Translated by Shulamith Berman

Between the towering figures of Abraham and Jacob, Isaac all but disappears – Isaac, the bound son. When compared to the stories of the other forefathers, Isaac’s dissimilarity becomes very apparent.

Isaac’s spouse, like Jacob’s, is discovered at the well. But in the case of Jacob, he himself found Rachel, while Rebecca was selected for Isaac by Eliezer, the trusted servant. Moreover, he was not even acting for Isaac, but for “the father of the groom” – Abraham.

Isaac, like Abraham, dug wells. Attempts were made to sabotage the wells of both. But Abraham went on the warpath: “And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away” (Genesis 21:25). Isaac, on the other hand, moved on to another well “because they contended with him” (ibid. 26:20). When they quarreled with him over the new well, he simply moved away and dug another well.

Isaac and Rebecca, like Abraham and Sarah, concealed the true nature of their relationship from Abimelech and from Gerar. Just as the truth became known to Abimelech regarding Abraham, so too with Isaac. But what a difference between the conversation between Abraham and Abimelech, culminating in the latter’s offer: “Behold my land is before thee; abide where it is good in thy eyes” (Ibid. 20:15) and his curt exchange of words with Isaac on the same subject (26:9-10).

Isaac, like his father before him, made a “peace treaty” with Abimelech and Phichol, but the cordial atmosphere at the “peace accords” with Abraham was markedly lacking with Isaac. (Compare Abraham’s negotiations [21:22-32] with Isaac’s words: “Why do you come to me when you hate me? [26:27]).

Like Jacob, Isaac sought to bless his sons before he died, and, like Jacob, his sight had waned, as the result of old age. But Jacob identified those whom he blessed without any difficulty whatsoever. In fact, when Joseph tried to switch the position of his sons, Jacob’s grandsons, for their blessing, Jacob took control of the situation. He crossed his hands to prevent Joseph from doing what he wanted, and said to him: “I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he” (48:19) – as if he was saying “don’t try to teach me how one person can receive the blessing meant for another…”. But Isaac doesn’t realize who stands before him, because “the voice is Jacob’s voice but the hands are the hands of Esau” (27:22).

Both Abraham and Jacob were forced by famine to descend to Egypt. Isaac also considered such a move, for the same reason. But God revealed himself to Isaac, saying: “Go not down to Egypt: dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee” (26:2). Rashi interprets as follows: “Because he thought of going down to Egypt as his father had gone down in time of famine, He said to him ‘do not go down to Egypt for you are a burnt offering without blemish and residence outside the Holy Land is not befitting you’ ”.

Abraham may go, and Jacob may go, but you – you are a burnt offering without blemish.

The greatest difference of all, however, lies in the names of our forefathers. Abram’s name is changed to Abraham. Jacob later becomes Israel. But Isaac’s name never changes, because he was named directly by God: “And God said, Indeed, Sarah, thy wife shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for a covenant for ever, and with his seed after him” (17:19). The first Jewish parents did not merit to choose a name for the son who was born to them after 100 years. The name that God Himself had chosen was merely revealed to them.

And so, it would appear that the secret of Isaac’s ‘different-ness’ is hidden in his name – Isaac.

When one-hundred year old Abraham and ninety year old Sarah learn that they are about to become parents, they laugh (we will see later that the laughter of each was different). “All that hear it will laugh at me” (21:6). How do we reconcile this laughter with “the bound son”, and “the fear of Isaac”?

There is wonderment here – it is not at all logical that now, “after I have faded” (18:12) will come the pleasure of Isaac. Isaac is the first son to be born as a Jew. His appearance in the world is simply not logical. Put another way, the logic which dictates Isaac’s life (and that of his descendants) is truly “laughable” in our rational world. His birth is not normal, he is sacrificed on an altar and then brought down from the altar in a most abnormal way. He will overcome objective difficulties (famine, strife with the shepherds, etc) in an abnormal manner, and he transmits his blessing to his sons in a fashion that cannot be described as normal. Perhaps we can say, then, that Isaac represents what is normal in another world, a world where the key to normalcy is different from ours.

God twice informs Abraham that Sarah will give birth to a son. Both events precede the advent of the angels: “And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Indeed, Sarah, thy wife shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for a covenant for ever, and with his seed after him” (17:16-19).

What new information is imparted by this last verse? Not that Sarah will give birth to a son – that was already mentioned before. Should it be viewed, then, as repetition for the purpose of reinforcing the previous announcement? I think that the new element lies not in the beginning of the verse, but its continuation. God is saying, in effect, “You are laughing because this announcement doesn’t appear at all logical (“Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old?”). I want you to know that this son will be “Yitzhak” – not only his name, but his very essence will be laughter. Even if it seems strange to you, you must become accustomed to this phenomenon. It won’t be entirely comprehensible in this world, but it will grow and increase in the future – “Yitzhak” – in the future tense. Once you understand his nature as Yitzhak it won’t seem so strange to you, rather, in truth “Sarah, thy wife shall bear thee a son”.

In these terms we can understand the difference in the nature of Abraham’s laughter and that of Sarah’s. As we know, Sarah, too, laughed when she heard the news. When Abraham laughed, he merited a reply from God, and the information that his son’s name would be Isaac. Sarah, however, receives a harsh response from God. Onkelos interprets Abraham’s laughter as positive, joyous and delighted. Sara’s laughter is viewed in a negative light. Why is this? Rashi doesn’t address himself to this difference, although he accepts it. Some claim that “Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed” is an indication of the ‘gravity’ of his laughter (according to the Midrash Aggada). The Chezkuni suggests a very interesting explanation: God was also angry with Abraham, but ‘this is like the wise woman who wishes to reprove her daughter in law, so she reproves her daughter, in order for her daughter in law to understand by herself. So too, if God reproved Abraham directly, he would be abashed, therefore he reproved him from the side…” But none of these interpretations really explain the difference between the two “laughters”.

I think the difference is really very simple. Abraham laughs before God tells him that the name of his son – his nature and being – will be Yitzhak. Sarah laughs after she hears it.

Although it is true that this information – about the nature and being of his son – is really only imparted to Abraham, there is no doubt that he passed it on to Sarah. This is evident to us, not only because we know there is nothing in the world she more wanted to hear, but because of the text itself.

During that revelation, God also told Abraham that henceforth Sarai would be known as Sarah. When the angels arrive, they ask Abraham: “Where is your wife Sarah?” and it is quite clear that she recognizes her name.

The full meaning of this wonderful “laughter” will only become clear in the future. “Our sages said: a man must not fill his mouth with ‘laughter’ in this world” (Berachot). It is the nature of this world that one cannot laugh wholeheartedly here. During our greatest joy, there is still room for pain, sadness, or at least the apprehension of pain and sadness. Even on occasions of supreme happiness we are obligated to recall the destruction of Jerusalem. Perfect happiness will only be possible in that future world where “I will transform their sorrow to rejoicing and their grief to joy”. Then, and only then, sorrow and grief will not be hidden, but transformed to true happiness.

The prophet Zechariah describes Abraham and Sarah’s reception of the news of Isaac, as a phenomenon which will befall us all at this wondrous era: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the old people will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with his staff in his hand, for many days. And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in the streets.” (Zechariah 8:4-6).

What a wonderful vision. Zechariah stood on the threshold of a two thousand year long exile. The foxes of Rome were already poised to enter the Holy of Holies. “Zion shall be a ploughed field and Jerusalem will cry out” (Micah 3). Yet from the midst of the nation, looking on with eyes of the flesh as Jerusalem mourns, despoiled and deserted, Zechariah gazes with the eyes of the spirit and perceives the streets of the city filled with playing children. Is this normal? It is amazing, it is laughable – and that’s how we are – laughable!

In our world it doesn’t sound realistic, perhaps. Not the birth of this nation, nor our survival on the altars of history, where we are still being sacrificed. But in the future, when the other nations will say: “The Lord has wrought wondrously”, then “Our mouths will be filled with laughter and our tongues with song” (Psalms 126).

Great indeed are those with the vision and ability to see beyond the triviality and routine of the present and to perceive greatness and eternity. Even if their mouths are not filled with laughter in this world, with the eyes of the spirit though they are living here and now yet their practical lives are guided by this principle. Such a man was Rabbi Akiva, who laughed when he saw a fox stealing out of the Holy of Holies “because of the greatness of his soul, he perceived the far future as if it were the present” (introduction of the Reiyah to Shir Hashirim), and Zechariah’s prophecy was fulfilled for him when he saw the unclean animal in the Holy of Holies. “In the blink of an eye” (Isaiah 54), as a fleeting bubble, he related to the present, which he perceived as giving way to a wonderful future, which appeared so real to him that he could comfort Rabbi Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah and Rabbi Yehoshua, as they wept to see the desolation before them.

So too Rav Yosef (Sanhedrin 97) rejected every misgiving regarding the calamities predicted for Israel during the period of “hevlei mashiach”. He refuted the sentiment “let me not live to see the mashiach” with the words “may I merit to sit in the shade of the ass of the mashiah”. In other words, “even that would be enough for me, just so long as I see him”. His soul was so great that all the sufferings and calamities preceding the coming of the mashiach were merely “as the blink of an eye”, giving way to a future so real that he could see the mashiach before his eyes.

Isaac had the secret of this wondrous vision of the future. This is Isaac, who lies upon the altar on the mountain that “the Lord will see – the Lord will be seen”, yet Isaac is blinded by the tears shed into his eyes by the ministering angels. (It is interesting to note that Rav Yosef was also blind, and there is also some dispute regarding Rabbi Akiva’s sight). After the binding of Isaac, Abraham returns to his servants: “Abraham returned unto his lads, and they rose and went together to Beer-sheba” (Genesis 22:19). And Isaac? Where did he go? The Torah doesn’t say. We will meet him again 67 verses later, “coming from the well Lahai-roi” – because after the great vision of “the Lord will see – the Lord will be seen” Isaac goes to draw water from the well of greatest sight. This is the well referred to in “and God opened her eyes”. From that time on, though our “normal” eyes prevent us from seeing the great vision, the laughter of the future which is unfolding before our very eyes, Isaac has the vision to guide us and lead us through everything, despite everything.

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