Parshas Toldos-Torah Or Selected Teachings

Mamar “Eileh Toldos Yitzchak”

1. The attribute of Yitzchak in contrast to that of Avraham Avinu:

Avraham Avinu comes from the right side, which is described in scripture as “And the right side embraces me.” This is in contrast to Yitzchak Avinu, who derives from the left side, which is described in scripture as “His left side is under my head.” The main service of Avraham Avinu was the act of kindness of hosting guests and the like, while the main service of Yitzchak Avinu was the digging of wells.

The purpose of Avraham’s hospitality was to spread G-dliness: The fact that Avraham was so hospitable was not simply because he enjoyed being a nice guy, and feeding travelers, but rather was an essential tactic of how to fulfill his life mission of spreading G-dliness to the world and its inhabitants. He gave the idol worshiping Arabs a meal to eat in order so they will recognize the greatness of G-d and acknowledge his existence. Thus, the function of Avraham was to draw down G-dliness from above to below. This is in complete contrast to the function of his son Yitzchak which was on the opposite scale to draw from below to above, to dig wells and reveal water from below the earth to then be brought above the earth. Now, although also Avraham was involved in well digging, eventually they became stuffed up. However, the wells of Yitzchak remained permanently.

Which forefather represents the main aspect of the future? Of the future era, it states in Scripture in reference to Yitzchak “as you are our father.” The reason for this is because the laughter and joy of the future will be from the aspect of service represented by Yitzchak, which represents elevating the below to above. This will be the main source of pleasure and entertainment in the future era, as opposed to the service of Avraham which while being in important function, is not as great of a novelty as that of the service of Yitzchak, and therefore will not serve as the main source of the future entertainment.

The Explanation: [The above words may seem quite cryptic to the reader. What is the difference between service of above to below, versus below to above, and that the service of below to above is a greater novelty and is the source of pleasure in the future? What does this all mean? So, the explanation is as follows: The service from above to below represents the drawing down of G-dliness below. There is no great novelty in this accomplishment being that, that is the order that everything was created, as in order to bring about creation G-d revealed His light from above to below. A greater novelty is specifically found in the service of Yitzchak bringing below to above. Meaning, that instead of forcing G-dliness upon the lower being, one rather refines the lower being to the point that he himself desires to be elevated to the G-dliness. In other words, the service of digging wells is symbolic of the idea that Yitzchak was involved in bringing the hidden goodness and holiness within a person into his conscious and revealed state. It is the person’s own goodness and holiness that he desired to reveal, and not simply bring to him an external revelation of G-dliness from above, as was the function of his father Abraham. This is the service which will serve as a source of pleasure in the future era being that there is no greater pleasure for G-d, and in turn for man, than to take a thick and coarse existence and refine it into a jewel.]

The level of Yitzchak is fear and trepidation and nullification to G-d: On a deeper level, the service of Avrham Avinu represents a feeling of pleasure of love for G-d, while the service of Yitzchak Avinu represents fear and trepidation of G-d. Superficially, it would seem that the service of Avraham is much greater and higher than that of Yitzchak. However, in truth, Yitzchak represents a very high level of fear and nullification to G-d which can only be revealed in the future era. On this it states in Scripture “we will enter into the caves in the rocks due to fear of G-d that will be revealed.” [It is this high form nullification that is then transformed into the greatest pleasures, much higher than that of Avraham.] Even Avraham, his father, could not attain this level of his son Yitzchak, and it is for this reason that he performed the Akeida, to try to reach this level. Yaakov Avinu, however, was the completion of both his father and grandfather, as he contained both of their aspects, the aspect of love of Avraham, and the aspect of fear and nullification of Yitzchak.

2. Loving the opposite nature:[1]

It is known that the nature of man is to love and desire those things which are opposite of him. Such as, for example, one who is hot and sweaty desires cold water while one who is very cold desires hot water. It is for this reason, that Avraham loved his son Yitzchak, as his son Yitzchak represented the exact opposite Divine service than him, as explained above. [The above statement is quite wondrous as most people would believe that a person likes and desires those who are similar to him. Psychologically, we can explain the above phenomenon as follows: A person naturally desires that which he does not have. One who does not own a watch or a car and understands that he needs it, is more prone to desire it than someone who already owns it. Likewise, one who is not yet married but desires to be, is more prone to consciously desire marriage than one who is already married. The point is, that we naturally cease to consciously feel the value of things that we already have, and thereby as a result naturally desire things of the opposite nature which we do not contain. Thus, there is a natural attraction of a man to a woman and a woman to a man, as they are opposite nature. Likewise, a person who is very serious in nature may enjoy being around friends who are lightheaded and comical, as each person desires the opposite. Likewise, a person who ate a meal of typical meal foods which are not sweet, may desire to eat sweets afterwards for dessert. While a person who ate lots of sweets may desire to eat something on the saltier side, or at least something that is not sweet.]

3. How can one be commanded to love G-d if emotions are beyond our control?

The Alter Rebbe states: “The verse states “and you shall love,” which is a matter that is seemingly beyond the ability to command on, to command one to love. However, the explanation is that the previous verse states that G-d is one, and through this contemplation…. one comes to these emotions”

The explanation: We read thrice daily how G-d commanded us to love him. How can one be commanded to love someone? Isn’t love a truth of the heart that either you have or don’t. Isn’t love an emotion and signal from your heart to you and not from you to your heart? The answer to this question is that in truth we have been educated with a false axiom, that you cannot grow love and it is a fact of your heart and subconscious that you have no control over. In truth, the heart is a limb like any other limb of your body, and the same way that you can decide when to talk and what to talk about, so too you can decide what to feel and how. The only difference is, the amount of effort it takes to take control of this limb. While the mouth is a more easily controllable limb, similar to a tool that you decide how and when to use, the heart is more like a pet or child which has its own nature and needs to be disciplined to follow the desire of his master and father. So, the heart which is not born with a natural love and lust for G-d, can be trained to develop it. How is this done? Through deep contemplation on matters that arouse love for Him, each in accordance to those matters that are of importance to one’s heart, and as elaborated in length in the Sefer Tanya chapters 41 and onwards.

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[1] Torah Or Toldos p. 17c; Likkutei Torah Reih 28a