Topics Page: Isaac

(15) And God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you shall not call her Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. (16) I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she shall give rise to nations; rulers of peoples shall issue from her.” (17) Abraham threw himself on his face and laughed, as he said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old, or can Sarah bear a child at ninety?” (18) And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live by Your favor!” (19) God said, “Nevertheless, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac; and I will maintain My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring to come. (20) As for Ishmael, I have heeded you. I hereby bless him. I will make him fertile and exceedingly numerous. He shall be the father of twelve chieftains, and I will make of him a great nation. (21) But My covenant I will maintain with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.” (22) Done speaking with him, God was gone from Abraham.

(12) And Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “Now that I’ve lost the ability, am I to have enjoyment—with my husband so old?” (13) Then יהוה said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I in truth bear a child, old as I am?’ (14) Is anything too wondrous for יהוה ? I will return to you at the same season next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” (15) Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was frightened. Came the reply, “You did laugh.”

(1) יהוה took note of Sarah as promised, and יהוה did for Sarah what had been announced. (2) Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken. (3) Abraham gave his newborn son, whom Sarah had borne him, the name of Isaac. (4) And when his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him. (5) Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. (6) Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” (7) And she added,“Who would have said to AbrahamThat Sarah would suckle children!Yet I have borne a son in his old age.”

Why were the names of Abraham and Jacob changed but Isaac’s name was not changed? The former were given their names by their fathers; but Isaac was called Isaac by the Holy One, Praise to His Name, as it is said (Gen. 17:19) “You shall call his name Isaac”. Four were given names before they were born, and they are Isaac, Ismael, Josiah, and Solomon. Isaac, (Gen. 17:19) “You shall call his name Isaac”. Ismael as it is written (Gen. 16:11): “You shall call his name Ismael”. Josiah, (1Kings 13:2): “Behold, a son will be born to the dynasty of David; his name will be Josiah”. Solomon, (1Chr. 22:9) “Solomon will be his name”. All this for the just. But the wicked (Ps. 58:4) “The wicked are perverted from the womb.”

And why do they place ashes upon the head of each and every individual? Rabbi Levi bar Ḥama and Rabbi Ḥanina disagree with regard to this matter. One said that this is as though to say: We are considered like ashes before You. And one said that these ashes are placed in order to remind God of the ashes of our forefather Isaac, on our behalf. The Gemara asks: What is the practical difference between these two explanations? The Gemara answers that the practical difference between them is in a case where one placed ordinary earth upon the heads of the individuals instead of ashes. Although earth does symbolize self-nullification and may be used according to the first explanation, it has no connection to the sacrifice of Isaac, and therefore it does not satisfy the second explanation.

(30) 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 his self. 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.‎

(4) ויאהב יצחק את עשו כי ציד בפיו ורבקה אוהבת את יעקב. We have an allusion here to the well-known statement in Avot 5,19 that any love which is based on something material will not endure once the object upon which it is based disappears, whereas love which is not based on something transient will endure. Isaac's love for Esau was founded on the material things Esau provided, and therefore it could not endure. This may well be the reason the Torah describes Isaac's love for Esau in the past tense, i.e. ויאהב, whereas Rebeccah's love for Jacob is described in the present tense, i.e. אוהבת, an ongoing love.

(5) This teaches us not to waste our love on material things but to concentrate it on enduring values such as Torah, מצות, etc.

(1) אל תרד מצרימה GO NOT DOWN INTO EGYPT — Because he thought of going down to Egypt as his father had gone down in time of famine. He said to him, “Do not go down to Egypt for you are a burnt-offering without blemish and residence outside the Holy Land is not befitting you” (Genesis Rabbah 64:3).

(8) Another matter, Rabbi Yitzḥak said: When Abraham sought to bind Isaac his son, he said to him: ‘Father, I am a young man, and I am concerned that my body will tremble due to fear of the knife, and I will [thereby] upset you, or perhaps the slaughter will [thereby] be rendered unfit and it will not be counted for you as a valid offering. Therefore, bind me very well.’ Thereupon, “he bound Isaac his son.” Is a person capable of binding a thirty-seven- year-old [variant reading: a twenty-six-year-old] without his consent? Immediately, “Abraham extended his hand.” As he extended his hand to take the knife, his eyes were emitting tears and the tears were falling into Isaac’s eyes, because of the father’s mercy [for his son]. Nevertheless, his heart was joyful in fulfilling the will of his Creator. The angels gathered themselves into groups up above. What did they cry out? “The highways are desolate, those passing on the way have ceased, he breached the covenant, he has spurned the cities” (Isaiah 33:8) – does He not in fact desire Jerusalem, and the Temple that He had planned to bequeath to Isaac’s descendants? “He had no regard for man” (Isaiah 33:8) – if the merit of Abraham is not sufficient, there is no significance for any person before Him. Rabbi Aḥa said: Abraham began to express his astonishment, [saying to God]: ‘These events are nothing short of bewildering. Yesterday You said: “For it is through Isaac that will be called your descendants” (Genesis 21:12), then You said: “Take you your son […and offer him up]” (Genesis 22:2), and now You say to me: “Do not extend your hand against the lad”? This is bewildering.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to Abraham: ‘“I will not violate My covenant, nor alter the utterance of My lips” (Psalms 89:35) – when I said to you: “Take you your son,” I did not say: “Slaughter him,” but rather, “take him up.” I said this to you in affection. You have taken him up and fulfilled My words, now take him down.’

(1) [1] "And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying (Numbers 2, 1), In eighteen places you find Moses and Aaron equal, corresponding to the eighteen blessings, the three early fathers. From there you find the establishment of praying three times a day. Abraham established the morning prayer, as it is said (Genesis 19, 27): 'And Abraham got up early in the morning and so on,' and there is no standing but prayer, as it is said (Psalms 106, 30): 'And Phinehas stood and prayed.' Isaac established the afternoon prayer, as it is said (Genesis 24, 63): 'And Isaac went out to meditate,' and there is no meditation but prayer, as it is said (Psalms 102, 1): 'A prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed and so on.' Jacob established the evening prayer, as it is said (Genesis 28, 11): 'And he encountered the place and so on,' and there is no encounter but prayer, as it is said (Jeremiah 7, 16): 'And you, do not pray for this people and so on.' In eighteen places Moses and Aaron are paired, hinting to the eighteen blessings, corresponding to the eighteen mentions written in the Shema Yisrael, (Psalms 29, 1): 'Give unto the Lord, O you sons of the mighty.' The three fathers established that we pray three times a day and Moses and Aaron, and from these mentions, we learned the eighteen blessings."

(1) לולי אלוקי אבי, after having used this term, Yaakov amplifies whom he meant by it, i.e. אלוקי אברהם ופחד יצחק היה לי, as explained by Onkelos פחד יצחק is the G’d Yitzchok was in awe of. Yitzchok had subjected himself to slaughter by his father as he had been in awe of his father’s G’d. One can explain the words פחד יצחק as referring to Yaakov who was afraid that if he did not go home now he would never see his father again while he was alive.

(190) And what is the fear of the Lord? The first light. As Rabbi [Meir] said: What is that which is written (Genesis 1:3), “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light,” and it did not say, “and it was so?” Rather it is to teach that this light was very great and no creature could gaze at it. The Holy One, blessed be He, [hence] stored it away for the righteous ones in the future to come. And it is the measure of all trade (sechorah) in the world; and it is the power of the precious stone called socheret vedar (mosaics and mother-of-pearl). But about what is the measure of dar? Rather it teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, took one part from the thousands of its shining and built a fine and ornamented precious stone from it, and He included all of the commandments in it. And Abraham came and He sought a power to give to him; so He gave him this precious stone, but he did not want it. [Instead,] he merited to take his trait of kindness, as it is written (Micah 7:20), “kindness to Abraham.” Isaac came and He sought a power; so He gave it to him, but he did not want it. [Instead,] he merited to take his trait of might, which is the Dread, as it is written (Genesis 31:53), “and Jacob swore by the Dread of his father Isaac.” Jacob came and he did want it, but they did not give it to him. They said to him, “Since Abraham is above and Isaac is below him, you be in the middle and take the three of them.” And what is the middle? It is peace. But is it not written (Micah 7:20), “You will give truth to Jacob?” Truth and peace are one, as it is found (Esther 9:30), “words of truth and peace”; (II Kings 20:19), “(but rather) peace and truth will be in my days.” And that is [the meaning of] that which is written (Isaiah 58:14), “and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob, your father,” which is a complete inheritance that has Kindness, Dread, Truth and Fear in it. And that is why it said (Psalms 118:22), “The stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone” – the stone that was rejected by Abraham and Isaac, who built the world, now became the cornerstone.

(10) “His eyes dimmed from seeing” – Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya said: From seeing evil– from seeing the evil of the wicked one. The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Isaac will walk out to the marketplace and the people will say: This is the father of that wicked one. Instead, I will dim his eyes and he will remain inside his house.’ That is what is written: “With the rise of the wicked, a person should hide” (Proverbs 28:28). From here they said: Anyone who produces a wicked son or a wicked student, ultimately his eyes will dim. A wicked student, from Aḥiya the Shilonite – “Aḥiyahu was unable to see, for his eyes had dimmed due to his old age” (I Kings 14:4); he had produced Yerovam, a wicked student. A wicked son, from Isaac – “it was when Isaac was old, and his eyes dimmed.” Another matter. “from seeing [mereot]” – as a result of that sight [re’iya]; when Abraham our patriarch bound his son atop the altar, the ministering angels wept. That is what is written: “Behold, their angels cry out outside…” (Isaiah 33:7). Tears fell from their eyes into his eyes, and they had an effect inside his eyes. When he grew old, his eyes dimmed. That is what is written: “It was when Isaac was old…” Another matter. “from seeing [mereot]” – as a result of that sight [re’iya]; when Abraham our patriarch bound his son atop the altar, he [Isaac] directed his eyes heavenward and looked at the Divine Presence. They say a parable, to what is the matter comparable? It is comparable to a king who was strolling at the entrance of his palace and glanced and saw his friend’s son peering at him through the window. He said: ‘If I kill him, I will now cause my friend to collapse. Instead, I will decree that his windows should be sealed.’ So, when Abraham our patriarch bound his son atop the altar, he directed his eyes and looked at the Divine Presence. The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘If I kill him, I will now cause Abraham my friend to collapse. Instead, I decree that his eyes will dim.’ When he grew old, his eyes dimmed – “it was when Isaac was old…”

(16) Now the darkness proceeded the light, as it is written (Genesis 1:2). The great movement (diurnal movement) includes the time of darkness and light, and that is called “yom” (day), that is, a complete day of twenty-four hours. This does not conflict with the fact that Scripture first mentioned “God called the light ‘day’” (Genesis 1:5) before the night, for this is common with the Hebrew language, namely, when someone mentions two things he should begin with the latter. For example, “I gave Jacob and Esau to Isaac, and I gave to Esau…” (Joshua 24:4). In the same way, “Your’s is the day also the night” (Psalms 74:16), and he mentions the minor luminary (the moon) that governs the night before the greater luminary (the sun), although the latter is more important than the former. Also, do not be perplexed when Scripture says “He formed the light and created darkness” (Isaiah 40:12). Scripture puts the light first because it has advantages over darkness, even though darkness came before the light. Similarly, in the verse “His sons Isaac and Ishmael” (Genesis 25:9). Also, “There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife” (ibid. 49:31), although he buried her.

(17) In the books of Hidden Wisdom, it is explained that the judgement of Rosh Hashanah is from the aspect of Isaac, the side of Isaac - the "Dread of Isaac," the emanation of Gevurah (Might). "I will remember My covenant with Jacob and also My covenant with Isaac and also My covenant with Abraham I will remember.""Why is memory mentioned with Jacob and with Abraham, but not mentioned with Isaac? ... and the Rabbis say, 'I see Isaac's ashes as if they were gathered on top of the altar.'"Sight happens in the present, Isaac's ashes are gathered on top of the altar. Hence he is seen; "on the mountain of the Lord, it will be seen."It is not an event that happened in the past, but rather inscribed forever into the Divine present. So this is a memory that is in the aspect of sight. And they have already expounded that sight is fear.

It is taught in a baraita that the tanna’im disagreed about this point: Rabbi Eliezer says: In Tishrei the world was created; in Tishrei the Patriarchs were born; in Tishrei the Patriarchs died; on Passover Isaac was born; on Rosh HaShana Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah were remembered by God and conceived; on Rosh HaShana Joseph came out from prison;