Heritage
By Haim Gouri
The ram came last of all. And Abraham
did not know that it came to answer the
boy’s question – first of his strength
when his day was on the wane.
The old man raised his head. Seeing
that it was no dream and that the angel
stood there – the knife slipped from his hand.
The boy, released from his bonds,
saw his father’s back.
Isaac, as the story goes, was not
sacrificed. He lived for many years,
saw what pleasure had to offer,
until his eyesight dimmed.
But he bequeathed that hour to his offspring.
They are born with a knife in their hearts.
Chaim Gouri (Mandatory Palestine, 1923 - 2018)– a renowned Hebrew poet, served in the Palmach, the Haganah and the Israeli Defense Forces. After the war he was sent to Europe where he visited Displaced Persons’ Camps. He wrote of the ordeal for survivors in seeking to reconstruct their lives in the so-called normal world, in the Hebrew novel, The Chocolate Deal, New York, 1958.
(ו) וַיִּקַּ֨ח אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֶת־עֲצֵ֣י הָעֹלָ֗ה וַיָּ֙שֶׂם֙ עַל־יִצְחָ֣ק בְּנ֔וֹ וַיִּקַּ֣ח בְּיָד֔וֹ אֶת־הָאֵ֖שׁ וְאֶת־הַֽמַּאֲכֶ֑לֶת וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ שְׁנֵיהֶ֖ם יַחְדָּֽו׃
(ח) וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אַבְרָהָ֔ם אֱלֹקִ֞ים יִרְאֶה־לּ֥וֹ הַשֶּׂ֛ה לְעֹלָ֖ה בְּנִ֑י וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ שְׁנֵיהֶ֖ם יַחְדָּֽו׃
(יט) וַיָּ֤שׇׁב אַבְרָהָם֙ אֶל־נְעָרָ֔יו וַיָּקֻ֛מוּ וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ יַחְדָּ֖ו אֶל־בְּאֵ֣ר שָׁ֑בַע וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב אַבְרָהָ֖ם בִּבְאֵ֥ר שָֽׁבַע׃ {פ}
(סא) וַתָּ֨קׇם רִבְקָ֜ה וְנַעֲרֹתֶ֗יהָ וַתִּרְכַּ֙בְנָה֙ עַל־הַגְּמַלִּ֔ים וַתֵּלַ֖כְנָה אַחֲרֵ֣י הָאִ֑ישׁ וַיִּקַּ֥ח הָעֶ֛בֶד אֶת־רִבְקָ֖ה וַיֵּלַֽךְ׃ (סב) וְיִצְחָק֙ בָּ֣א מִבּ֔וֹא בְּאֵ֥ר לַחַ֖י רֹאִ֑י וְה֥וּא יוֹשֵׁ֖ב בְּאֶ֥רֶץ הַנֶּֽגֶב׃ (סג) וַיֵּצֵ֥א יִצְחָ֛ק לָשׂ֥וּחַ בַּשָּׂדֶ֖ה לִפְנ֣וֹת עָ֑רֶב וַיִּשָּׂ֤א עֵינָיו֙ וַיַּ֔רְא וְהִנֵּ֥ה גְמַלִּ֖ים בָּאִֽים׃ (סד) וַתִּשָּׂ֤א רִבְקָה֙ אֶת־עֵינֶ֔יהָ וַתֵּ֖רֶא אֶת־יִצְחָ֑ק וַתִּפֹּ֖ל מֵעַ֥ל הַגָּמָֽל׃ (סה) וַתֹּ֣אמֶר אֶל־הָעֶ֗בֶד מִֽי־הָאִ֤ישׁ הַלָּזֶה֙ הַהֹלֵ֤ךְ בַּשָּׂדֶה֙ לִקְרָאתֵ֔נוּ וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הָעֶ֖בֶד ה֣וּא אֲדֹנִ֑י וַתִּקַּ֥ח הַצָּעִ֖יף וַתִּתְכָּֽס׃ (סו) וַיְסַפֵּ֥ר הָעֶ֖בֶד לְיִצְחָ֑ק אֵ֥ת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָֽׂה׃ (סז) וַיְבִאֶ֣הָ יִצְחָ֗ק הָאֹ֙הֱלָה֙ שָׂרָ֣ה אִמּ֔וֹ וַיִּקַּ֧ח אֶת־רִבְקָ֛ה וַתְּהִי־ל֥וֹ לְאִשָּׁ֖ה וַיֶּאֱהָבֶ֑הָ וַיִּנָּחֵ֥ם יִצְחָ֖ק אַחֲרֵ֥י אִמּֽוֹ׃ {פ}
(טו) וַתֹּאמֶר אֶל הָעֶבֶד, רַבִּי חִיָּא אָמַר רָאֲתָה אוֹתוֹ הָדוּר, וְתוֹהָא מִפָּנָיו, הֵיךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (בראשית לז, יט): הִנֵּה בַּעַל הַחֲלֹמוֹת הַלָּזֶה בָּא. רַבָּנָן אָמְרֵי הוּא וּפִלְסוֹנוֹ, הֲלָזֶה, אַלּוֹן זֶה. (בראשית כד, סה): וַיֹּאמֶר הָעֶבֶד הוּא אֲדֹנִי, שְׁתַּיִם הֵם שֶׁנִּתְכַּסוּ בַּצָּעִיף וְיָלְדוּ תְּאוֹמִים, רִבְקָה וְתָמָר, רִבְקָה, (בראשית כד, סה): וַתִּקַּח הַצָּעִיף, תָּמָר, (בראשית לח, יד): וַתְּכַס בַּצָּעִיף וַתִּתְעַלָּף. (בראשית כד, סו):
(15)
“She said to the servant: Who is that man who is walking in the field toward us? The servant said: He is my master. She took the veil, and covered herself” (Genesis 24:65).
“She said to the servant: [Who is that [halazeh] man]” – Rabbi Ḥiyya said: She saw that he was attractive and was overwhelmed before him, just as it says: “Behold, here comes that [halazeh] dreamer” (Genesis 37:19).56Halazeh is used in reference to Joseph, who was very attractive (see Genesis 39:6). The same was true of Isaac. The Rabbis said: [Halazeh means:] He and his accompanying angel; halazeh [as an abbreviation for] that different one [alon zeh].57Rebecca saw that the individual accompanying Isaac was no ordinary man.
“The servant said: He is my master. [She took the veil, and covered herself]” – there are two people who covered themselves with a veil, and they both bore twins: Rebecca and Tamar. Rebecca – “she took the veil”; Tamar – “she covered herself with a veil, and she wrapped herself” (Genesis 38:14).
A Remoteness from the Sunlit World of Chesed
What Rebecca sees in Isaac is the vital anguish at the heart of his prayers, a remoteness from the sunlit world of chesed (kindness) that she inhabits. Too abruptly, perhaps, she receives the shock of his world. Nothing mediates, nothing explains him to her. “Who is that man walking in the field toward us?” (Genesis 24:66) she asks, fascinated, alienated. What dialogue is possible between two who have met in such a way?
A fatal seepage of doubt and dread affects her, so that she can no longer meet him in the full energy of her difference. She veils herself, obscures her light. He takes her and she irradiates the darkness of his mother’s tent. She is, and is not, like his mother; through her, his sense of his mother’s existence is healed. But the originating moment of their union is choreographed so that full dialogue will be impossible between them (Aviva Gottlieb Zornberg, Genesis, The Beginning of Desire, pp. 142-143).
Connecting
“From the vicinity of Beer-lahai-roi.” To pray in that place, in which was heard the prayer of the slave woman [Hagar]. And even before he prayed, the matter had already been concluded in Haran, and his wife was on her way to him. As it says, “Before they call out, I respond” (Isaiah 65:24). He left the road to pour out his prayer to God in a field so that passersby would not interrupt
While they are still speaking, I will respond.
להבין הענין נקדים פסוק (ירמיה ב׳, י״ג) אותי עזבו מקור מים חיים כי הוא השם יתברך הוא המקור שממנו השפעות החיות לכל חי בכל האופנים אין עוד מלבדו וכל הדבוק בו הוא דבוק בשורש החיות אשר לא יכזבו מימיו ובלבד אשר לא יהיה הפסקה מצדו כי אם ח״ו על ידי עונותיו יפסיק את עצמו מהמקור יעדר חיותו ממנו אך מצדו יתברך אין שום הפסק כמו שאמר הכתוב (ישעיה נ״ט, ב׳) כי אם עונותיכם היו מבדילים וגו׳
ומי שחיותו הוא מסטרא אחרא הנקרא בורות נשברים שהם מים מכונסים שנפלו שם ניצוצות החיות בעת השבירה שהם נקראים לטעם זה בורות נשברים שהם מים מכונסים שנפלו שם ניצוצות החיות בעת השבירה שהם נקראים לטעם זה בורות נשברים זה נפסק משורשו העליון ונקרא מפריד אלוף
ולכך אבות העולם שהם פתחו צינורות השכל בעולם ולמדו דעת לבאי עולם איך לחפור את עצמו לבחינת באר מים חיים להיות דבוקין בהמקור שמשם שורש חיותו ונקראים תלמידיהם בשם עבדים כמו שאמר הכתוב עבדי יצחק כי עבדות שלהם לבורא יתברך היתה על ידי האבות:
To understand this matter we will begin with the verse, they have forsaken me, the source of living waters (Jeremiah 2:13). Its meaning is that Blessed God is the source from whom comes the flow of life-force to all living things in all manners, there is no other besides [God] (Deut. 4:35); and anyone who is attached to [God] is attached to the root of life-force whose waters do not fail (Isaiah 58:11) – but only so long as there is no blockage from his side. For if, God forbid, on account of his sins he blocks himself from the source, his life-force will become absent; but from Blessed [God’s] side there is no blockage as the verse says, but your iniquities have made a separation [between you and your God] (Isaiah 59:2).
But one whose life-force is from the Other Side, who are called broken cisterns (Jeremiah 2:13) since they are gathered waters into which fell sparks of life-force at the moment of breaking, and for this reason they are called broken cisterns – such a person is blocked from his Upper Root and is called separator of close friends (Proverbs 16:28, 17:9).
And therefore the Ancestors of the World, who opened the pipelines of intelligence in the world and taught awareness to all people, how to dig himself into the aspect of a well of living water (Gen. 26:19), to be attached to the source from which comes the root of his life-force. And [the Ancestors’] disciples are called by the name “servants,” as the verse says, Isaac’s servants (Gen. 26:32), since their service of the Blessed Creator came by way of the Ancestors.
Author of Meor Eynaim: Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl
Composed: Chernobyl, c.1763 – c.1797 CE
Teachings of Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl (1730-1797). This major chasidic work was edited by his student Eliyahu, and is arranged according to the weekly Torah portion and holidays. Also included in many editions is the author's other work, "Yismach Lev", on Aggadah.