By: Rabbi Ozer Pinchas Zeffren
In ,ספר מתנת חיים [מאמרים דף מא] Rav Mattisyahu Salomon zt”l, points out that this week’s Parsha, Parshas Toldos, is the only parsha dedicated to Yitzchok Avinu. In addition, other than the incident of the Akeida, not that much of his way of serving Hashem is expressed to us. That is until his son Yaakov Avinu, reveals the secret of Yitchok Avinu and his Avoda (service of Hashem). In Parshas Vayeitzei (31:42), Yaakov uses the attribute of פחד, fear, with regards to Yitzchok. What is this attribute of פחד that Yitzchok embodies?
The Torah says (26:1-2): ויהי רעב בארץ מלבד הרעב הראשון אשר היה בימי אברהם וילך יצחק אל אבימלך מלך פלשתים גררה וירא אליו ה’ ויאמר אל תרד מצרימה שכון בארץ אשר אמר אליך.There was a famine in the land, aside from the first famine that was in the days of Avraham; and Yitzchok went to Avimelech king of the Plishtim, to Gerar. Hashem appeared to him and said, “Do not descend to Egypt; dwell in the land that I will tell you.” Rashi explains that Yitzchok wanted to go down to Egypt just as Avraham had when there was a famine and Hashem told him that since he went up on the mizbeach during the Akeida, he got the status of a korban and was forbidden to leave Eretz Yisroel. What caused Yitzchok to want to go down to Egypt? We see that he wanted to follow in the ways of his father. The same way Avraham Avinu went to Mitzrayim during a famine, Yitzchok wanted to as well. Rav Matisyahu explains: Yitzchok knew that the best way for him to be successful in his service of Hashem was to emulate the ways of his father Avraham. This way of life came from Yitzchok Avinu’s great פחד, fear of Hashem, that he didn’t want to make a mistake in his עבודה. By following in the ways of his father he
wouldn’t err.
With this approach, Rav Matisyahu explains a seemingly unnecessary anecdote in this week’s parsha. The Plishtim filled up all the drinking wells that Avraham’s servants dug with earth. The Pasuk (26:18) says:
ויחפור את בארות המים אשר חפרו בימי אברהם אביו ויסתמום פלשתים אחרי מות
אברהם ויקרא להן שמות כשמות אשר קרא להן אביו.
And [Yitzchok] dug anew the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Avraham his father and the Plishtim had stopped them up after Avraham’s death; and he called them by the same names that his father had called them. רבינו בחיי comments as to why the Torah feels it necessary to write this story and to emphasize
that Yitzchok renamed the wells the same names as his father did.
רבנו בחיי writes that from that which the Torah lets us know about this, it appears that this was considered a merit for Yitzchok. And we should learn from here that a person should not deviate from his fathers’ ways. For if we see that Yitzchok Avinu didn’t even want to change the names of the wells from the names that Avraham called them, then for sure we shouldn’t deviate from the ways of our Fathers, their minhagim (their practices), and their מוסר (their ethics). Rabeinu Bachayei adds that maybe for this reason Yitzchok Avinu’s name was never changed. We find that Avraham’s name changed from Avram to Avraham and Yaakov’s changed from Yaakov to Yisroel. However, measure for measure, because Yitzchok was so careful not to change anything from Avraham, his name was not changed.
Says Rav Matisyahu, we learn from Yitzchok Avinu the importance of not deviating an iota from our Mesora, our tradition, passed down generation to generation, father to son, Rebbi to talmid from Har Sinai. Anything we are uncertain about we cannot rely on ourselves. But rather we must ask our Rabbeim, our Rabbis and Torah Leaders what is correct in every situation and we must follow what they tell us to do. See דברים (17:8-11).
