Dovid Margolin:
In this week's Torah portion, Toldos, the portion begins by saying "These are the generations of Yitzchak the son of Avraham; Avraham begat Yitzchak." The Lubavitcher Rebbe asks the obvious question, why the repetition? We know that Avraham was the father of Yitzchak, so why does the Torah continue and tell us that Avraham fathered Yitzchak?
The Rebbe explains that when the Torah describes the "generations" of a holy person, it means his lifetime of good deeds (Mitzvos) and his Torah learning. How did Yitzchak reach such levels of good deeds? He reached them, because he was the son of Avraham.
We previously learned that Avraham was the first person to sign a covenent with G-d when he circumcised himself at the age of 99. After a lifetime of searching and learning, he had reached the level where he could finally connect himself to G-d, through the covenant of the circumcision.
One year later when his son Yitzchak was born, Avraham circumcised Yitzchak, when Yitzchak was eight days old. Yitzchak was only eight days old, therefore he could not have understood the implications of being brought into this covenant with G-d, nevertheless Avraham circumcised him. Yitzchak was therefore born into this covenant and by being circumcised at eight days, his connection to G-d came from a place that was higher than human intellect, a level higher then our own comprehension. The circumcision created an unbreakable bond between Yitzchak and G-d, and subsequently between Yitzchak's children (the Jewish People) and G-d. Yet Yitzchak's lofty connection with G-d came as a result of all that Avraham had accomplished within his own life.
At the circumcision of Yitzchak, Avraham arranged a great feast for all of the kings and great leaders of the area. Amongst the guests was a king named Og, King of Bashan. Og was a giant man and when he saw the baby Yitzchak he exclaimed "for this you make a party? I can crush this child with one finger!" The Midrash explains, that when G-d heard this He said "you [Og] will live for may years and see many of your progeny, but you will end up falling into his [Yitzchak's] hands."
Avraham had been the only Jew, but then he raised Yitzchak and successfully instilled within him the ideals of Torah and Mitzvos, so that they would be everlasting within Yitzchak and within all later generations. Additionally, when obstacles like Og would come up, it would be Yitzchak who outlasted them. This was the spiritual inheritance, and guarantee that Avraham passed on to Yitzchak.
The Rebbe finishes off by explaining that this idea is extremely pertinent in relation to us, Avraham and Yitzchak's descendants. A person can sit and ponder the surrounding world. He can think about the fact that life is hard, and that the world is a lowly, physical place. Thinking such thoughts will eventually depress him. And then when he finally does go out and do a good deed (a Mitzva), or when he does learn Torah, the metaphorical Og, will come to him and say "why try? I will crush you with my finger."
The Rebbe says, that at such times a Jew must always remember from where he receives his strength. His spiritual strength is an inheritance from his forefather Avraham, who instilled it in an everlasting way within Yitzchak. Avraham was the person who traveled through the pagan world and without embarrassment exclaimed the unity of G-d. A Jew thus must never worry and must always remember that the strength is not his own, the strength is G-d's which he channels through his eternal covenant with G-d Almighty, a covenant made possible by Avraham.
By drawing this strength wherever we are, and with regard to whatever we are doing, we will be able to win the spiritual battle, and rebuild our eternal capital of Jerusalem, with the coming of Moshiach.
posted by: jrtelegraph
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