וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת יִצְחָק בֶּן אַבְרָהָם אַבְרָהָם הוֹלִיד אֶת יִצְחָק (בראשית כה, יט).
Rashi on the first passuk of our parsha asks "Why is it necessary for the repetition in the passuk - first יִצְחָק בֶּן אַבְרָהָם and then a second time, אַבְרָהָם הוֹלִיד אֶת יִצְחָק? If the passuk begins by saying 'Yitzchak the son of Avraham', it is obvious that Avraham gave birth to Yitzchak, why repeat it?"
Rashi, quoting a Gemara (Bava Metzia 87a), goes on to explain –
לְפִי שֶׁהָיוּ לֵיצָנֵי הַדּוֹר אוֹמְרִים: מֵאֲבִימֶלֶךְ נִתְעַבְּרָה שָׂרָה, שֶׁהֲרֵי כַמָּה שָׁנִים שָׁהֲתָה עִם אַבְרָהָם וְלֹא נִתְעַבְּרָה הֵימֶנּוּ. מֶה עָשָׂה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא? צָר קְלַסְתֵּר פָּנָיו שֶׁל יִצְחָק דּוֹמֶה לְאַבְרָהָם, וְהֵעִידוּ הַכֹּל "אַבְרָהָם הוֹלִיד אֶת יִצְחָק".
The Gemara brings a mind-blowing revelation. There were some לֵיצָנֵי הַדּוֹר (loosely translated as "clowns of the generation") who mocked and said that it was not possible that Avraham gave birth to Yitzchak. Avraham was married to Sarah for 75 years and in all that time she never became pregnant from him. Suddenly Avimelech kidnaps Sarah and a short time later Sarah is pregnant and gives birth to Yitzchak. It must be that she became pregnant from Avimelech.
That is not the incredible part. There were some clowns who mocked, so what? Who cares about some small-minded idiots? The mind-blowing part of this is that HKB"H, specifically and only because of this mockery, changed Yitzchak's facial appearance so that it matched Avraham's exactly, that anyone who saw Yitzchak, could not mistake the physical resemblance to Avraham. HKB"H completely changed מַעֲשֵׂה בְּרֵאשִׁית, simply because some clowns mocked.
If HKB"H was so "extreme" in His response to this mockery, then it cannot be such a trivial thing and we need to further explore why such drastic steps were necessary.
The next thing we need to examine is - why wait until now, until parshat Toldot to state this fact? If the incident with Avimelech took place just before Yitzchak was born, then why bring it up here, 40 years later, when Yitzchak is now already 40-years-old and married to Rivka?
In parshat Vayeira we read about Avraham throwing a big party on the day that Yitzchak was weaned (some opinions say at 2-years old, some say 3), וַיִּגְדַּל הַיֶּלֶד וַיִּגָּמַל וַיַּעַשׂ אַבְרָהָם מִשְׁתֶּה גָדוֹל בְּיוֹם הִגָּמֵל אֶת יִצְחָק (בראשית כא, ח). Why does the passuk not state it here - בְּיוֹם הִגָּמֵל אֶת יִצְחָק בֶּן אַבְרָהָם אַבְרָהָם הוֹלִיד אֶת יִצְחָק? Why wait until Yitzchak is forty? Or even better, why wait 2 (or 3) years? Why not throw the party at Yitzchak's brit milah, when he was 8-days-old? Why wait until he was weaned?
Rashi (ibid.) explains what it means מִשְׁתֶּה גָדוֹל, not that it was a large, lavish dinner (it might have been as well), but that the גָדוֹל refers to the guests who attended, namely Shem and Ever … and Avimelech!
We can understand Avraham inviting his Roshei Yeshiva to the celebration, but why Avimelech? The no-goodnik who had just kidnapped his wife, Sarah?
Lots of questions, lots of seeming inconsistencies. Let us peel away the layers one by one and try get to the bottom of it all and at the same time, learn an enormous musar haskel, applicable for the challenging times we are living through.
In order to understand how, when and why this "mockery" began, we have to backtrack to the beginning of parshat Vayeira.
The three angels come to visit Avraham and of the three (Michael, Rafael, Gavriel), Michael's mission is to inform Sarah that she will have a son. Michael asks Avraham אַיֵּה שָׂרָה אִשְׁתֶּךָ? Avraham replies "She is in the tent!" Michael does not go into the tent to inform Sarah - he continues conversing with Avraham outside and Sarah overhears the conversation through the opening of the tent - וַיֹּאמֶר שׁוֹב אָשׁוּב אֵלֶיךָ כָּעֵת חַיָּה וְהִנֵּה בֵן לְשָׂרָה אִשְׁתֶּךָ.
Sarah hears this incredibly good piece of news and what is her reaction וַתִּצְחַק שָׂרָה בְּקִרְבָּהּ לֵאמֹר. The Ramban and the Malbim (בראשית יח, טו) say that וַתִּצְחַק שָׂרָה was a mocking kind of laughter, not a laughter of joy, like Avraham expressed when HKB"H told him beforehand (בראשית יז, יז). HKB"H confronts Avraham "Why did Sarah mock?" Sarah vehemently denies it, but HKB"H replies "No – you mocked!"
As a result, Sarah was punished מִדָּה כְּנֶגֶד מִדָּה and when she gives birth to Yitzchak - she admits her mistake וַתֹּאמֶר שָׂרָה צְחֹק עָשָׂה לִי אֱ-לֹקִים כָּל הַשֹּׁמֵעַ יִצֲחַק לִי (בראשית כא, ו). "I mocked, and now HKB"H has made other people mock me!" What mockery is she referring to? The mockery, referred to above at the beginning of the shiur, that Yitzchak's biological father is Avimelech and not Avraham!
That is why the mockery began. How did it begin? It began with Yishmael mocking וַתֵּרֶא שָׂרָה אֶת בֶּן הָגָר הַמִּצְרִית אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לְאַבְרָהָם מְצַחֵק (בראשית כא, ט). According to some opinions (Rashi, ibid.) מְצַחֵק refers to idol worship, adultery and murder. Another opinion (Sforno, ibid.) is that מְצַחֵק means that Yishmael mocked Yitzchak's lineage, claiming that Avimelech was Yitzchak's father and not Avraham. We see from this that the propagator of the mockery was Yishmael.
What was Yishmael's purpose? It wasn't just idle banter. It had a definitive and targeted purpose – to establish Yishmael as Avraham's only heir and not Yitzchak!
When did this mockery begin? The Sforno brings two possibilities. The first is that it began at the party when Yitzchak was weaned. Yishmael previously overheard the לֵיצָנֵי הַדּוֹר joking about it and decided to take it one step further. The other possibility is that he already started disseminating this mockery immediately after Yitzchak was born, but Sarah never overheard it before that because she was preoccupied nursing Yitzchak. Now that Yitzchak was weaned, Sarah was more "out and about" and she heard it only now, at the party.
The Malbim (ibid.) adds an extra dimension to this saying that Yishamel overheard the mockery from Hagar, his mother. That Hagar was the source, the לֵיצָנֵי הַדּוֹר, for the same purpose - to preserve her son Yishmael's status as sole heir.
Why was the hooligan Avimelech invited to the party? So that everyone could see with their own eyes that Yitzchak was Avraham's son. Avraham, holding Yitzchak, posed in a photo together with Avimelech standing next to him and the familial resemblance to Avraham and not Avimelech was unmistakable.
HKB"H took this episode so seriously that He was prepared to alter מַעֲשֵׂה בְּרֵאשִׁית and change Yitzchak's face to look like Avraham's. HKB"H conveyed the seriousness of this incident to Sarah in a prophecy, which resulted in her demanding that Avraham banish Yishmael and Hagar, the mockers. Avraham was appalled at the prospect, but HKB"H tells him – "In this case you're wrong and Sarah is right! Do exactly what she says - she got this directly from Me".
What was so severe about this seemingly ridiculous mockery that resulted in such a drastic response from HKB"H? To understand this, we need to examine a Gemara (Brachot 40a) –
חִטָּה מִין אִילָן הִיא דְּתַנְיָא אִילָן שֶׁאָכַל מִמֶּנּוּ אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן - רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר גֶּפֶן הָיָה שֶׁאֵין לְךָ דָּבָר שֶׁמֵּבִיא יְלָלָה עַל הָאָדָם אֶלָּא יַיִן שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בְּרֵאשִׁית ט, כא) וַיֵּשְׁתְּ מִן הַיַּיִן וַיִּשְׁכָּר. רַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה אוֹמֵר תְּאֵנָה הָיְתָה שֶׁבַּדָּבָר שֶׁנִּתְקַלְקְלוּ בּוֹ נִתַּקְּנוּ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בְּרֵאשִׁית ג, ז) וַיִּתְפְּרוּ עֲלֵה תְּאֵנָה רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר חִטָּה הָיְתָה שֶׁאֵין הַתִּינוֹק יוֹדֵעַ לִקְרוֹת אַבָּא וְאִמָּא עַד שֶׁיִּטְעֹם טַעַם דָּגָן.
This is the famous machloket Chazal - what kind of tree was the עֵץ הַדַּעַת? R' Meir says a grapevine, R' Nechemia says a fig tree and R' Yehuda says wheat (in Gan Eden wheat grew on trees). Each gives a proof to justify their opinion. Look closely at the proof of R' Yehuda (wheat) – "A baby does not begin saying Aba, Ima until he begins to eat wheat". According to R' Yehuda, it is well known that a baby does not begin to exhibit signs that he has acquired knowledge until he is weaned, until he begins to eat solid food.
The mockery of Yishmael (and Hagar) was not the first incidence of mockery in history. It began long before, in Gan Eden with the first mocker – the נָחָשׁ.
HKB"H told Adam – "Do not eat from the עֵץ הַדַּעַת". Along comes the נָחָשׁ and begins to mock Chava. The נָחָשׁ says to Chava "HKB"H commanded that you may not eat from any of the trees in the Gan!" What, the נָחָשׁ doesn't know what HKB"H commanded? The נָחָשׁ knows that it is only the עֵץ הַדַּעַת that HKB"H forbade, so why does he state an outright falsehood, a lie? Some opinions say that it was to get Chava involved in a discussion. Upon hearing such a blatant lie, Chava could not help but respond. The נָחָשׁ was mocking Chava, because he knew that Chava knew, but this was a planned "cause and effect" that led to the slippery slope.
Once he had drawn Chava into a dialogue, the נָחָשׁ continues to mock HKB"H Himself. "Do you know why HKB"H does not want you to eat from this tree? Because HKB"H Himself ate from it and acquired knowledge which enabled Him to create worlds!" Another blatant lie, but one that Chava cannot challenge because she has no way of knowing if it is true or not.
The נָחָשׁ is a master liar. Every liar knows that the best lies have some element of truth in them. The Zohar (חלק ב קסא א) says קֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא הֱוֵה מִסְתַּכֵּל בְּאוֹרָיְתָא וּבָרָא עָלְמָא, that when HKB"H created the world, He looked at the Torah, the עֵץ הַחַיִּים and designed the world according to the Torah.
That is true, but firstly the נָחָשׁ lied about the tree, it was the עֵץ הַחַיִּים and not the עֵץ הַדַּעַת. Secondly, the נָחָשׁ neglected to mention that before He consulted with the Torah, HKB"H first created the Torah – first there was HKB"H and only then the Torah. The נָחָשׁ implied that the Torah preceded HKB"H. These are the best lies, the ones that have an ingredient of truth to them, but in which this ingredient is distorted, perverted or used out of context.
Avraham and Sarah's primary purpose in the world was to do tikkun for Adam and Chava. Just like Adam and Chava, Avraham and Sarah were also human, with human flaws and prone to error. According to the Ramban, Sarah made an error and mocked what the angel said about her giving birth to a son.
She was punished מִדָּה כְּנֶגֶד מִדָּה that she subsequently became the target of the mockery. צְחֹק עָשָׂה לִי אֱ-לֹקִים כָּל הַשֹּׁמֵעַ יִצֲחַק לִי. Sarah succumbed to the same wiles of the נָחָשׁ, as it says וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֱ-לֹהִים לָאִשָּׁה מַה זֹּאת עָשִׂית וַתֹּאמֶר הָאִשָּׁה הַנָּחָשׁ הִשִּׁיאַנִי וָאֹכֵל (בראשית ג, יג).
One can just picture HKB"H asking Chava "Why did you do that?" and twenty generations later HKB"H asking Sarah the same question "Why did you do that? Why did you mock?" Sarah replied לֹא צָחַקְתִּי כִּי יָרֵאָה. What does that mean כִּי יָרֵאָה? "כִּי יָרֵאָה" in gematriya is "זוּג לֵיצָנִים" – instead of doing tikkun for the נָּחָשׁ, I (Sarah) copied him and we both became a "pair of mockers". Instead of doing tikkun for Adam and Chava, I am repeating their error. כִּי יָרֵאָה in gematriya is "וּבְנִגְעֵי בְּנֵי אָדָם (שמואל ב ז, יד)" referring to the aftermath of Adam and Chava's sin. Sarah's punishment was מִדָּה כְּנֶגֶד מִדָּה – she followed the way of the נָּחָשׁ. "הִשִּׁיאַנִי" (in milui format הא שין יוד אלף נון יוד) in gematria is "הַשֹּׁמֵעַ יִצֲחַק", she was punished by herself being mocked.
It is a repeat of the sin of the עֵץ הַדַּעַת, wheat. A baby who is weaned (at age two/three starts eating wheat) begins to acquire knowledge and begins to say Aba/Ima. This is why Avraham held the big party for Yitzchak, when he was weaned, after 2(3) years, and not after his brit milah, reminiscent of and atonement for this sin.
Sarah eventually did tikkun for both her error and Chava's error when she caused another pair of mockers, Hagar and Yishmael, to be banished from her house.
HKB"H is "extreme" when it comes to mockery. He is willing to completely change סִדְרֵי בְּרֵאשִׁית in order to eliminate it … because mockery is so destructive - it destroys מַעֲשֵׂה בְּרֵאשִׁית, as it did in Gan Eden and as it would have done if the mockery of Yishmael and Hagar would not have been stopped in its tracks. If their mockery would have succeeded, the entire lineage of Am Yisrael would have been obliterated.
Fast forward 37 years …
The parsha begins וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת. Rashi has a famous principle "וְאֵלֶּה" - מוֹסִיף עַל הָרִאשׁוֹנִים, "אֵלֶּה" - לֹא מוֹסִיף עַל הָרִאשׁוֹנִים. When the word וְאֵלֶּה appears in a passuk, with the ו' הַחִבּוּר, it is connected to the preceding section. What episode immediately precedes וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת יִצְחָק? The listing of Yishmael and his descendants.
Why does the Torah wait until our parsha, when Yitzchak is already 40-years-old, to tell us אַבְרָהָם הוֹלִיד אֶת יִצְחָק, to silence the mockers? Why not tell us this when Yitzchak is 2 (3) years old, or when he is born? Simply because it is the "bridge", the connecting point, between two arch-mockers – Yishmael and the next in the saga – Eisav. The Torah is teaching us we need to silence the mockers.
If Yishmael was a mocker, Eisav took mockery to a completely new level. Eisav mocked his father by coming home and asking questions like "How do you take ma'aser from salt, from hay?" What, did he think Yitzchak was an idiot? Eisav mocked the בְּכוֹרָה, he mocked תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים, he further mocked his father when he brought home dog meat (Targum Yonatan בראשית כז, לא) in order to get the blessing from Yitzchak (בְּהַשְׁגָּחָה פְּרָטִית Yitzchak had already eaten the Afikoman given to him by Yaakov and was not able to eat anything after that).
Toldot is a nexus between the Tzaddikim of the previous generation and the next. It is also a nexus between the mockers of the previous generation and the next.
Fast forward 3,697 years …
There is a new buzzword in the media – "Narrative". Everyone is speaking about the Palestinian "narrative", the Woke "narrative", etc.
"Narrative" is just a euphemism for - lie. Just like thousands of years ago, their ancestor Yishmael was manipulating his "narrative", so today, his descendants the Palestinians are propagating a similar "narrative". Just like their ancestor Eisav, his descendants, Edom are propagating their toxic "narrative".
There is no such thing as a "narrative", there is only truth and lies. Using "double speak", "turn speak" and fancy words like "narrative", groups with agendas are duping people into believing their doctrine of lies. Unfortunately, this methodology is being used by opposing factions with agendas within our own nation. It is being spewed out in the media channels affiliated with these factions.
Sometimes the lies are so subtle and intricate and even have some ingredient of truth embedded deep down, perverted and taken out of context – that people cannot readily identify them as a lie.
So how can we tell what is true and what is false? When we are being lied to by a master liar?
The answer is – look for the mockery. Only a liar needs mockery to lend "authenticity" to his lie. The truth does not need to mock or belittle someone or something, it stands on its own merit. A lie is inherently lacking merit, so it requires all kinds of tricks to prop it up, like mockery.
Mockery is one of or perhaps the most dangerous destructive forces in the world. All it needs is a tiny slur, a "harmless" dig, a hint to something that cannot be verified - and it can assume a monstrous "life" of its own and lead to the path of destruction, stereotyping and character assassination.
The Torah is teaching us – "Run a mile from mockery". When you hear someone mocking someone else, distance yourself from it as much as you possibly can. When you see a disclaimer "this program contains satire", it is just a euphemism for mockery and you should run a mile from it.
Mockery is the methodology of Yishmael and Edom. Truth is the methodology of Yaakov תִּתֵּן אֱמֶת לְיַעֲקֹב. Mockery is like cancerous rays of darkness that weave their tortuous path until they engulf and suffocate all light. Truth is light so radiant that it banishes all darkness. Am Yisrael's purpose in this world is to disseminate truth. You cannot do that by copying the methodologies of Yishmael and Edom, using their own tools against them, because it will infect you and you will eventually become like them. The only way to banish darkness is using light.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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