Isaac then brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he took Rebekah as his wife. Isaac loved her, and thus found comfort after his mother ['s death]
- If you had to extrapolate the meaning of marriage and love from only this text, what would it be?
- Can you posit anything from the order of steps in Isaac and Rebekah's courtship - i.e. Step One: Brought into tent; Step Two: Took for a wife; Step Three: Loved her; Step Four: Found comfort
- Most translations explain that the comfort was following Isaac's Mother's death, insinuating that Isaac needed comfort for his loss. However, the Hebrew doesn't say death. It just says, "after his mother," Is there a difference in those two understandings?
האהלה שרה אמו INTO HIS MOTHER SARAH’S TENT — He brought her into the tent and she became exactly like his mother Sarah — that is to say, the words signify as much as, [And he brought her into the tent] and, behold, she was Sarah, his mother). For whilst Sarah was living, a light had been burning in the tent from one Sabbath eve to the next, there was always a blessing in the dough (a miraculous increase) and a cloud was always hanging over the tent (as a divine protection), but since her death all these had stopped. However, when Rebecca came, they reappeared” (Genesis Rabbah 60:16).
Shlomo ben Yitzhak, 1040 ce - 1105 ce - best known by the acronym "Rashi", was an early and influential medieval Torah and Talmud commentator. He was born in Troyes, France, and as a young man he studied in the yeshivot of Worms and Mainz
- Is Rashi saying that Isaac married his mother or did Rebekah take on a socially normalized role of a wife? Is this text claiming something more? (i.e. Is there a difference between a wife and a matriarch?
- Why are these three things highlighted- Light, Dough and Protection?
(ו) עַל שָׁלשׁ עֲבֵרוֹת נָשִׁים מֵתוֹת בִּשְׁעַת לֵדָתָן, עַל שֶׁאֵינָן זְהִירוֹת בַּנִּדָּה וּבַחַלָּה וּבְהַדְלָקַת הַנֵּר:
(ז) שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים צָרִיךְ אָדָם לוֹמַר בְּתוֹךְ בֵּיתוֹ עֶרֶב שַׁבָּת עִם חֲשֵׁכָה. עִשַּׂרְתֶּם. עֵרַבְתֶּם. הַדְלִיקוּ אֶת הַנֵּר.
(6) For three transgressions women die during childbirth: They are not careful in observing the laws of menstruation, in separating ḥalla from the dough, and in lighting the Shabbat lamp.
(7) There are three things a person must say in his home on Shabbat eve at nightfall: have you tithed? Have you placed the eiruv for joining the courtyards and joining the Shabbat borders? light the lamp in honor of Shabbat.
Shabbat (“Sabbath”) is the first tractate in Seder Moed (Order of Festivals). Its 24 chapters discuss the 39 melachot (creative labors prohibited on Shabbat), prohibitions of carrying on Shabbat, and positive commandments that preserve the sanctity of the day, such as lighting candles and eating three meals.
- What are the differences between the three sources - Mishna Shabbat 2:6, Mishna Shabbat 2:, and Genesis Rabbah 60:16 as quoted by Rashi?
- Why do you think these three groupings are shared in this way - i.e. Grouping One: The Qualities of Sarah that Rebekah emulated; Grouping Two: The laws that a woman must be careful about; Grouping Three: What a husband should ask before the onset of Shabbat.
ויביאה יצחק האהלה שרה אמו וזה טעם ויאהבה וינחם ירמוז שהיה מצטער מאד על אמו ורחק ממנו מנחם עד שנחם באשתו באהבתו אותה כי מה טעם שיזכיר הכתוב אהבת האיש באשתו ואונקלוס (תרגום אונקלוס על בראשית כ״ד:ס״ז) פירש ויביאה יצחק האהלה והנה היא שרה אמו ולכן הזכיר האהבה כי מפני צדקתה וכשרון מעשיה אהבה ונחם בה וכך הזכירו בבראשית רבה (בראשית רבה ס׳:ט״ז) עד שלא מתה שרה היתה ברכה מצויה בעיסה:
AND ISAAC BROUGHT HER INTO HIS MOTHER SARAH’s TENT.
and he loved her, and he was comforted, indicating that he was deeply grieved for his mother, finding no comforter until he was comforted by his wife through his love for her. Otherwise, what reason is there for Scripture to mention a man’s love for his wife?
But Onkelos explained: And Isaac brought her into the tent and, behold, she was like Sarah his mother. It is for this reason that Scripture mentions the love he had for her because it was on account of her righteousness and the aptness of her deeds that he loved her and was comforted by her. And so the Rabbis mentioned in Bereshith Rabbah, “Before Sarah died there was a blessing of miraculous increase in the dough. [After her death it stopped, and when Rebekah came the blessing reappeared.”]
Moshe ben Nachman, ~1200 ce - also known as Ramban, was a leading Torah scholar of the middle ages who authored commentaries on Torah and the Talmud
That comfort is as close a replica of the love of God as one can know in this world. In the care, trust, decency, and goodness of one's spouse, we have the chance to reaffirm the lesson learned in our mothers' arms - that in this sometimes difficult life there is a haven, and that our love for each other can serve as a witness to God's love for all human beings.
Bradley Shavit "Brad" Artson (born 1959) is an American rabbi, author and speaker. He holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, California,
Rabbi Abahu said, Look at the verse, "And took Rivkah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death" (Gen. 24:67). When he loves the body and is comforted by it, it is time for laughter and delight in the world.
Zohar (Splendor or Radiance) is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five books of Moses) and scriptural interpretations as well as material on mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology.
Genesis 24,67. “Yitzchok brought Rivkah into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he wed her and she became his wife and he loved her.” We need to examine what the Torah meant by Yitzchok loving Rivkah that is so extraordinary that it has to be spelled out here.
A husband can love his wife on two different levels. He may love her, i.e. be physically attracted to her as she enables him to satisfy his biological urges. If this is his “love,” it is not love at all, but is merely love of himself. There are husbands who do not love their wives because they are instruments of fulfilling their physical desires, but because their wives enable them to perform their Creator’s will better and more profoundly. This is the true meaning of “someone loving his wife.” The Torah testifies that Yitzchok’s love for Rivkah was of the latter category.
Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, Ukraine, c.1772 - c.1798 CE One of the chassidic classics
Garlic increases love.
Ethical work by Nachman of Breslov, edited and published by his disciple, Nathan.
Rabbi Shimon said, "Why is it written specifically of Isaac, He took Rebekah as his wife, and he loved her (Genesis 24:67)? Since it says: as his wife, don't we know that he loved her? All men love their wives! What is so special about Isaac that of him is written and he loved her? But precisely! Arousal of love of male toward female quickens only on the left, (The Sefirotic position of Gevurah: Strength/Power & Passion, which stimulates the sefirah of Hesed: compassion, on the right), as it is written: His left hand beneath my head (song of Songs 2:6).
(9) While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s flock—for she was its shepherd. (10) And when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, and the flock of his uncle Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of his uncle Laban. (11) Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and broke into tears.
(18) Jacob loved Rachel; so he answered, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”
Jacob is, in a sense, the first lover in the Torah narrative. By this, I mean that he aspires to an ideal, all-consuming love. Isaac is also of course described as loving his wife (Genesis 24:67) but this is a love of marriage, of comfort after bereavement. Jacob , on the other hand, loves Rachel from the moment he sees her. "And when Jacob saw Rachel...Jacob went and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well" (Genesis 29:10.) Jacob's feat with the stone on the well is clearly inspired by the sight of Rachel: his kiss and his tears express an intensity that is not explained in the text.
Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg (born March 1944) is a Scottish contemporary Torah scholar and author.
How is Isaac & Rebecca's Love different than Jacob & Rachel?
How did the differences play out between them and within their families?
Which one would you prefer and why?