(כא) וַיֶּעְתַּ֨ר יִצְחָ֤ק לַֽיהוה לְנֹ֣כַח אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ כִּ֥י עֲקָרָ֖ה הִ֑וא וַיֵּעָ֤תֶר לוֹ֙ יהוה וַתַּ֖הַר רִבְקָ֥ה אִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃
(ח) וַיְהִ֗י כִּ֣י אָֽרְכוּ־ל֥וֹ שָׁם֙ הַיָּמִ֔ים וַיַּשְׁקֵ֗ף אֲבִימֶ֙לֶךְ֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים בְּעַ֖ד הַֽחַלּ֑וֹן וַיַּ֗רְא וְהִנֵּ֤ה יִצְחָק֙ מְצַחֵ֔ק אֵ֖ת רִבְקָ֥ה אִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃
(8) When some time had passed, Abimelech king of the Philistines, looking out of the window, saw Isaac loving-laughing his wife Rebekah.
(כב) וַיִּתְרֹֽצְצ֤וּ הַבָּנִים֙ בְּקִרְבָּ֔הּ וַתֹּ֣אמֶר אִם־כֵּ֔ן לָ֥מָּה זֶּ֖ה אָנֹ֑כִי וַתֵּ֖לֶךְ לִדְרֹ֥שׁ אֶת־יהוה׃ (כג) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יהוה לָ֗הּ שְׁנֵ֤י (גיים)[גוֹיִם֙] בְּבִטְנֵ֔ךְ וּשְׁנֵ֣י לְאֻמִּ֔ים מִמֵּעַ֖יִךְ יִפָּרֵ֑דוּ וּלְאֹם֙ מִלְאֹ֣ם יֶֽאֱמָ֔ץ וְרַ֖ב יַעֲבֹ֥ד צָעִֽיר׃
(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.”
ויתרצצו הבנים בקרבה, The children were quarrelling inside her, etc. Both the expression ויתרצצו, "they quarrelled" and the words למה זה אנכי, "why am I therefore" need examination. Rashi explains that "if the pain involved in giving birth is so intense, why did I bother to pray to become pregnant?" It is difficult to reconcile our image of the pious and righteous Rebeccah with Rashi's comment, i.e. that she did not think the pain worth her while in order to become a mother. Also, if that had been her real concern, how did G'd's response alleviate her problem? Our rabbis have offered many and various explanations none of which are acceptable as the plain meaning of the verse. The plain meaning of the word ויתרצצו is based on the root רצץ, to crush. Since there were two fetuses in her womb she felt as if her womb was being crushed. She was afraid that she could not complete her pregnancy and would have a miscarriage as a result. Her question then was rhetorical, i.e. "what good was my becoming pregnant if this pregnancy will not be completed successfully?" The words: "she went to ask G'd," mean that she prayed to G'd to let her complete her pregnancy without mishap. She felt that the miracle of her becoming pregnant after all these years surely should not be wasted by her not giving birth to a healthy child.
נשוב למה שהיינו בו (פרק יז), לבאר שני הפרחים שבקנה ימיני ושמאלי. הפרח הימיני נגד אמונת התפלה, שיש להתפלל להשם יתברך ושלא לשום אמצעי. וזאת האמונה נתבארה בספר בראשית, שמצינו כל האבות התפללו אל השם יתברך בלי אמצעי כלל. וכבר אמרו (ברכות כו ב) תפילות אבות תקנום. ומצינו אברהם שהתפלל במעשה סדום, ויצחק התפלל על רבקה אשתו, ויעקב התפלל, כמו שדרשו ז”ל (סנהדרין צה ב) (בראשית כ״ח:י״א) ויפגע במקום. ולזה כיון יעקב באמרו (שם ל) התחת אלהים אנכי אשר מנע וגומר. להורות כי אף אמצעי אין לאדם לשום בינו לבין אלהינו, לכן חרה אף יעקב על רחל שרצתה לשומו אמצעי בינה לבין אלהיו, באמרה הבה לי בנים. וידע שרחל לא נישתטית שיעקב הוא הנותן, אלא שכוונה בדרך האמצעי, ואפ”ה חרה עליה, וכל זה מבואר.
To return to our subject, to explain the two flowers on the right and left branches: The flower on the right branch is parallel to belief in Prayer, that one should pray to G8d and not employ any intermediary. This belief is clarified in the book of Bereishit [which is the right branch, as the first chumash]. We find that the patriarchs all prayed to G8d without any intermediary at all. The Sages already said (Berachot 26b), “The prayers were established by the patriarchs”, and we have found that Avraham prayed in the event with Sodom, and Yitzchak prayed for his wife Rivkah, and Yaakov prayed as they taught regarding Bereishit 28:11, “And he was pogeia in the place.” Note: According to the Talmud, Yitzchak’s prayer took place in the field before Rivkah arrived, in Bereishit 24:63. Rabbi Isserles seems to refer to Bereishit 25:21.]
This what Yaakov actually meant when he said (Bereishit 30:1-2), “Am I in the place of G-d, who has withheld, etc.” He meant that one should not place any intermediary between himself and G-d.
Therefore Yaakov was angry at Rachel, for she wished to place him between her and G-d, when she said, “Grant me children.” He knew that Rachel was not irrational, thinking that Yaakov could grant children; rather, she meant that he should be an intermediary, and this was what enraged him. All of this is clear.
(19) Having spoken of similes,...and we read in Midrash, Shir ha-shirim Rabba, 1:1); “To what were the words of the Law to be compared before the time of Solomon? To a well the waters of which are at a great depth, and though cool and fresh, yet no man could drink of them. A clever man joined cord with cord, and rope with rope, and drew up and drank. So Solomon went from figure to figure, and from subject to subject, till he obtained the true sense of the Law.” So far go the words of our Sages. I do not believe that any intelligent man thinks that “the words of the Law” mentioned here as requiring the application of figures in order to be understood, can refer to the rules for building tabernacles, for preparing the lulab, or for the four kinds of trustees. What is really meant is the apprehension of profound and difficult subjects, concerning which our Sages said, “If a man loses in his house a sela, or a pearl, he can find it by lighting a taper worth only one issar. Thus the parables in themselves are of no great value, but through them the words of the holy Law are rendered intelligible.” These likewise are the words of our Sages; consider well their statement, that the deeper sense of the words of the holy Law are pearls, and the literal acceptation of a figure is of no value in itself. They compare the hidden meaning included in the literal sense of the simile to a pearl lost in a dark room, which is full of furniture. It is certain that the pearl is in the room, but the man can neither see it nor know where it lies. It is just as if the pearl were no longer in his possession, for, as has been stated, it affords him no benefit whatever until he kindles a light. The same is the case with the comprehension of that which the simile represents. The wise king said, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in vessels of silver” (Prov. 25:11). Hear the explanation of what he said:—The word maskiyoth, the Hebrew equivalent for “vessels,” denotes “filigree network”—i.e., things in which there are very small apertures, such as are frequently wrought by silversmiths. They are called in Hebrew maskiyyoth (lit. “transpicuous,” from the verb sakah, “he saw,” a root which occurs also in the Targum of Onkelos, Gen. 26:8), because the eye penetrates through them.
ורב. הוא הפועל וכן "בן יכבד אב" (מלאכי א ו) ועוד אפרש זה הפסוק:
THE ELDER. Elder is the subject. A son honoureth his father (Mal. 1:6) is similar. I will explain our verse later.
