Toldot (Hasidism)

On Jacob and Esau

A brief teaching of the Baal Shem Tov, from the anthology of his teachings known as Sefer ha-Besht that we’ve already mentioned here. This is what Shlomo Carlebach would doubtless have called “a sweet little teaching” (Toldot, §1):

“And these are the generations of Isaac son of Abraham: Abraham beget Isaac” [Gen 25:19]. I heard from the Rabbi the Besht z”l, the interpretation of this verse, that it is a question and answer. That is, the question: from whence did it come about that Isaac, who is Gevurah, the attribute of limitation, come to be born from Abraham, who is the attribute of Hesed [=lovingkindness / expansiveness / generosity]? The answer is: “Abraham beget Isaac.” That is, Gevurah comes from Hesed, that there should be limitation in the world. For by means of the fact that a certain is lacking to one, the other one can give it to him. And this is “the world is built upon kindness” [Ps 89:3], and Hasadim (Kindnesses) are drawn down into the world. Thus far his holy words. (quoted from Mevaser Zedek, §Behar).

The midrash (Tanhuma ad loc.; Bava Metzia 87a; quoted by Rashi) finds the repetitive nature of this verse strange. Why say “Abraham beget Isaac” if he is already identified as “Isaac son of Abraham”? They give another, more down-to-earth answer: that the scoffers of the generation thought that Sarah had conceived him from another man, perhaps Avimelech, rather than from the elderly Abraham; but his face was like that of Abraham, establishing his paternity beyond all doubt. The Hasidic Torah projects the verse onto a Kabbalistic, Sefirotic backdrop: since it is well-known that Abraham and Isaac correspond to the diametrically opposed sefirot of Hesed and Gevurah, the question becomes: what is the relationship between the two? The larger question lurking here is: if Hesed, the flow of divine plenum, of blessing and expansion, is so good, why does the word need any other attributes to come into play? The answer may be read on two levels: the moral one—lack is needed for people to practice generosity to others, to break out of the limits of their own selves and to see the neediness of others. It is known that in middle class and even more so in wealthy society, people tend to be much more enclosed within their own homes, more protective of their own boundaries than in, say, poor neighborhoods or peasant society, where real poverty and hunger and want are familiar. The idea may also be read on a theological level: God created the world as a kind of moral testing ground for human beings, so as to provide constant opportunities for mitzvot. Otherwise, why would He need a world altogether? Surely, God would have been satisfied to reside in His Own undifferentiated infinity. This is perhaps the meaning of the verse cited above: “olam hesed yibaneh”: that loving-kindness is the basic moral building block of the universe.