The scriptural verses this is based on are: Genesis 22,14 בהר ה' יראה, “on the Mountain of Hashem, He may be seen.” Genesis 24,63 ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה, “Yitzchok went out into the field to meditate.” In Genesis 28,19 the Torah quotes Yaakov as naming the site ביתאל, “house of the Lord”. Yaakov felt that the time had come when G’d could have a permanent home on earth. However, this had been a vision brought about by his dream/prophetic insight. After awakening he realized that down on earth, where greed, envy and jealousy were still prevalent, to wit the huge rock making the water of the well inaccessible accept when all the interested parties were assembled simultaneously, that the time was not yet ripe for G’d to feel at home in such an environment. By removing the rock, Yaakov wanted to demonstrate to the shepherds that a better future could be in store for mankind. I have reworded the thought expressed by the author somewhat, and have omitted the comparison to the portion of קן צפור in Deut. 22,6. Ed.]
(כה) ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה (בראשית כד, סג). הכלל, הכנעה מביא עצבות שאין בידו לעשות כרצונו וכחפצו מחמת ההכנעה שמכניע את עצמו בפני חבירו, אך כשאדם עובד את הבורא ברוך הוא ומכניע את עצמו בפני הבורא ברוך הוא אז הוא דבוק עצמו במקור השמחה אז ממילא שורה עליו ששון ושמחה. וזהו מרומז בפסוק ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה, רצה לומר אימתי יצא שמחה, כי יצחק לשון שמחה. ושוח, לשון הכנעה. בשדה, רצה לומר, כי שדה מכונה להקדושה וכשהכנעה הוא בפני הקדושה מזה יצא ששון ושמחה:
(25) Genesis 24,63. “Yitzchok took a walk to meditate in the open field;” It is a rule that people who practice submissiveness, (in the sense of humility) are liable to become depressed, due to the constant awareness that they cannot act freely in accordance with their desires, as they constantly defer to the wishes of others. When a person reserves his submissiveness vis a vis his Creator, by serving Him exclusively, he thereby attaches himself to the source of Joy. It follows that instead of becoming morose and depressed, he will walk through life in a spirit of happiness and joy. Our verse alludes to this psychological phenomenon, the word לשוח, being an alternate for שמחה, joy. Yitzchok’s taking a stroll was intended to fill his heart with joy. In the field he would be able to communicate with his Creator, i.e. with Holiness. Becoming associated with Holiness would engender feelings of joy within him.
(כו) עוד יבואר, ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה לפנות ערב (בראשית כד, סג). יבואר על פי מאמר חכמינו ז"ל (פסחים קיט.) ראה שלא כמדת הקדוש ברוך הוא מדת בשר ודם, מדת בשר ודם מנצחין אותו והוא עצב מדת הקדוש ברוך הוא מנצחין אותו והוא שמח, דהיינו כמאמר חכמינו ז"ל (מועד קטן טז:) הקדוש ברוך הוא גוזר גזירה וצדיקים מבטלין. והנה כשהקדוש ברוך הוא כביכול מנהג עולמו כרצונו כביכול הוא לעצמו, וכאשר הקדוש ברוך הוא מנהג עולמו כרצון הצדיקים כביכול הקדוש ברוך הוא נוטה עצמו לרצון הצדיקים. וזהו שרמזו חכמינו ז"ל (בראשית רבה יט) שכינה בתחתונים. וזהו שנאמר (שמות יט, כ) וירד ה' על הר סיני, כלומר שירד לעשות כרצון הצדיקים, וזהו התענוג שלו כאשר מנצחין אותו כו', וזהו ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה, יצחק, הוא לשון שמחה שזה הוא שמחה לפניו יתברך. שוח, לשון ירידה למטה. בשדה, רצה לומר לרצון הצדיקים הנקראים שדה חקל וכו'. לפנות ערב, כי מזה בא הביטול דינין, כי הדינין נקראין ערב וזהו לפנות ערב, על ידי זה מבטלין הדינין. ומשם אדוני מורי ורבי מוהר"ר דוב בער זצ"ל שמעתי על זה הפסוק, כי אדם אשר הוא מדבר דברים אפילו עם בני אדם וחושב מחשבות קדושות בתוך הדיבורים על ידי זה מעלה הניצוצות וזהו הוא השמחה לפניו יתברך מן העליות נצוצות. וזהו ויצא יצחק, שיצא השמחה. לשוח בשדה, אפילו כשהוא משוח בשדה בדיבורים הגשמים. וזהו לפנות ערב, הוא העליות נצוצות עד כאן לשונו:
(26) Another aspect of why the Torah tells us that Yitzchok chose to stroll in the field, is provided by the additional detail of the time of day when this occurred, i.e. shortly before sunset, i.e. לפנות ערב. Our sages (Pessachim 119) give some examples of how G’d’s viewing matters differs from the way His creatures, human beings, view the same matters. Example: When one of G’d’s creatures suffers a defeat, he reacts by being saddened and becoming depressed. G’d, on the other hand, is overjoyed when one of His creatures prevails in a discussion with Him. When G’d had originally suggested that Moses become a substitute for the Jewish people whom He intended to destroy after the episode with the golden calf, and Moses pointed out to him that this would not be a good idea, as the chances of a new Jewish people with only one founding father, himself, being better than the previous Jewish people who had three founding fathers were very slim, G’d was overjoyed to accept Moses’ argument as superior to His own. (Compare psalms 4,1 where David alludes to this) The Midrash (Tanchuma Ki Tavo 1) takes this thought even further by generalizing that ”G’d issues decrees and the righteous on earth cancel these decrees.”
When G’d was guiding His universe before having created man, He did so all by Himself. He did not need to take into consideration how His creatures would view His actions, i.e. His will reigned supreme. Once He had created free willed human beings, He had to seriously consider how the righteous among them would view His actions. Our sages allude to this when they said: (Bereshit Rabbah 19,7 עקר שכינה בתחתונים, (loosely translated) “G’d’s presence is occupied primarily with His creatures in the ‘lower’ part of the universe,” [i.e. He has to justify Himself to the righteous people on earth. Ed.]
This principle of G’d’s involvement in man’s pursuits not merely being restricted to viewing it from the celestial regions, is documented in Exodus 19,20 וירד ה' על הר סיני, “Hashem descended on Mount Sinai., etc.” What was the reason that G’d saw fit to leave the lofty spheres of heaven? He prepared to act in accordance with what the צדיקים, the righteous expected from Him. Being able to set the minds of His righteous at rest is the greatest satisfaction that G’d, their Creator, can experience.
In our portion, this is alluded to when the Torah describes Yitzchok as meditating in “the field,” or, [in the words of our sages ] “Avraham viewed G’d as ‘a mountain;’ Yitzchok viewed Him as a ‘field,’ whereas Yaakov viewed Him as a ‘house;’ this is why he promised to build a “house for Him.” The tzaddikim learned to become progressively more familiar with G’d. [The anecdotes about our author that are appended to his commentary on the Torah, reflect the fact that the author was no exception to this rule. Ed.] Being able to feel close to G’d, i.e. on the field, enabled Yitzchok, whose very name symbolized joy, laughter, to become more intimate with his Creator. The word שדה is also known as חקל, “(as in חקלאות the pursuit of agriculture.) [The author describes the righteous as being described as שדה חקל, but I have not been able to find the source for this.
When G’d was guiding His universe before having created man, He did so all by Himself. He did not need to take into consideration how His creatures would view His actions, i.e. His will reigned supreme. Once He had created free willed human beings, He had to seriously consider how the righteous among them would view His actions. Our sages allude to this when they said: (Bereshit Rabbah 19,7 עקר שכינה בתחתונים, (loosely translated) “G’d’s presence is occupied primarily with His creatures in the ‘lower’ part of the universe,” [i.e. He has to justify Himself to the righteous people on earth. Ed.]
This principle of G’d’s involvement in man’s pursuits not merely being restricted to viewing it from the celestial regions, is documented in Exodus 19,20 וירד ה' על הר סיני, “Hashem descended on Mount Sinai., etc.” What was the reason that G’d saw fit to leave the lofty spheres of heaven? He prepared to act in accordance with what the צדיקים, the righteous expected from Him. Being able to set the minds of His righteous at rest is the greatest satisfaction that G’d, their Creator, can experience.
In our portion, this is alluded to when the Torah describes Yitzchok as meditating in “the field,” or, [in the words of our sages ] “Avraham viewed G’d as ‘a mountain;’ Yitzchok viewed Him as a ‘field,’ whereas Yaakov viewed Him as a ‘house;’ this is why he promised to build a “house for Him.” The tzaddikim learned to become progressively more familiar with G’d. [The anecdotes about our author that are appended to his commentary on the Torah, reflect the fact that the author was no exception to this rule. Ed.] Being able to feel close to G’d, i.e. on the field, enabled Yitzchok, whose very name symbolized joy, laughter, to become more intimate with his Creator. The word שדה is also known as חקל, “(as in חקלאות the pursuit of agriculture.) [The author describes the righteous as being described as שדה חקל, but I have not been able to find the source for this.
(כז) או יאמר, ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה לפנות ערב וירא והנה גמלים באים (בראשית כד, סג). דהנה אמרינן בגמרא (ברכות כו:) אברהם תיקן תפילת שחרית כמו שאמר הכתוב (בראשית כב, ג) וישכם אברהם בבוקר ויעמוד, במקום שעמד שם. ויצחק תיקן תפילת מנחה כמו שאמר הכתוב ויצא יצחק לשוח, ואין שיחה אלא תפילה כמו שאמר הכתוב (תהלים קב, א) תפלה לעני כי יעטוף ולפני ה' ישפוך שיחו. ויעקב תיקן תפילת ערבית כמו שאמר הכתוב (בראשית כח, יא) ויפגע במקום ההוא וכו'. ולכאורה קשה למה נקרא תפילת מנחה, בשלמא תפילת שחרית הוא בעת שמאיר השחר, ותפילת הערב מפני שהוא בערב, אבל תפילת מנחה למה נקראת כך. והתוספות יום טוב הרגיש בקושיא זו ומתרץ שמפני כך נקראת תפילת מנחה שהוא מנוחת השמש וכו'. ולי נראה כך, שבשביל זה נקרא בלשון מנחה, דהנה תפילת השחרית צריך אדם להתפלל על זה שהחזיר לו הנשמה ואומר אמת ויציב, וגם עשה לו השם יתברך כמה טובות, דהיינו השמש המאיר, ועוד כמה דברים. ותפילת ערבית גם כן מחויבים אנו להתפלל על מה שאנו נותנים להשם יתברך נשמה בפקדון ומאמינים שהבורא ברוך הוא הנאמן בפקדונו בודאי יחזיר לנו כרצונו ולכן אנחנו מתפללים אמת ואמונה. אבל תפלת מנחה אין אנו מחויבים להתפלל רק שאנו מנדבים אותו ולכך נקרא לשון מנחה, שהוא לשון נדבה:
(27)[There follows a paragraph that I have not been able to follow completely, so that I am not able to translate into English without possibly misrepresenting the author’s meaning. Ed.]
An alternate approach to the verse: “Yitzchok went for a stroll in the field close to evening, when he raised his eyes and beheld camels approaching” The Talmud (B’rachot 26), when commenting on this line says that Avraham, (compare Genesis 19,26) composed the daily morning prayer, the word ויעמוד “he stood,” meaning that he stood engaged in prayer, whereas Yitzchok composed the daily afternoon prayer, מנחה. According to the Talmud, the word שיחה when used in the Torah always refers to prayer, תפלה. [It does not occur again in the Torah, although it does occur in psalms 102,1.Ed.] Yaakov, the third of the patriarchs, introduced the evening prayer, מעריב. This is based on Genesis 28,11 ויפגע במקום וילן שם כי בא השמש, “he met G’d there as the sun was about to set and spent the night there.” [The word המקום, meaning G’d, is not unusual. Ed.] We need to examine why a prayer is called מנחה, “gift.” The morning prayer being called שחרית, is easy to understand as the word שחר means morning, when the sun begins to shine. Calling the evening prayer מעריב is also easy to understand as it is offered in the evening, ערב. But naming the afternoon prayer מנחה appears somewhat difficult. Tossaphot Yom Tov, already recognized this anomaly and answers it by referring to the period when it is recited as מנוחת השמש, “when the sun rests.”
I propose a different explanation. I believe the root of the word מנחה is simply “gift,” not “rest.” This prayer is presented at a time, when man does not think that he has to either thank the Lord for having awoken well from his sleep, or after having completed the day’s chores without problems and entrusting our soul to G’d once more when we lie down, confident that He will restore it to us in the morning. Neither of these considerations motivates us to devote time to prayer in the middle of our daily activities. If we take time out to pray during the day nonetheless, G’d may consider this as a gift from us to Him.
An alternate approach to the verse: “Yitzchok went for a stroll in the field close to evening, when he raised his eyes and beheld camels approaching” The Talmud (B’rachot 26), when commenting on this line says that Avraham, (compare Genesis 19,26) composed the daily morning prayer, the word ויעמוד “he stood,” meaning that he stood engaged in prayer, whereas Yitzchok composed the daily afternoon prayer, מנחה. According to the Talmud, the word שיחה when used in the Torah always refers to prayer, תפלה. [It does not occur again in the Torah, although it does occur in psalms 102,1.Ed.] Yaakov, the third of the patriarchs, introduced the evening prayer, מעריב. This is based on Genesis 28,11 ויפגע במקום וילן שם כי בא השמש, “he met G’d there as the sun was about to set and spent the night there.” [The word המקום, meaning G’d, is not unusual. Ed.] We need to examine why a prayer is called מנחה, “gift.” The morning prayer being called שחרית, is easy to understand as the word שחר means morning, when the sun begins to shine. Calling the evening prayer מעריב is also easy to understand as it is offered in the evening, ערב. But naming the afternoon prayer מנחה appears somewhat difficult. Tossaphot Yom Tov, already recognized this anomaly and answers it by referring to the period when it is recited as מנוחת השמש, “when the sun rests.”
I propose a different explanation. I believe the root of the word מנחה is simply “gift,” not “rest.” This prayer is presented at a time, when man does not think that he has to either thank the Lord for having awoken well from his sleep, or after having completed the day’s chores without problems and entrusting our soul to G’d once more when we lie down, confident that He will restore it to us in the morning. Neither of these considerations motivates us to devote time to prayer in the middle of our daily activities. If we take time out to pray during the day nonetheless, G’d may consider this as a gift from us to Him.