|
And Isaac sowed in that land, and he reaped hundredfold that
year
Genesis 26:12
Did Isaac sow grain, G-d forbid? Rather, [the verse is saying
that] he took the tithe of his wealth and sowed it as charity
to the poor. In the same vein, the verse says: “Sow for
yourselves charity.”[1]
Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, 33:1
How is one to understand this puzzling Midrashic statement? If,
for whatever reason, the Midrash interprets the Torah’s account of Isaac
sowing the land in the metaphoric, rather than the literal, sense, this still
does not explain why it views the possibility of Isaac physically sowing grain
in such vehemently negative terms. Certainly there is nothing improper or undesirable
in deriving one’s sustenance from the earth?
Furthermore, another Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 64:6, quoted by
Rashi on above verse) understands the verse literally—that yes, Isaac did
sow grain. While it is not unusual to find variant interpretations of the Torah’s
words by our sages, they all represent valid and tenable dimensions of meaning
to the word of G-d. How can one Midrash consider the interpretation of another
as “G-d forbid”?
Isaac was one of the three Avot (“fathers”) of
the Jewish nation, of whom it is said that they “were utterly removed and
transcendent of worldly matters, and served solely as a vehicle for the divine
will, every moment of their lives.”[2] This is not to say that the Avot
did not eat, sleep, and otherwise tend to the material needs of a physical human
being, but that their every deed was a holy deed, a deed dedicated solely to
the realization of the divine will.
This is what the Midrash means when it exclaims, “Did Isaac
sow grain, G-d forbid?!” Certainly Isaac sowed grain—and
if he didn’t, he tended sheep, dug wells, fathered children,
and engaged in the numerous other physical activities the
Torah explicitly states he engaged in. But was he sowing
grain? Was the essence of his deed the extraction of so
many bushels of wheat from the earth? Certainly not! He was
sowing charity, raising a crop so that a tithe can be given
to the poor in fulfillment of the mitzvah of tzedakah.
If a hundred bushels must be grown in order to enable one
to give ten bushels to charity, so be it; but the function
of all hundred is to yield those ten. One is not “sowing
grain” any more than a pianist is “depressing levers”
or an artist is “smearing colors.”
Based on an address by the Rebbe, Shabbat Toldot, 5725
(November 7, 1964)[3]
______________________
[1]. G-d Forbid
Hoshea 10:12.
[3]. Likkutei Sichot, vol. V, p. 74.
|
