Everything works out in the end. If it didn’t work out, it’s not the end.
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“He relocated from there and dug another well [which they didn’t fight over, and he called it Rehoboth] and said, “For now Hashem has granted us ample space” (Ber. 26:22)
Of all the patriarchs, Yitzchak is shrouded by the most mystery. Or, perhaps, there is not much to know about him. The Torah doesn’t relate much of his life story, other than a few incidents in which he was involved, usually not even as the protagonist, but in a supporting role, such as the Akeida which was a test of his father Avraham.
This week, we discuss that, after many years, his prayers for children are answered, and then that there was a famine in the land, similar to the one that had occurred in the previous generation. His time in Gerar seems to be among the most eventful the Torah recounts, and we find him flourishing, which arouses the jealousy of the Philistines, and Yitzchak keeps moving away from them.
After his servants dug two wells which the Philistines contested, Yitzchak moved again and dug a new well, which this time remained uncontested. He praised Hashem for having given him space to succeed and grow.
What we do see about Yitzchak from all these actions is that he is the ultimate “baal bitachon,” man of faith. When things happen, he recognizes that it is Hashem’s will, and he takes them in stride. They stopped up the well of Avraham? He has it redug. They argue that it’s their water? Yitzchak moves elsewhere and tries again. When he finally has a well with no contention, he attributes it all to Hashem, and not to his own wisdom in finding a new place. In addition, he is optimistic that this is a Heavenly sign of future prosperity.
Yitzchak is known as the symbol of gevura, strength. However, the strength of Yitzchak is not external, but internal. He, like his father before him and his son after him, is a warrior. The difference is that Yitzchak’s battles take place in his mind and heart. Given many reasons to become negative or angry, he instead doesn’t let things faze him, and calmly proceeds through life, taking what Hashem sends his way with equanimity.
He is an ish matzliach, a prosperous man, much as Yosef will be described. Yitzchak’s success similarly comes from the fact that Hashem’s name is always in his mouth, and wherever he looks, Yitzchak sees only Hashem and His actions. This causes him to be envied by the nations around him. They are not envious of his wealth, per se, but rather of the “charmed” life he seems to lead, where everything seems to go in his favor.
This wasn’t the case as they saw it, but indeed, since Yitzchak accepted whatever happened to him as coming from Hashem’s loving hand, it seemed that he had no problems. We, as descendants of Yitzchak, have this inner strength in our DNA, and if we work to cultivate it, then all our enemies will shrink into the background and we will be able to remain focused on Hashem, alone, and live lives of serenity and peace.
When R’ Paysach Krohn was 21, his father became very ill. The hospital was in Washington Heights and he spent Shabbos with R’ Shimon Schwab z”l, who was friendly with the senior Rabbi Krohn. R’ Schwab asked young Paysach how his father was doing.
“It doesn’t look so good,” replied the young man, “but I have bitachon, (faith) that he will be OK.”
R’ Schwab quietly corrected him. “That is not what bitachon means,” he said. “Bitachon is not trusting that everything will be OK. Bitachon is believing that EVERYTHING happens because Hashem wants it to happen.”
A few weeks later, young Paysach’s father passed away, but before he did, his son learned to see the Divine nature of occurrences, and gained a new appreciation for Hashem’s hashgacha.
©2023 – J. Gewirtz
