Parshas Toldas- Yitzchok

As we learn the Parshas of Yitzchok we realize that there isn't much to say about him as an individual. We see him at the Akaidah which the Torah credits his father, Avrohom with. We don't learn anything about him when his mother died. His marriage is arranged by Avrohom and his servant Eliezer. Even the brochos that he received- and passed down to Yakoov, were just the brochos of Avraham. Yet there are things that about Avraham that aren't known until the Torah tells it to us by Yitzchok. We don't know anything special about Sarahs tent or about the wells that Avraham dug and there names, until we learn that Yitzchok took the same steps as his father.

All three Avos had a certain middah that they perfected and found Hashem with. Avraham was the amud hachesed- always giving, and revealed Hashem to the world as the ultimate giver. All that Avraham gave, was just to get the people to come to the realization that everything is from Hashem. The Medrash relates that when a weary traveler would come to Avraham he would be served the best food and drink one could find. When it came time to pay Avraham would charge an rbitant amount of money. The only way to bargain with him was if you thanked Hashem and benched. If you realized that it wasn’t Avraham giving you the food, only Hashem then you didn’t owe him a dime. We see that all the chesed Avraham did was to spread the knowledge of the ultimate chesed provider, Hashem.

Yitzchok’s middah was gevurah- strength, being able to withstand anything that you are faced with. When showered by Hashem with chesed too much can be detrimental. Yitzchak was able to filter the chesed, to take and utilize what was necessary and deflect what wasn’t.
While the trait of chesed is to be the giver, gevurah is to be the taker. One has to be able to to receive the chesed from Hashem and when the time comes have the strength to say, enough of chesed. This can be explained with a parable. A fruit tree that grows has nutrients flowing from the roots into the fruits it bears. The nutrients are the chesed, the flowing of good- while the recipient is the fruit it self. Have you ever seen a fruit that stays on the tree to long? It bursts. Gevurah is needed to receive and at the same time say stop enough of the bracha, anymore will be harmful.

Elokai Avraham is the infinite giver. Elokai Yitchok is the one that helps us get the bracha and make it usable for each one of us the right amount we need and can handle. (Mi sheomar leolamo dai- Hashem told the creation to stop, enough bracha, without that gevurah the world would be a jumble of chesed with no form.)

Yitzchok with his gevurah doesn’t have anything on his own for everything originates from Avraham and chesed. Yitzchok is just the reflection of Hashems good. Taking the chesed that was revealed to the world through Avraham and showing that Hashem in his infinite wisdom knows exactly how much kindness is needed. Yet the bracha of Avraham is only potential for it didn’t have a form. The bracha of Sarahs tent and that of Avrahams wells weren’t realize until Yitzchok came along and gave it its life.