Ten Minutes of Torah

with

Rabbi Chaim Weiner

Vayetze – 5767

בראשית לא:ד

(ד) וַיִּשְׁלַח יַעֲקֹב וַיִּקְרָא לְרָחֵל וּלְלֵאָה הַשָּׂדֶה אֶל צֹאנוֹ:

Genesis 31: 4

And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock.

Midrash Agaddah

To the field unto his flock. From here we learn that a person who wishes to speak in secret should go out to the field to a place where no one can hear, for walls have ears and forests have ears, but there is nothing in the field.

Radak:

To the field unto his flock. That they should come to him to the field, to the place that he was grazing his flocks.

QUESTIONS

How do these two explanations differ?

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S QUESTIONS:

1. Why does the Midrash [and Rashi who follows the Midrash] offer alternative explanations for why Isaac goes blind, rather than the simple interpretation - the cause of his blindness was old age?

The language of the verse is awkward. Instead of simply saying ‘his eyes were dim’ it uses the phrase – ‘his eyes were dim from seeing’. This suggests that it is more than simple blindness.

2. What is the meaning of ‘seeing’ in each these interpretations?

According to the first interpretation, ‘seeing’ is taken literally - Isaac was literally blind. The Midrash reads the verse as saying – Isaacs’s eyes were dimmed [by God] to prevent him from seeing [Esau’s wickedness].

According to the second interpretation, Isaac could see, but he was blind to his son’s behavior as a result of the trauma of his childhood. Seeing means ‘perceiving’.

3. Explain the idea conveyed by the second interpretation?

The second interpretation is saying that our personal history affects the way we see the world. There are some childhood traumas we never recover from. The Akeidah made it impossible for Isaac to correctly assess his son’s behaviour.

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Ten Minutes of Torah was prepared by Rabbi Chaim Weiner, based on the methods of Prof. Nechama Leibowitz. Rabbi Weiner studied and corresponded with Prof. Leibowitz for several years.

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