“And these are the generations of Yitzchak, son of Avraham. Avraham begot Yitzchak.” (Bereshit, 25:19) It is written (Divrei haYamim 1, 28:9), “If you seek it, you will find.” The seeking is Avraham Avinu, and the finding is Yitzchak. The main point of Avraham Avinu was that he always had a great yearning for Torah, and a great desire to make the reign of God known in the world. This is the attribute of love. The attribute of Yitzchak is that of Gevurah (strength, severity), when this became clear and the revelation of God descended into the world. This is called Gevurah, as it is written (Megillah, 31b), “thus Moshe heard from the mouth of Gevurah,” and Yitzchak is also called the Gevurah of God in the world. This goes according to the verse, “and these are the generations of Yitzchak, son of Avraham …,” which means that the generations, or results of Yitzchak Avinu, are the proclamation of the revelation of God in this world. Thereby, “Avraham begot Yitzchak,” for this came about by means of Avraham’s yearning, for yearning is the attribute of Avraham, and so it is that all true words of Torah are born into the world only after the great desire of those who long for them. This also concerns what is said in the Gemara (Baba Metsia, 44a), “In his younger days Rabbi Yehuda haNasi taught his son, ‘silver buys gold,’ and in his old age, ‘gold buys silver.’” In a man’s youth he has great desire and yearning for words of Torah, and by means of this, he is “buying gold,” which means acquiring words of Torah in their true form that are called gold, by means of silver (Kesef), which is desire and yearning (Kesifa). Yet, in his old age a man must ask that his desire for words of Torah not be taken from him, for in old age the powers of desire weaken. Therefore he taught that “gold buys silver.”21The silver, or desire, is then the main point. The silver is the prayer that he offers to God, that by means of the very words of Torah the desire may come to him for an increase in more words of Torah. This may be compared to a man who is satisfied from eating, and nonetheless, if more good food were placed before him it would draw his appetite to eat further. So it is with words of Torah. This is as we pray each day in the blessing over the Torah, “and may God make words of Torah desirable in our mouths,” that is, may words of Torah become sweetened in such a way that we always have a greater and greater desire for them. This is the meaning of the verse (Yoel, 2:26), “and you shall eat food and be satisfied.” The doubling of the language teaches of this,22In Hebrew, ve’achaltem ochel; “were the doubling of, ochel” is apparent. for by means of the very eating there will come greater desire. This is all an allegory for words of Torah, as explained above.
וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת יִצְחָק בֶּן אַבְרָהָם אַבְרָהָם הוֹלִיד אֶת יִצְחָק. כְּתִיב (דברי הימים א' כ"ח,ט') "אִם תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ יִמָּצֵא לָךְ", הַדְּרִישָׁה הוּא אאע"ה וְהַמְּצִיאָה הוּא יִצְחָק, כִּי עִנְיַן אַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ הָיָה שֶׁהָיָה מִשְׁתּוֹקֵק תָּמִיד לְד"ת מְאֹד מְאֹד וְשֶׁיִּתְפַּרְסֵם בָּעוֹלָם כִּי הַש"י מֶלֶךְ עֲלֵיהֶם, וְזֹאת הוּא מִדּוֹת הָאַהֲבָה. וּמִדּוֹת יִצְחָק הוּא מִדּוֹת גְּבוּרָה, הַיְינוּ אַחַר שֶׁנִּתְבָּרֵר זֹאת וְיָרַד הִתְגַּלּוּת הַש"י בָּעוה"ז, וְזֹאת יִקָּרֵא גְּבוּרָה כְּמוֹ דְּאִיתָא בַּגְּמָ' (מגילה ל"א:) כָּךְ שָׁמַע מֹשֶׁה מִפִּי הַגְּבוּרָה. וְיִצְחָק הָיָה ג"כ נִקְרָא גְּבוּרַת הַש"י בָּעוֹלָם. וְזש"ה "וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדוֹת יִצְחָק בֶּן אַבְרָהָם" וְכוּ' הַיְינוּ תּוֹלְדוֹת יִצְחָק אָבִינוּ הוּא פִּרְסוּם הִתְגַּלּוּת הַש"י בָּעוה"ז, "אַבְרָהָם הוֹלִיד אֶת יִצְחָק" הַיְינוּ ע"י תְּשׁוּקַת אַבְרָהָם הָיְתָה זֹאת, כִּי הַתְּשׁוּקָה הוּא מִדּוֹת אַבְרָהָם, וְכֵן כָּל ד"ת אֲמִיתִּיִּים אֵין לָהֶם הוֹלָדָה רַק אַחַר גּוֹדֶל תְּשׁוּקָה שֶׁיִּשְׁתּוֹקֵק הָאָדָם לָהֶם. וְזֶה ג"כ עִנְיַן הַגְּמָ' (בבא מציעא מ"ד.) מַתְנֵי לֵיהּ רַבִּי לְר"ש בְּרֵיהּ בְּיַלְדוּתֵיהּ, הַכֶּסֶף קוֹנֶה אֶת הַזָּהָב, וּבְזִקְנוּתֵיהּ הַזָּהָב קוֹנֶה אֶת הַכֶּסֶף. הַיְינוּ כִּי בַּיַּלְדוּת שֶׁל הָאָדָם יֵשׁ גּוֹדֶל תְּשׁוּקָה וְחֶמְדָּה לְד"ת וְעי"ז קוֹנֶה אֶת הַזָּהָב הַיְינוּ ד"ת לַאֲמִיתָּם יִקָּרְאוּ בְּשֵׁם זָהָב, וְכֶסֶף הַיְינוּ תְּשׁוּקָה וּכְסִיפָה. אֲבָל בַּזִּקְנָה צָרִיךְ הָאָדָם לְבַקֵּשׁ שֶׁלֹּא יוּסַר מִמֶּנּוּ הַחֵשֶׁק לְד"ת, כִּי לְעֵת הַזִּקְנָה כָּל כֹּחוֹת הַתְּשׁוּקָה שֶׁל הָאָדָם מִתְחַלְּשִׁין, ע"כ שִׁינָּה לוֹ הַזָּהָב קוֹנֶה אֶת הַכֶּסֶף, וְהוּא תְּפִלָּה שֶׁהִתְפַּלֵּל לַה' שֶׁע"י ד"ת יָבֹא בְּלִבּוֹ חֵשֶׁק לְהוֹסָפַת עוֹד ד"ת, וְהוּא לְמָשָׁל לְאָדָם שֶׁשָּׂבֵעַ מֵאֲכִילָה וְאעפ"כ אִם בָּא לְפָנָיו מַאֲכָל טוֹב הַמַּאֲכָל הַזֶּה מַמְשִׁיךְ לוֹ תַּאֲוָה וְחֵשֶׁק לֶאֱכוֹל יוֹתֵר, וְכֵן הוּא הָעִנְיָן בְּד"ת. וְזֶה שֶׁאָנוּ מִתְפַּלְּלִין בְּכָל יוֹם, וְהַעֲרֵב נָא ה' אֱלֹקֵינוּ אֶת דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָתְךָ בְּפִינוּ, הַיְינוּ שֶׁיִּמְתְּקוּ לָנוּ הַד"ת, שֶׁיִּהְיֶה לָנוּ בְּכָל פַּעַם תְּשׁוּקָה יוֹתֵר אֲלֵיהֶם. וְזֶה פֵּי' הַפָּסוּק (יואל ב',כ"ו) "וַאֲכַלְתֶּם אָכוֹל וְשָׂבוֹעַ" וּכְפִילַת הַלָּשׁוֹן מוֹרֶה עַל זֶה, דְּע"י הָאֲכִילָה יָבֹא לְךָ חֶמְדָּה יוֹתֵר וְהוּא לְמָשָׁל לְד"ת כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר.
“And these are the generations of Yitzchak, son of Avraham. Avraham begot Yitzchak.” (Bereshit, 25:19)
It is written (Divrei haYamim 1, 28:9), “If you seek it, you will find.” The seeking is Avraham Avinu, and the finding is Yitzchak. The main point of Avraham Avinu was that he always had a great yearning for Torah, and a great desire to make the reign of God known in the world. This is the attribute of love. The attribute of Yitzchak is that of Gevurah (strength, severity), when this became clear and the revelation of God descended into the world. This is called Gevurah, as it is written (Megillah, 31b), “thus Moshe heard from the mouth of Gevurah,” and Yitzchak is also called the Gevurah of God in the world.
This goes according to the verse, “and these are the generations of Yitzchak, son of Avraham …,” which means that the generations, or results of Yitzchak Avinu, are the proclamation of the revelation of God in this world. Thereby, “Avraham begot Yitzchak,” for this came about by means of Avraham’s yearning, for yearning is the attribute of Avraham, and so it is that all true words of Torah are born into the world only after the great desire of those who long for them.
This also concerns what is said in the Gemara (Baba Metsia, 44a), “In his younger days Rabbi Yehuda haNasi taught his son, ‘silver buys gold,’ and in his old age, ‘gold buys silver.’” In a man’s youth he has great desire and yearning for words of Torah, and by means of this, he is “buying gold,” which means acquiring words of Torah in their true form that are called gold, by means of silver (Kesef), which is desire and yearning (Kesifa). Yet, in his old age a man must ask that his desire for words of Torah not be taken from him, for in old age the powers of desire weaken. Therefore he taught that “gold buys silver.”21The silver, or desire, is then the main point. The silver is the prayer that he offers to God, that by means of the very words of Torah the desire may come to him for an increase in more words of Torah. This may be compared to a man who is satisfied from eating, and nonetheless, if more good food were placed before him it would draw his appetite to eat further.
So it is with words of Torah. This is as we pray each day in the blessing over the Torah, “and may God make words of Torah desirable in our mouths,” that is, may words of Torah become sweetened in such a way that we always have a greater and greater desire for them. This is the meaning of the verse (Yoel, 2:26), “and you shall eat food and be satisfied.” The doubling of the language teaches of this,22In Hebrew, ve’achaltem ochel; “were the doubling of, ochel” is apparent. for by means of the very eating there will come greater desire. This is all an allegory for words of Torah, as explained above.