Parshat Toldot 5783--Rebecca's Distress and Response

(19) This is the story of Isaac, son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac.(20) Isaac was forty years old when he took to wife Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean.(21) Isaac pleaded with יהוה on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and יהוה responded to his plea, and his wife Rebekah conceived.(22) But the children struggled in her womb, and she said, “If so, why do I exist?” She went to inquire of יהוה,(23) and יהוה answered her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
Two separate peoples shall issue from your body;
One people shall be mightier than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.”(24) When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb.

ויתרצצו AND [THE CHILDREN] STRUGGLED — You must admit that this verse calls for a Midrashic interpretation since it leaves unexplained what this struggling was about and it states that she exclaimed “If it be so, wherefore did I desire this.” Our Rabbis explain that the word vayitrotzetzu has the meaning of running, moving quickly: whenever she passed by the doors of the Torah (i. e. the Schools of Shem and Eber) Jacob moved convulsively in his efforts to come to birth, but whenever she passed by the gate of a pagan temple Esau moved convulsively in his efforts to come to birth. Another explanation is: they struggled with one another and quarelled as to how they should divide the two worlds as their inheritance .

"The children agitated within her..." This agitation happened when she would pass by the entrance of the Beit ha-Midrash of Shem and Ever. Yaakov struggled to come out, and Esav grasped his hand. And when she would pass by the entrance of the house of idols, Esav struggled to come out, and Yaakov grasped his hand.

But she did not reason out the matter this way, but rather that she had only one fetus in her belly, that wanted to come out whether for a beit midrash or for a house of idols. If true, God forbid, perhaps there are two authorities in existence! Therefore she said, "why am I thus?" If I am just like all the other women who worship idols? What advantage do I have over them if, there are two authorities in existence? Therefore, "she went to inquire of the Lord", meaning, to inquire after the existence of God and God's essence.

"Anokhi--I am": Rebecca is asking, why then am I sitting passively, why do I not investigate? It is my task to seek out explanations. And so, "she went to inquire of God."

AND SHE SAID: IF IT BE SO, ‘LAMAH ZEH ANOCHI?’”If the pain of pregnancy is so great, lamah zeh anochi (why did I) pray for and aspire to pregnancy?” Thus Rashi. But it is not correct. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra says that she asked the women if they had experienced such pains, and they said, “No,” whereupon she said, “If the matter and custom of pregnancy be as they said, lamah zeh anochi, why am I beset with an unusual pregnancy?” Now according to this exposition, the verse is missing and not complete.
The correct interpretation in my opinion is that she said, “If it shall be so with me, lamah zeh anochi, [why am I in the world]? Would that I did not exist, that I should die or never have come into existence.” This is similar to the verse, "I should have been as though I had not been"(Job 10:19).

‎Genesis 25,22. she said: “if so (that the children already quarrel ‎within my womb) ,what is the purpose of my existence?” We ‎can understand this complaint of Rivkah on the basis of a ‎comment by the Ari’zal that righteous women are spared ‎the pain and discomfort of pregnancy. Rivkah, while experiencing ‎even more than the normal amount of pain and discomfort ‎during her pregnancy, had concluded that this was proof that God ‎had not considered her righteous. Moreover, it is a tenet of our ‎faith that if someone is not a “good” person, such a person will ‎not serve as a receptacle for anything holy or potentially holy...

According to ‎another opinion offered, Rivkah knew that the source of holiness ‎is the One known as ‎"Anochi" (a name for God)‎, and when she exclaimed ‎lamah zeh anochi, "what is the purpose of my existence", she ‎expressed her confusion how she could be the receptacle of a son ‎who clearly strived for holiness if she was not worthy. On the ‎other hand, if she were worthy, why did she experience such a ‎difficult pregnancy? God put her mind at rest, telling her that her ‎difficulties did not mean that she was not worthy, but that the ‎other son who would be unworthy was the one that caused her ‎present problems.‎

AND SHE WENT ‘LIDROSH’ (TO INQUIRE) OF THE ETERNAL. Rashi comments: “To tell what her outcome will be.” Now I have not discovered the word drishah [lidrosh, to inquire] in relation to G-d except in the context of prayer, as in the verses: "I sought (‘darashti’) the Eternal and God answered me" (Psalms 34:5); "seek ye Me, (‘dirshuni’) and live" (Amos 5:4); "As I live, saith G-d the Eternal, I will not be inquired of (‘edareish’) by you." (Ezekiel 20:3)