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CHAYEI SARAH READING

Rabbi Ari Kahn Rabbi Stewart Weiss

Roses and Thorns

hile our parasha is named for Rivka, look good in comparison to what Growing up in the same house with
Sarah – a fitting final tribute is around us and thus the thorniness of con-artist Lavan, she had seen it all.
Wto her remarkable life – we others works in our favor, evoking G-d’s She could not be fooled by outward
are now introduced to the next heroine, love for His people. But I suggest it goes appearances; she could spot a fake or
Rivka. Her uniqueness and role in Jewish much deeper than that. phony a mile away. And she knew how
history and her personality type – which to expertly play the game to win.
is an eternal, integral part of our national
DNA – is hard to decipher. Who was “” While we may not She recognized Ya’akov’s inherent spiri-
she? What special characteristics did she like thorns, and tual goodness and was adept in protect-
have that affect us all to this day? ing him, securing his future by arranging
certainly don’t for him to receive the bechora (birth-
We might be tempted to say that Rivka appreciate being right). Her tough upbringing, including
was simply a ‘replacement’ for Sarah, pricked by them, her determination to forcefully speak up
as the pasuk tells us that Yitzchak was they actually serve when necessary – as she did vis-a-vis her
“comforted for his mother” when he family when Eliezer visited – served her,
married Rivka. There is precious little to protect the rose. and ultimately all of us, in good stead.
interaction in the text between husband
and wife; Rivka even consults Shem Yitzchak was a pure soul, innocent, In a similar fashion, the nations
when she experiences difficulty with her unassuming, a mass of concentrated of the world actually serve to
pregnancy, rather than Yitzchak, who is Kedusha. He closed his eyes to the “protect” us. They provide
certainly the greater prophet. world at large and was content to stand the point-counterpoint that justifies our
off to the side and pray on his own. He existence, in a sense. We are meant to
Perhaps a clue to Rivka’s uniqueness had no real street smarts to aid him in reflect the light of G-d as we emulate His
is found in the way Chazal character- dealing with others (in particular, with ways and positively influence and refine
ize her, calling her a “rose among the his own son Esav). Yitzchak, more often the moral behavior of those around us,
thorns,” alluding to the pasuk in Shir than not, merely mimicked the actions bringing a sense of splendor to them,
HaShirim 2:2. At first glance, this would of his father, going where he had gone, just as every thorn bush takes its glory
seem to mean that Rivka was a stunning digging the same wells, even using the from the rose within.
thing of beauty surrounded by “thorns,” exact same names for those wells his
(i.e. her idolatrous family), just as Israel father had previously chosen. At the same time, like Rivka, when the
is also a handsome nation surrounded occasion calls for it we have to be tough,
by problematic neighbors. Perhaps this is why next week’s para- resilient and ‘thorny’ in our stubborn
sha begins, almost redundantly: “These determination to protect ourselves and
But hold on a second. While we may are the generations of Yitzchak the guard our unique way of life. To be holy,
not like thorns, and certainly don’t son of Avraham; Avraham gave birth but also hard-nosed. If we succeed in
appreciate being pricked by them, they to Yitzchak.” The one was a copy of doing that, our future will indeed be
actually serve to protect the rose! So the other, in more than just physical rosy.
how, exactly, was Rivka protected by appearance.
her family, and how are we, today, “pro-
tected” by our own “thorny” neighbors? Rivka was different. She was Rabbi Stewart Weiss is director of the Jewish
The simple explanation is that we, like confident and independent. Outreach Center of Ra’anana.

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