This week’s parsha is parshas Vayeira. We learn that Avraham Avinu made a lavish feast on the day his son, Yitzchak, was weaned. Here is the pertinent text (Bereishis 21, 8): "ויגדל הילד ויגמל ויעש אברהם משתה גדול ביום הגמל את יצחק"—the child grew and was weaned; and Avraham made a great feast on the day Yitzchak was weaned. According to Rashi, this refers to when Yitzchak was weaned from his mother’s milk, at two years of age. In the teachings of Chazal, however, we find several other opinions regarding when Yitzchak was actually weaned. Here is one of them from the Midrash that all the commentaries are dumbfounded by and deserves further scrutiny (B.R. 53, 10):
“Avraham made a great feast” – a feast of great people (giants); Og (the giant) and all the great men were there. They said to Og, “Did you not used to say that Avraham is a like barren mule and cannot beget a child?” He said to them, “Now, what is his gift, is it not puny? If I place my finger on him I could crush him.” HKB”H said to him, “Why are you disparaging his gift (Yitzchak)? By your life, you will (live to) see thousands upon thousands and myriads upon myriads emerging from his grandchildren, but that man (you, Og) will meet his end only by his hand,” as it is stated (Bamidbar 24, 24): “Hashem said to Moshe, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand . . .” It is as Rabbi Levi said: A cradle was only rocked for the first time in the house of Avraham Avinu.
In his commentary on the Midrash, Rashi remarks that this suggests that the day Avraham made the feast for the weaning of Yitzchak was on the day that he placed Yitzchak in the cradle; and people came and showed him kindness. In a similar vein, the Ran in his commentary on the Torah, says that Avraham began this feast when Yitzchak was placed in a cradle. He states that this is a common minhag today in some places; people are invited on the day the infant is placed in a crib; it started with Avraham.
Yitzchak Avinu Was the First to Be Born as an Infant
The Matnos Kehunah on the Midrash cites Rashi’s remarks and adds an intriguing chiddush in the name of אב"א (commentary of Avraham ben Asher on the Midrash, printed in the sefer Ohr HaSeichel). He explains that the reason Yitzchak Avinu was the first child to be placed in a cradle was because he was born as an infant. Prior to him, all human beings came into this world as adults (grownups); as such, they did not require a crib or cradle.
We find support for this intriguing notion in a passage from the Midrash related to the generation of the mabul (ibid. 36, 1): When one of them would give birth during the day, she would say to her child (the newborn), “Go and bring me a rock with which to cut the umbilical cord”; at night, she would say to her child, “Go and light a candle to cut your umbilical cord.” Furthermore, it is suggested that Avraham Avinu was himself a giant. For, it is written (Yehoshua 14, 15): "ושם חברון לפנים קרית ארבע האדם הגדול בענקים הוא"—formerly, the name of Chevron was Kiryas Arba, who was the biggest man among the Anakim (giants). They expounded in the Midrash (ibid. 14, 6): The biggest man among the Anakim refers to Avraham. Therefore, regarding Yitzchak, who was the first to be born as a small child, the Midrash teaches: A cradle was only rocked for the first time in the house of Avraham Avinu.
Accordingly, we can explain how the fact that Avraham made this feast on the day that Yitzchak was placed in a cradle is alluded to by the passuk: "ויעש אברהם משתה גדול ביום הגמל את יצחק". For, according to Rashi, Yitzchak was weaned from his mother’s breast at the age of two. Hence, so long as he required his mother’s milk, he slept in her bed. Once he was weaned from her milk, however, Avraham placed him in a cradle (crib).
Notwithstanding, one can only wonder what prompted Avraham Avinu to make a grand feast on this occasion. According to one reading of the Midrash, this meant that he made a "משתה גדולים"—a feast for Og and all the giants in his coterie. Apparently, they were larger and taller than the other people living at that time. In contrast, since he was the first to be born so small, he was also the first to require a crib. Still, why did Avraham Avinu see fit to celebrate specifically on that occasion?
In truth, we can deduce his motivation for making this feast from the passage in the Midrash. Recall that Og boasted to his colleagues “that Avraham is a like barren mule and cannot beget a child.” Therefore, Avraham Avinu saw fit to sanctify the name of Heaven by announcing publicly that HKB”H, the G-d of the heavens and the earth, altered the laws of nature to enable him to beget a child. Thus, he reinforced the emunah in Hashem as the G-d of the world to all mankind.
Notwithstanding, it is still incumbent upon us to explain the mystery of why Avraham chose to make this grand feast specifically on the day that he moved Yitzchak to a crib (as per the opinions of Rashi and the Ran). Additionally, why did HKB”H arrange for people to be born fully-grown until Yitzchak? Yet, Yitzchak and all human beings after him were born as small infants.
