November 20, 2020
You can now watch a YOUTUBE recording of Rabbi Herzfeld’s D'var Torah:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je1NYFXNfs0&feature=youtu.be
Tenacity and Commitment
Toledot, 5781
This week represents a very special milestone for our congregation. Ever since I arrived in September of 2004 we have been studying Talmud together as a congregation every morning and/or evening—either before or after our prayer services. This Sunday morning our Talmud group will complete the study of tractate Eruvin and in doing so we will have studied together every single page of the entire Talmud. What a special achievement! (Everyone is welcome to join our study group for the next tractate, Pesachim, which we will study together morning and evening starting on Sunday night.)
The tractate of Eruvin deals with the concept of an eruv. According to Jewish law there are three types of eruvin, none of which appear explicitly in the written Torah. The entire concept of Eruvin is based upon the Oral Law.
First, there is something called eruv tavshilin. This is a ritual that allows someone to prepare food for Shabbat when a festival falls on a Friday, even though generally speaking one is not permitted to do any preparation on a festival for something that will take place after the festival. The topic of an eruv tavshilin is not covered in tractate Eruvin.
Second, is an eruv chatzeirot -- the type of eruv that the majority of the tractate discusses. Rabbinic law prohibits carrying an object on Shabbat from one person’s private domain to another’s private domain. However this prohibition can be overridden if the neighbors agree to partner symbolically and share their domains. They do this ritual by making an eruv--taking a shared piece of matzah and reciting a blessing. This ritual explains how we are able to carry on Shabbat in our neighborhoods today. We first establish a virtual wall around the city through something called a tzurat hapesach (the form of a doorway) and we then make a symbolic partnership between everyone in the city via an eruv blessing on a box of matzah. At its core an eruv chatzeirot is about the recognition that we cannot even do a simple task like carrying unless we have a communal partnership.
Third, there is the concept of an eruv techumin (also a significant topic in tractate Eruvin.) As a baseline Jewish law does not allow one to walk on Shabbat or Chag more than 2000 amot outside of either the city’s border or (in the event that one does not reside in a city) outside one’s own domain. However, if one wishes to supplement the permitted two thousand amot and walk an additional two thousand amot, one may establish on the eve of the holiday an eruv techumin; i.e. one may place some food that is sufficient for two meals at a point within the initial 2000 amot. Once a person has done that then there is a dispensation to walk an additional 2000 amot from the spot of the eruv techumin.
The spiritual message behind the concept of eruv techumin is that one must limit how far one intends to travel on Shabbat. Shabbat is a day for spiritual growth and on this central day we must limit our steps. This is because true spiritual growth does not come from explosive steps and distant travel but rather from small, incremental, and measured steps near one’s home. The idea is that the key to a meaningful spiritual accomplishment is through measured and consistent growth over a long period of time.
Having spent the last sixteen years engaged in daily Talmud study with our community I look back in great appreciation for this beautiful message. Every day we opened and studied from our Talmud. It didn’t always feel like we were making great progress. But now looking back—WOW! WE DID IT! And by these words I don’t just mean we completed every page of the Talmud. Instead, I mean we fortified our lives through the richness of Talmud study. In retrospect I can definitely say that beginning and ending every day with our group’s Talmud study has given me the anchor I desperately need to strengthen my own spiritual relationship with Hashem.
According to the Vilna Gaon, this concept of eruv techumin appears in our portion as well.
The verse states that Hashem says to Yitzchak: “Inasmuch as Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge: My commandments, My laws (mitzvotai), and My teachings” (26:5). The Talmud says that the word mitzvotai is a reference to Avraham keeping the laws of eruvin, which the Vilna Gaon says refers to eruv techumin (Yoma, 28b; Vilna Gaon cited in Maayanah Shel Torah, 114).
This idea that Avraham observed the laws of eruv techumin means that Avraham was such a spiritual giant that he understood the powerful spiritual message behind the concept of eruv techumin. Avraham understood that we must use the day of Shabbat as a way of growing spiritually and that such spiritual growth comes in a very slow and measured manner by limiting our steps to four thousand amot.
This idea of setting long-term spiritual goals and achieving them through a consistent spiritual path is not as exciting as having an ecstatic religious experience. But in our faith this slow and steady course is more reflective of the proper spiritual path.
Such a path requires a tenacious and serious commitment to our goals. It is not possible to achieve significant spiritual goals without a serious commitment.
In our portion this is one of the qualities of Yitzchak that is often overlooked and taken for granted.
Yitzchak is the middle generation. He is sandwiched between the dynamism and exotic travels of Avraham and Yaakov. In contrast to their turbulent life, Yitzchak represents a steady presence that never left the land of Canaan. He is the paradigm for all of us of an unwavering and tenacious link in the transmission of our tradition. Such a role model sets the tone for us to make the commitment to our faith that is necessary to ensure the survival of our people.
Of all the patriarchs, Yitzchak might appear to be the most passive. Avraham started it all. Yaakov is the one filled with controversial narratives. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that Yitzchak’s quiet determination equals passivity. Just the opposite! Yitzchak represents tenacity and unending commitment.
Consider that Yitzchak is the only one who never left the land of Canaan (26:2). Yitzchak is also the only one of the patriarchs who is a farmer. The verse states:
“Yitzchak sowed in that land and reaped a hundredfold the same year” (26:12). By farming the land, Yitzchak demonstrates a long-term commitment to the land. He is decidedly not a nomad. He is not going anywhere. He is staying home and planting roots.
Nothing shows Yitzchak’s commitment to the spiritual goals of his father as much as the narrative in which he fights with Avimelekh over the ownership of wells.
The Torah tells us that Yitzchak was very successful and as a result the Philistines envied him (26:14). The Philistines figured they could get rid of him easily by scaring him off. They brazenly stuffed up the wells that Avraham had dug (v. 15) and then told Yitzchak to go away (v. 16).
But Yitzchak wasn’t going far (see commentary of Abrabanel, 26:1). He settled nearby and re-dug those very same wells that his father had dug. Yitzchak even named the wells using the exact names that his father had used in order to show that he was staying put and continuing his father’s mission (v. 18).
Yitzchak then dug two more wells. Both times the Philistines quarreled with him about the wells. One well he called esek and the other sitnah. Both names are words that are associated with quarrels or disputes. Every step of the way for Yitzchak was a battle. Nothing was easy for him. He continued to fight. He did not give up until he found a well that was indisputably his, which he called Rechovot. In the end Yitzchak’s tenacity helped him overcome the ongoing attacks of the Philistines.
Abrabanel considers this tenacity of Yitzchak to be a reflection on his great character:
“But in my opinion, there is great glory to Yitzchak [in this story], and that is why it is written here. And since Yitzchak did all of these things with a bold heart - as if he was the master of the land - hence in his coming to Beersheba, the Lord appeared to him and promised him, "I am the Lord of Abraham, your father, do not fear." [This] means to say, ‘I am the One who gave Abraham your father the power to defeat the kings, and I am the One who gave you the power to act with strength; hence do not fear the men of Gerar, nor about the matter of the wells that you made - as I am with you in all that you do’” (Abrabanel, 26:1).
The best word to describe Ytzchak is a word at the very beginning of our portion: vayetar (25:121). This word defies easy translation. To explain the word, Rashi plucks a word from the vernacular of his time that we recognize today: increase.
The context of this word in our portion is that Yitzchak and Rebecca desperately want a child. The Torah describes Rebecca as barren.
So Yitzchak prayed for his wife. “Vayeter Yitzchak la-Hashem lenochach ishto, and Yitzchak pleaded with Hashem on behalf of his wife”. He didn’t just pray. He “increased” his prayers. Rashi says, “Yitzchak prayed much and urgently.” Yitzchak was not taking “no” for an answer. He did not stop at the first rejection. He increased his demands and kept increasing his demands.
This is the powerful lesson behind the word vayetar.
We are supposed to be tenacious in our commitment to Hashem. Even when things look bad we should not give up.
The Talmud tells a story about a mother who refused to accept a decree from Heaven.
One time an astrologer came to the mother of Rav Nachman and said to her, “Based upon my reading of the stars I can tell that your son is destined to grow up and become a thief.”
Rav Nachman’s mother was horrified at this thought. Rather than simply giving in to this prophecy she instructed her son, Nachman, to cover his head every single day. Her reasoning was that by covering his head he would be able to always remember that Hashem was above him and therefore he would never steal. She told him, “Always cover your head so that the fear of Heaven will be upon you and pray for Divine mercy.” Young Nachman was not told about the prediction that he would one day become a thief.
One day Nachman was studying Torah under a palm tree that did not belong to him. His head covering slipped off his head. Suddenly he lifted up his eyes and saw the beautiful, luscious dates on the tree. His evil impulse overtook him and he quickly climbed up the tree and sunk his teeth into a date.
He then understood why his mother had always wanted him to cover his head. He always need to be on guard –all day every day -- against his natural temptation to steal.
The astrologer was not wrong. Nachman was destined to be a thief. But through his consistent hard work and dedication he overcame that prediction and became the great Rav Nachman, the Av Beit Din for the Jewish community of Bavel (Shabbat, 156b).
The lesson from the mother of Rav Nachman is the same as the lesson from Yitzchak’s life. To achieve our spiritual goals we must be ready to make an enormous commitment—a commitment that may take many, many years. We must be tenacious in our dedication and we must make our commitment the center of our life. And still, we should be prepared, that even if we do that we may fall well short of our goals. There is no guarantee of “success.” But “success” is almost beside the point. The point is that we must travel on a long journey as part of our service to Hashem. As we travel we look for inspiration to the determined dedication of our patriarch Yitzchak. He never gave up. He never faltered. And neither can we.
Shmuel Herzfeld
