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November 5, 1999/26 Cheshvan 5760, Vol. 52, No.10
Isaac's persistence needed
Torah Study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Chaye Sarah/Genesis 23:1 - 25:18
This week's Torah portion bridges the leaderships of Abraham and Isaac.
It deals with finding a suitable mate for Isaac, as he prepares to assume his rightful place as his father's heir and successor.
Is Isaac truly worthy of the task? How can such a compliant personality fulfill a patriarchal role?
Isaac's encounters with King Abimelech of Gerar reveal that Isaac is a remarkable personality whose introspective nature in no way prevents him from confronting difficulties, as well as a patient, persistent leader who upholds his father's honor and his right to the land of Israel.
We first met Abimelech in last week's Torah reading, in Genesis 20, when Abraham moved to Gerar after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The twisted fabric of the society apparently required husbands to claim they were their wives' brothers to avoid becoming victims of violent crimes. When Abraham claimed that Sarah was his sister, Abimelech took her into his harem, but before anything happened to her, God warned Abimelech in a dream that Sarah was really Abraham's wife, and that Abraham was a prophet. Abimelech then gave Abraham gifts and allowed him to live wherever he wished in Gerar.
At the end of chapter 21, Abimelech sought to establish a covenant with Abraham. Even though a treaty with a king ought to prove immeasurably beneficial for a nomadic family, Abraham raised the fact that the king's servants had stolen his well. Abimelech pleaded ignorant innocence: "I do not know who did this; you did not tell me, nor have I heard of it until today" (Genesis 21:26). The pact was made.
Like father like son. It is famine that drives Isaac to Gerar. He, too, must introduce his wife, Rebecca, as his sister. Then, before Rebecca is seized by the king's men, Abimelech spies Isaac "fondling" Rececca in the privacy of their bedroom and says to Isaac: "What is it you have done to us! One of the people might have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us" (Genesis 26:10).
Unlike his father, Isaac receives no gifts from Abimelech. Nor does Isaac leave the place that God has told him is part of promised Israel. Instead he starts working the land, producing a hundred-fold more than he had planted. The wells that had been dug in the days of Abraham, we are told, the Philistines now fill with earth, rendering them useless. Abimelech warns Isaac: "Go away from us, for you have become far too big for us" (Genesis 26:16).
Isaac retreats temporarily to the valley of Gerar, but he is unwilling to give up without a fight. He reopens the wells. Although the Philistines are enraged, Isaac persists and soon discovers a new well, Esek (which means "contention"). While the Philistines fight over it, Isaac's men go on working and discover yet another well, which Isaac names Sitnah (meaning "harassment"). When Isaac finds a third well, the Philistines back off. He calls this well Rehoboth (expansion), expressing his eventual victory.
The final sequence with Abimelech describes his return to make a new treaty. This time he explains: "We now see plainly that God has been with you" (Genesis 26:28), words which express his admiration not only at God's apparent protection of Isaac, but also at Isaac's continued persistence.
The enmity between the Philistines and the servants of Isaac sounds strangely familiar. It is almost as if we are living through experiences echoing the altercation we read of in the Torah. We, too, have returned to Israel our homeland after two exiles, have re-dug the wells of our forefathers, have been phenomenally successful in working the land, and have been challenged and asked to make yet another treaty in response to our gifts.
As long as we maintain Isaac's persistence and courage for the sake of Abraham, and for the sake of our homeland, we will succeed with a real peace treaty, and we will have arrived for good and forever.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the spiritual leader of the Jewish community of Efrat, Israel.
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