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tOldOt תֹד ְל ֹו ּ ת £Why God Took Abraham Outside Why God Took Abraham Outside Why God Took Abraham Outside Why God Took Abraham Outside Why God Took Abraham Outside Why God Took Abraham Outside
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As mentioned in the introduction, the Rabbis coined the term PaRDeS
(סדרפ) – an acronym literally meaning orchard – to refer to their four-
£The Secret of Inter-InclusionThe Secret of Inter-InclusionThe Secret of Inter-Inclusion tiered system of biblical interpretation, which revealed that each
word, verse, story, and mitzvah in the Torah could be simultaneously
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understood on four different levels. By systematically applying these
four approaches to interpreting the biblical text, many important
Toldot’s opening verse reads, “And these are the children of Isaac the insights are arrived at.
son of Abraham; Abraham gave birth to Isaac” (Genesis 25:19). From
time immemorial, the commentators have questioned this verse’s Rashi is best known for his lucid and deeply insightful commentary
redundancy: having told us that Isaac is Abraham’s son, why does the on the Torah, which reveals the peshat level, the straightforward
verse go on to state that Abraham gave birth to Isaac? The Sages have or literal meaning of the text. Yet upon closer investigation we see
taught us that such a redundancy in the Torah must come to teach us that in many cases Rashi relies on Midrashic sources to arrive at his
something we might not have realized or understood without it. straightforward readings. These sources approach the text from a
derash level, using allegorical and homiletical tools to decipher the
Rashi explains this redundancy in two ways. Firstly, by repeating text. In addition, many times Rashi explains the peshat by searching
Abraham’s name twice, the verse is hinting that only Abraham, for meanings that are primarily alluded to (remez) in the text. It is
and not Abram, could father a son like Isaac worthy of carrying on therefore more accurate to say that Rashi’s explanation of the text is
the family traditions. This explanation is based on the premise that drawn from all strata of learning, yet he is always primarily focused
when God added the letter heh to Abram’s name, his entire being was on elucidating the peshat of the text. Indeed, Rashi himself describes
qualitatively transformed. Secondly, Rashi offers a Midrashic reading his approach this way: “I am only concerned with the Torah’s
explaining why Abraham’s paternity had to be stressed. The “scoffers straightforward [or literal] interpretation and with those aggadot [a
of the generation” argued that Isaac was Abimelech’s son, for Sarah form of Midrash] that explain the words of the Torah in a fitting
only managed to conceive shortly after being taken by Abimelech manner” (Rashi on Genesis 3:8).
(Genesis 20:1-18). The Midrash explains that the verse stresses that
“Abraham gave birth to Isaac” to teach us that God made Isaac look Usually Rashi provides one explanation for each point he chooses
exactly like Abraham in order to dispel the notion that Isaac was only to elucidate. On occasion he will add another explanation or tradition,
raised as his son, but was not biologically his own. and on rare occasions he will offer even more interpretations. In
this week’s portion we have a beautiful example of how Rashi’s
In addition to these insights, this verse also contains deeper spiritual commentary employs all four levels of the PaRDeS system in
and mystical allusions. Abraham was naturally an extrovert, the interpreting a specific verse: “And He took him [Abraham] outside
epitome – or in Kabbalistic terminology, the “chariot” or vehicle – and said: ‘Look now towards the heavens and count the stars if
of chesed (loving-kindness), of expansiveness, and of giving. Isaac you are able to count them. And He said to him: So will be your
was just the opposite; he was the “chariot” of gevurah (strength), an offspring!” (Genesis 15:5). This verse describes God’s reaction to
attribute manifested by introversion, contraction, and the setting of Abraham’s complaint that since he had no children, he would have
specific boundaries.
no one to inherit him.

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