A thought on Parshas Toldos
"...v'chol ha'ba'eros asher chafru...""...and they clogged all the wells...that Avraham had dug..." (26:15)
The Torah devotes an entire passage to the episode of Yitzchak unearthing wells founded years earlier by his father. They had been closed off by jealous Palestinians (the ancient Greek mispronunication of Plishtim) and Yitzchak sought to have them opened once again.
One wonders what makes this saga so noteworthy that it must be recorded for all time in the Torah. While we are wondering about that, let's wonder about one other passage. Earlier in the Torah (12:5) we learned about the nefesh - the souls - which Avraham "made" during his sojourns. Many of us recall the midrash cited by Rashi that this refers to the converts who were attracted to the teachings of Avraham and Sara. Our patriarch and matriarch thus "made" their souls by bringing them under the shelter of Heaven. Now, we might ask, what became of those souls? What happened to those converts? By time our nation descended to Egypt later on in the Torah, we know only of Yakov and his family of some seventy people. What about all those converts?On these insightful questions, we have the penetrating words of Rabbeinu Bachya. The "wells" in our verse refer to those converts! Souls who had thirsted for guidance and for structure had their thirst slaked by the Torah teachings of Avraham and Sara. Opening up those souls was like digging a well. The grew replete with the faith which flowed down to them from Avraham and Sara. However, staying put in their native environment, rather than following their teachers' travels, the "wells" were, over time, filled in with contrary values and earthy morals by the local people. Whereas Avraham had filled them with "water" (for the Torah has been compared to water), these other influences filled those neophytes with "afar" - dirt - (for bad advice and nefarious beliefs are compared to dirt, Rabbeinu Bachya demonstrates.)
When Yitzchak later encountered those forlorn souls when his travels took him to their region, he countered that influence and restored their earlier faith. He addressed their confusion, corrected their errors and replenished their faith. His work culminated in reassigning them "...the names which his father Avraham had given them..." (verse 18).
Now we know what became of the converts whom Avraham and Sara had brought close to HaShem. But, you might ask, what became of them once Yitzchak helped them regroup?Well, well, well. Dig it?Good Shabbos. D Fox
The Torah devotes an entire passage to the episode of Yitzchak unearthing wells founded years earlier by his father. They had been closed off by jealous Palestinians (the ancient Greek mispronunication of Plishtim) and Yitzchak sought to have them opened once again.
One wonders what makes this saga so noteworthy that it must be recorded for all time in the Torah. While we are wondering about that, let's wonder about one other passage. Earlier in the Torah (12:5) we learned about the nefesh - the souls - which Avraham "made" during his sojourns. Many of us recall the midrash cited by Rashi that this refers to the converts who were attracted to the teachings of Avraham and Sara. Our patriarch and matriarch thus "made" their souls by bringing them under the shelter of Heaven. Now, we might ask, what became of those souls? What happened to those converts? By time our nation descended to Egypt later on in the Torah, we know only of Yakov and his family of some seventy people. What about all those converts?On these insightful questions, we have the penetrating words of Rabbeinu Bachya. The "wells" in our verse refer to those converts! Souls who had thirsted for guidance and for structure had their thirst slaked by the Torah teachings of Avraham and Sara. Opening up those souls was like digging a well. The grew replete with the faith which flowed down to them from Avraham and Sara. However, staying put in their native environment, rather than following their teachers' travels, the "wells" were, over time, filled in with contrary values and earthy morals by the local people. Whereas Avraham had filled them with "water" (for the Torah has been compared to water), these other influences filled those neophytes with "afar" - dirt - (for bad advice and nefarious beliefs are compared to dirt, Rabbeinu Bachya demonstrates.)
When Yitzchak later encountered those forlorn souls when his travels took him to their region, he countered that influence and restored their earlier faith. He addressed their confusion, corrected their errors and replenished their faith. His work culminated in reassigning them "...the names which his father Avraham had given them..." (verse 18).
Now we know what became of the converts whom Avraham and Sara had brought close to HaShem. But, you might ask, what became of them once Yitzchak helped them regroup?Well, well, well. Dig it?Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 12:41 AM
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