WONDEROUS MEDRASH CONNECTED TO THE PARSHA
The Coin of Avrohom Avinu
בחור ובתולה מצד אחר The Midrash (Bereshis Rabba 39:11) on the verse “And I will make your name great” teaches that HaShem promised Avrohom that a coin would be issued which would publicize his illustrious name and his life’s mission. The Beraisa on Bava Kama 97b teaches us that the coin which was minted for this purpose featured the words וזקינה זקן. An old man and an old woman on one side, and the words ובתולה בחור. A young man and maiden” on the reverse. The older man and woman referred to Avrohom and Sarah, and, as Rashi explains, the words “young man and maiden” referred to Yitzchak and Rivka.
יושר אמרי explains that although it was, and is still, common for many kings to mint coins with their image upon them, this was nevertheless a great honor for Avrohom and Sarah, because a coin was minted in their honor even though they were not royal government figures. Ben Yehoyada notes that the reference to the young man was a reference to Yitzchak, thus indicating that even in his youth, Yitzchak was complete and righteous just as was Avrohom in his old age. Similarly, even as a young girl, Rivka was wholly righteous, just as was Sarah in her later years. Toras Chaim points out that at the time Yitzchak was introduced to Rivka, Sarah had already passed away. We would assume that it was only honorable for Sarah if her name appeared on a coin during her lifetime, but not after her death.
How, then, could the names of Sarah and Rivka appear on a coin together? Furthermore, on the coin of Dovid HaMelech and Shlomo the actual names of these people were written on the coin. Why was this not the case with the coin of Avrohom? Why did they write only references to their stages of life (old man, young man) on the two sides of the coin, and not simply write the names of the people directly (Avrohom, Sarah, Yitzchak, Rivka)?
Toras Chaim therefore explains that both sides of the coin refer to Avrohom and Sarah, and the descriptions highlight the tremendous miracle of their youth returning to them even in their old age. Tosafos ((מטבע ה ד explains that the image on the coin could not have been actual raised images in the form of a person, as the Gemara (Avodah Zara 43a) prohibits creating such forms of people. Pri Megadim (cited in יוסף עץ on Midrash) explains that perhaps an actual image was molded on the coins, but it was only a profile of their face, or at most a partial form of the face which included only one eye. In this manner, it would not have been in violation of the guidelines of the Gemara in Avodah Zara.
Tosafos explains that the coins minted in honor of Avrohom, Yitzchak, Dovid and Shlomo were inscribed with their names, not their image. For it is forbidden to engrave a human image. The author of Rav Pealim writes that regarding the coin of Avrohom and Yitzchak, there exists no other option. We have been taught that Avrohom and Yitzchak entirely resembled each other; the only difference being that Avrohom had a white beard. It is obvious then that it was not their faces on the coins for it is impossible to discern what color a beard is on a coin.
Yefeh Toar suggetss that the minting and ciculation of the coin can be interpreted as referring to the popularization of a belief system. Avrohom and Sarah minted the coin of monotheism in a pagen world. The masses who recognized the coin and traded with it, were the masses that were or became drawn to adopt the righteous ways of Avrohom and Sarah.
