The Joy of Intimacy and the Root and Redemption
In Parshas Toldos, we find an intriguing story with Yitzchak, Rivka and their sojourn in Gerar. Yitzchak is afraid that the natives will kill him in order to marry his beautiful wife. He claims she is his sister in order to save his life and they let the two of them be. But then one day, as described in Genesis 26:8:
וַיְהִ֗י כִּ֣י אָֽרְכוּ־ל֥וֹ שָׁם֙ הַיָּמִ֔ים וַיַּשְׁקֵ֗ף אֲבִימֶ֙לֶךְ֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים בְּעַ֖ד הַֽחַלּ֑וֹן וַיַּ֗רְא וְהִנֵּ֤ה יִצְחָק֙ מְצַחֵ֔ק אֵ֖ת רִבְקָ֥ה אִשְׁתּֽוֹ
When some time had passed, Abimelech king of the Philistines, looking out of the window, saw Isaac sporting with his wife Rebekah.
Abimelech understands by the nature of their intimate relationship that they are more than brother and sister. He gets upset at Yitzchak and claims that he almost causes him to sin by allowing him to live with his wife who he thought was single. The Torah tells us that Yitzchak goes on to plant crops, yields a hundred fold bounty, causes jealousy from the natives and he leaves to go and live on his own.
What is going on over here? There are so many questions. In general, why does our Holy Torah spend time telling us all of this? How does this encounter differ to the story when Sarah was abducted from the same king? What does this have to do with planting crops and then leaving?
And on a deeper note, what does it mean that Avimelech saw them Metzachek, sporting? Some commentaries understand that it was playful intimate action that was only appropriate for husband and wife. Other commentaries, Rashi included, understand that he actually saw them engaged in intimate relations. This itself raises many other questions like how could they have had relations in public, during a time of famine and during the day, which is not our discussion for now.
But on a bigger picture level, what is going on over here? The Torah is not speaking about lowly things and voyeurism, what deeper lesson is trying to be imparted through this narrative?
The Zohar 12:97 makes an interesting comment, that you know what Abimelech saw? He saw that the Shechina, the Divine Presence, was with Rivka. What does the Zohar mean by this? Is it simply trying to whitewash the text and make it more kid friendly? From a Penimius perspective, all of the layers of Torah must exist and truth simultaneously, These and These are the words of the Living God. So which one is it, did he see the Shechina or did he see them having relations?
I believe the answers to all of the questions can be gained from a deeper understanding of what is going on in these stories in general. Nothing that happened to our Holy Avos and Imahos was accidental. It all carried cosmic spiritual ramifications for Jewish history and ultimately the Final Redemption. When the Torah speaks about Sarah and Rivka being captured or dominated by foreign powers, it is essentially alluding to the future exiles that the Jewish people will undergo and the redemption process from the Galus itself.
We understand that there are really two levels of Galus, one outside Eretz Yisrael and one inside Eretz Yisrael. The Babylonians and the Romans attempted to uproot the Jewish community from the Land of Israel sending us out to the nations of the world. But there is another type of Galus, right here in Eretz Yisrael, like what happened with the Greek empire and the Chanukah story where Jews were subjected to foreign domination in body and mind from an outside culture.
Avraham and Sarah went through both. Sarah’s abduction in Egypt was the paradigm of Galus outside the Land, and she and Avraham were redeemed and were able to return. Sarah’s abduction by Avimelech in Gerar represented the Galus in the Land. And yet we see, from the fact that the same situation had to happen again in the next generation to Yitzchak and Rivka, there was something that was incomplete. Avraham and Sarah survived, but there was something more that needed to be fixed spiritually for the future.
Many sources in Penimius Hatorah describe the deeper relationship between Chutz L’Aretz Eretz Yisrael. Chutz L’Aretz is a place of separation and division. It was the very discord and fracturing of the Jewish people that caused us to go into Galus to begin with. Galus is a place where everything is broken apart and lacking integration. Hashem is found in the Beis Midrash with prayer and Torah, but less so in the marketplace and the bedroom. One has to pick whether they are connected to the world of spirituality or physicality, but you can’t have both. You either excel in religion or science, but the two exist in polar opposite perspectives. The Jewish people are spread out all over the world, each with their own culture and customs.
But the entire purpose of Eretz Yisrael is living on a different plane of existence. Eretz Yisrael is a place of total integrated unity. It’s a place where heaven and earth kiss, a place where there is no difference between spirituality and physicality, they are both means to experience the Divine. It’s a place where the physical world of science simply reveals the inner world of Hashem and the entire song of creation sings a harmonious existence. The goal of Eretz Yisrael is not to reject physical pleasure, but rather to raise it up and sanctify it, connecting it to its holy Source.
And this is exactly what Yitzchak and Rivka needed to accomplish, to plant that spiritual seed for generations and millenium to come. The language of Metzachek, sporting, was a deeper inner revelation and a potent Divine level that enabled the root for the Final Redemption.
The Reggio on the Passuk in Genesis 26:8 describes it as a language of “playfulness and joy”. Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi in his commentary on the Parsha in Torah Ohr 2:6 describes that on a spiritual level, this playful intimacy enabled “that all the joy and supernal delight of Yitzchak flowed through Rivka his wife.”
In addition, the Peninei Halacha states this clearly in his chapter on the Joy of the Home 3:9:4:
“The mitzva of sexual relations is fulfilled with a spirit of playfulness, liberation, and unbounded joy, as it is written: “Yitzḥak was being playful with Rivka his wife” (Bereishit 26:8)... Ultimately, the mind and emotions can become enslaved to the realization of lustful fantasies. Therefore, in order to fortify his spiritual world, one must study Torah with awe, fear, trembling, and trepidation, as is becoming of its sanctity and seriousness. Then, when he later returns to physicality, he will be able to direct it properly.”
Yitzchak was the model of fear, discipline and structure. He had self control to such a degree that he willingly allowed himself to become a sacrifice to Hashem. But says the Peninei Halacha, this “awe and trembling” is not meant to make a person stiff and monolithic. It’s supposed to allow one the freedom to channel their desires and express them for a holy purpose as he says, with “playfulness, liberation, and unbounded joy”.
Avraham and Sarah went through both. Sarah’s abduction in Egypt was the paradigm of Galus outside the Land, and she and Avraham were redeemed and were able to return. Sarah’s abduction by Avimelech in Gerar represented the Galus in the Land. And yet we see, from the fact that the same situation had to happen again in the next generation to Yitzchak and Rivka, there was something that was incomplete. Avraham and Sarah survived, but there was something more that needed to be fixed spiritually for the future.
Many sources in Penimius Hatorah describe the deeper relationship between Chutz L’Aretz Eretz Yisrael. Chutz L’Aretz is a place of separation and division. It was the very discord and fracturing of the Jewish people that caused us to go into Galus to begin with. Galus is a place where everything is broken apart and lacking integration. Hashem is found in the Beis Midrash with prayer and Torah, but less so in the marketplace and the bedroom. One has to pick whether they are connected to the world of spirituality or physicality, but you can’t have both. You either excel in religion or science, but the two exist in polar opposite perspectives. The Jewish people are spread out all over the world, each with their own culture and customs.
But the entire purpose of Eretz Yisrael is living on a different plane of existence. Eretz Yisrael is a place of total integrated unity. It’s a place where heaven and earth kiss, a place where there is no difference between spirituality and physicality, they are both means to experience the Divine. It’s a place where the physical world of science simply reveals the inner world of Hashem and the entire song of creation sings a harmonious existence. The goal of Eretz Yisrael is not to reject physical pleasure, but rather to raise it up and sanctify it, connecting it to its holy Source.
And this is exactly what Yitzchak and Rivka needed to accomplish, to plant that spiritual seed for generations and millenium to come. The language of Metzachek, sporting, was a deeper inner revelation and a potent Divine level that enabled the root for the Final Redemption.
The Reggio on the Passuk in Genesis 26:8 describes it as a language of “playfulness and joy”. Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi in his commentary on the Parsha in Torah Ohr 2:6 describes that on a spiritual level, this playful intimacy enabled “that all the joy and supernal delight of Yitzchak flowed through Rivka his wife.”
In addition, the Peninei Halacha states this clearly in his chapter on the Joy of the Home 3:9:4:
“The mitzva of sexual relations is fulfilled with a spirit of playfulness, liberation, and unbounded joy, as it is written: “Yitzḥak was being playful with Rivka his wife” (Bereishit 26:8)... Ultimately, the mind and emotions can become enslaved to the realization of lustful fantasies. Therefore, in order to fortify his spiritual world, one must study Torah with awe, fear, trembling, and trepidation, as is becoming of its sanctity and seriousness. Then, when he later returns to physicality, he will be able to direct it properly.”
Yitzchak was the model of fear, discipline and structure. He had self control to such a degree that he willingly allowed himself to become a sacrifice to Hashem. But says the Peninei Halacha, this “awe and trembling” is not meant to make a person stiff and monolithic. It’s supposed to allow one the freedom to channel their desires and express them for a holy purpose as he says, with “playfulness, liberation, and unbounded joy”.
Because when Yitzchak and Rivka connected in such a holy way, they actually united two aspects of Hashem, Kudsha Brich Hu and Shechina. We even see a concept where Hashem “plays”. Rav Tzadok in his Pri Tzadik, Chodesh Adar 2:3 describe this Divine playfulness as the joy Hashem takes when his Chosen people are able to transcend their base nature and use their physical bodies and drives as a conduit for sanctity and Mitzvos in this world.
This was the “Torah” and the secret to surviving the Galus within Eretz Yisrael. As soon as he did, they were freed and blessed with tremendous physical wealth, enabling them to live independent of any foreign power or subjugating body. They need to arrive at the level of Metzachek first, to be sure that the physical blessing wouldn’t corrupt them, allowing the bracha to be pure and holy in the service of Hashem.
This was the “Torah” and the secret to surviving the Galus within Eretz Yisrael. As soon as he did, they were freed and blessed with tremendous physical wealth, enabling them to live independent of any foreign power or subjugating body. They need to arrive at the level of Metzachek first, to be sure that the physical blessing wouldn’t corrupt them, allowing the bracha to be pure and holy in the service of Hashem.
So back to our first question, did Avimelech see them having relations or did he see the Shechina? The answer is both. In order for someone to see the Shechina, they have to be on an exalted spiritual level themselves. Avimelech was able to perceive this light and he understood on a deeper plane that this light came about through the holy union of this magnificent couple.
And perhaps this is the hint behind why Rivka covered her face with a veil when she first met Yitzchak. He was holy. But not fully developed. She felt that if she would reveal her beauty to him at that point, his attraction might be slightly affected by his physical drives. She waited until he had fully perfected himself and the two of them arrived at the level of Metzachek, bridging Divine Worlds and creating a path forward for the Jewish people in Eretz Yisrael, to be fully engaged in this world, enjoy the fruits of the Land and everything that it has to offer, and at the same time bring the world to its final Tikkun and greatest revelation of Divinity that anyone could imagine.
Good Shabbos.
Good Shabbos.
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