At the beginning of Parashat Toldot, we learn that after years of praying, Isaac and Rivkah are about to have a child. Yet, the pregnancy is more difficult than the usual, and Rivkah feels that something is wrong. It seems to her that the child she is carrying is super-sensitive to the environment, but in an inconsistent way. In the past, we have written about this situation in context of the Fourth Revolution and our relationship as Jews with Esau and the religion he represents.
This time, we would like to construct a partzuf—a Kabbalistic model—by focusing on the following verses,
And the children struggled within her, and she said, “If so, to what purpose am I?” She went to seek God. God said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will separate from within you....”
The question we would like to consider is what it means that “God said to her” (ויאמר הוי' לה). We will see four different answers to this question. Once the four answers are placed in reference to a Kabbalistic model they are revealed to reflect different aspects of Rivkah’s revelation.
Rashi explains that Rivkah was answered through a messenger. She went to the study hall of Shem the son of Noach. There she asked him to reveal her fate and why she was suffering from the pregnancy so terribly and it was Shem, through Ru’ach HaKodesh—Divine inspiration—that revealed that she was pregnant with twins who were diametric opposites.
Rashi’s explanation, which states that Rivkah’s inquiry of God was not a direct appeal to Him and that God’s response to her was also indirect, is based on a Midrash that states that God never directly addressed a woman except for Sarah, and even that was for a specific reason—rebuking her for having laughed at the news that Isaac would be born. Thus, the Midrash states that despite the Torah saying, “God said to her" with regard to Rikvah, it was in fact through Shem.
In addition to Rashi's interpretation, there are two other explanations as to who the messenger was through whom God communicated with Rivkah. The Ibn Ezra and Chizkuni both write that it seems plausible the prophet through whom God answered Rivkah was her father-in-law, Abraham.
Another opinion found in the Midrash is that it was an angel.
At first glance, the Midrash's statement is puzzling: why is it necessary to assert that God never spoke directly to a woman except for Sarah? Why diminish Rivkah—who fully assumed Sarah’s role in the tent—by denying her the distinction mentioned explicitly in the verse—that God spoke to her?
Indeed, Midrash Tadshe (also known as Midrash Rabbi Phinehas ben Yair), states that God’s communication with Rivkah was literal. It lists 23 righteous women mentioned all part of the history of Israel as documented in the Bible (as well as three converts). Beginning with the four matriarchs it notes that nine of these 27 women were prophetesses.
As proof of Rivkah's prophetic status, the Midrash specifically cites the verse in question. According to this Midrash, God Himself spoke directly to Rivkah in a straightforward and explicit manner.
Since we have four different interpretations of “God [Havayah] spoke to her,” we can correspond them to the four letters of God’s essential Name, Havayah. Doing so will reveal four levels of revelation Rivkah had. Note that God is referred to as Havayah in this phrase, “Havayah spoke to her” thus hinting to our use of its four letters to build this partzuf:
That God, i.e., Havayah Himself spoke directly to Rivkah corresponds to the letter yud of Havayah, and the sefirah of wisdom, following the phrase, “Havayah is in wisdom.” Yod of the Divine Name, which represents the highest level of divine revelation.
The angel who spoke to Rivkah, according to another interpretation, would be the exalted angel responsible for the world of Creation and corresponding to the first letter hei of Havayah. The name of this angel is Mitat.
Before considering the final two interpretations regarding who it was that spoke to Rivkah, let us look at this correspondence between the angel Mitat and the letter hei of Havayah in our context a bit more.
The angel’s full name (which we do not pronounce) is written מיטטרון (similar to the angel of the world of Formation, who is the more familiar angel known as Metat, מטטרון). The gematria of his name is 324 or 18 squared, which is the value of the phrase, “Abraham’s servant” (דֶבֶע םָהָרְבַא). Abraham’s servant is the description Eliezer used to refer to himself in parashat Chayei Sarah and incredibly, the value of “Eliezer” (רֶזֶיעִלֱא) is exactly equal to the value of “Havayah said to her” (רֶאמֹּיַו י-הוה הָּל)—the phrase we are looking at. This connection has deep significance because Eliezer transitioned from being cursed (as a Canaanite) to blessed through his dedication to Abraham, specifically in his mission to find Isaac a wife, who ended up being Rivkah. Indeed, before sending him on his mission, Abraham said to Eliezer, “Havayah shall send His angel before you,” which implies that the angel would be inhabiting Eliezer’s inner self (another meaning of “before you,” ָלְפָ נֶיך, i.e., inside you, in Hebrew).
Mitat is considered the root of all angels, as is evident from the Arizal, thus he is the ideal intermediary for passing on God’s works to Rivkah. His name derives from The name Mitatron (מ יט טרון) derives from meter (מֶ טֶ ר), which means "womb" with the addition of a yud signifying the secret of the semen’s absorption into the womb. As explained by Rabbi Abraham Abulafia, the world of Beriah (Creation)—the process of creating being from nothing—is rooted in the moment the seed is absorbed, encapsulating the entire future development of the womb. In any case, this angel, Mitat, is responsible for the womb and is therefore uniquely qualified to respond to Rivkah’s inquiry about what is happening in her womb.
Rivkah herself is linked to the World of Creation, as it is said, "Mother [i.e., Rivkah, the matriarch] nests in the Throne [the World of Creation]." When she earnestly inquires of God with all her heart to understand her destiny, the answer comes from within her own heart, from the angel who embodies the Zohar’s dictum that, “understanding is in the heart and with it the heart understands,” with the sefirah of understanding corresponding of course to the first hei of Havayah.
One of the simplest divisions of the four letters of Havayah is into two and two, or in the language of the Mishnah, “two that are four.” The first two letters—corresponding to the two higher levels where Rivkah does not require another human intermediary—are described by the words, “the hidden things belong to Havayah our God.” But the final two letters are described by the words, “the things that are revealed are for us and our children forever.” In our partzuf, we indeed place the two “revealed” messengers, Abraham and Shem in correspondence with the two final letters of Havayah, as follows.
Abraham and Shem as Messengers
Abraham, whose attribute is loving-kindness, the attribute described in the Zohar as permeating all six emotive faculties (from loving-kindness to foundation) thus corresponding to the letter vav of Havayah (whose value is 6, denoting the six emotive faculties).
Shem, the son of Noah—identified with Melchizedek the King of Salem—naturally corresponds with the sefirah of kingdom and the final hei in Havayah. Melchizedek literally means “Just King” or “King of Justice,” where justice also refers to kingdom.
We can now better understand why, according to the plain meaning of Rashi's commentary (which also contains an inner dimension known as “the wine of Torah”), Rivkah went to seek God specifically through Shem—and not through her father-in-law Abraham (again, according to this interpretation) or her husband Isaac. Rivkah turned to the level most relevant to her as a woman, the level of kingdom, the archetype of the feminine.
This is also why the response she received through Shem is described with the words, “Havayah said to her,” because this communication resonates with her as a woman.
Summary Table
letter of HavayahOpinion on who communicated with RivkahyudGod (Havayah) wisdom יheiAn angel (Mitat) understanding הvavAbraham loving-kindness וheiShem son of Noach kingdom הAll four opinions are true as we follow the sages’ dictum that “these [opinions] and these [opinions] are all the words of the Living God.” Thus, Rivkah merits communication with God through all the possibilities found in our partzuf. She embodies and integrates all the different modes of God’s speech to her, serving as the intermediary that unifies all these levels—from receiving direct prophecy from Havayah all the way to asking the existential question, “to what purpose am I” in the way a chasid might seek guidance from his rebbe.
One of the principles of the Torah’s inner dimension is that the source of an intermediary is found at a higher level than the two or more opposites it connects. Rivkah, as the intermediary of all these levels of communication, by being sensitive to her inner tumult, merits drawing down all four modes of communication with God who responds to her existential anguish. It is this authentic and truthful experience that grants her the ability to truly understand the nature of the children in her womb, enabling her to later in the parashah recognize Jacob’s superiority over Esau.
This sensitivity to the experience of pregnancy, which distinguishes Rivkah—making her a prototype for all righteous mothers—positions her, in a certain sense, as the true rectification of Eve. Rivkah becomes “the mother of all life,” who is also “the joyous mother of children,” seeking God and meriting to hear His response in the full spectrum of voices and colors.
Note
Rivkah and Isaac’s union is also a prototype for all married couples and even further, for the unification of the Divine Names known as mah and ban.
