Parshat Vayera 5785
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parsha about the birth of Yitzchak. In last week’s parsha, Lech Lecha, Avraham is told he will have a son and it says (Chapter 17, Pasuk 19), וקראת את שמו יצחק; you will name him Yitzchak. And Rashi teaches in his first p’shat on this pasuk, על שם הצחוק; because of the laughter. The Maharal in his commentary Gur Aryeh connects this statement of Rashi with the pasuk in our parsha. When Yitzchak is born, Sarah says (Chapter 21, Pasuk 6), ותאמר שרה צחוק עשה לי אלוקים; Hashem has made laughter for me. And based on this laughter, her son was named Yitzchak.
However, soon after we read that Sarah asked Avraham to send away Yishmael because he is a bad influence on her son Yitzchak. She saw him acting in an inappropriate manner, as the pasuk says (Chapter 21, Pasuk 9), ותרא שרה את בן הגר המצרית אשר ילדה לאברהם מצחק. The Torah uses the term מצחק to reference the terrible deeds of Yishmael, which Rashi explains to mean the three most serious aveiros, עבודה זרה, גלוי עריות, ושפיכות דמים. How are we to understand the fact that the name given to our forefather Yitzchak, is based on the same word used to describe the most heinous acts of Yishmael?
The Chidushei Harim explains that the word מצחק is used to describe the evil deeds of Yishmael because he laughed at the mitzvos. He thought sinning was a joke, hence the Torah uses the term מצחק, he was laughing, to describe his involvement in evil and atrocious activity. The most serious violations were for Yishmael matters to be taken lightly and he treated them mockingly and with derision. His joy was in sinning. Yitzchak, in total contradistinction, was a man known for his fear of Hashem and His mitzvos; he mocked this world and its pleasures. If he laughed, it was at the challenges of the yetzer hara.
The Gemara in Succa 52A brings a pasuk in sefer Zecharya (Chapter 12, Pasuk 12), which describes a great Hesped which will take place in the future. There is a disagreement in the Gemara about whom the eulogy will be for. One position is that it’s for the death of Mashiach ben Yosef, and the other position is the eulogy is for the death of the yetzer hara. The Gemara asks, according to the one who posits that the eulogy is over the killing of the yetzer hara, why are people eulogizing and crying; they should be rejoicing!
The Gemara answers that in the future, Hashem will slaughter the yetzer hara in front of the Tzadikim and in front of the evil people. To the Tzadikim, the yetzer hara appears to be like a tall mountain, and when they see it slaughtered, they cry. They remember the huge challenges they faced throughout their lifetime. They cry upon considering the great difficulty they had in overcoming their yetzer hara. And to the evil people, the yetzer hara appears like a small hair, and they also cry. How did they give in to such a simple, measly challenge? Surely they could have overcome their yetzer hara and not sinned. They cry over their weakness and inability to discipline themselves.
Yitzchak doesn’t cry over the slaughter of the yetzer hara; not even like the Tzadikim. When he sees the yetzer hara it is certainly not a הר גבהה. Yitzchak laughs; for him the challenge of fearing Hashem and keeping the mitzvos was not great at all. It was quite easy and therefore he laughs. Hence, his name is Yitzchak.
But the Chidushei Harim adds a deeper explanation as to why the name Yitzchak is essential to who Yitzchak was. The fundamental trait of Yitzchak was fear, פחד יצחק. He understood that there was nothing and no one to fear other than Hashem. The awareness that everything in the world comes from Hashem, and He is the only one to fear, leads to a sense of joy. The Simcha in a person knowing that he has nothing, and he needs to subjugate himself totally and exclusively to Hashem, is the greatest joy in the world. As it is taught in Tana D’Bei Eliyahu, שמחתי מתוך יראתי. This is the reason why the name Yitzchak was so appropriate for יצחק אבינו.
The Sfas Emes explains that this is also why right after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the ימים נוראים, we have the Chag of Succos. After we stand before Hashem with great fear and trepidation as the King of the world, we celebrate the holiday with the greatest joy, זמן שמחתנו. This is because the result of the awareness that all we have in the world is Hashem, and He is the only One to fear, we are left with a sense of contentment and joy. And this leads us into Succos, the festival of joy, when we leave our physical house with all our comforts and express our total reliance on Hashem. And this is the ultimate fulfillment of צחוק עשה לי אלוקים.
Good Shabbos
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