Parshat Toldot 5779-‘Juxtapositions’-a small observation

(dedicated to all those who were killed and injured in the worst pogrom in our history before the Holocaust- Kristalnacht  11/9/1938- we are commemorating the 80th anniversary in 2018)

a)       

יח  וַיִּשְׁכְּנוּ מֵחֲוִילָה עַד-שׁוּר, אֲשֶׁר עַל-פְּנֵי מִצְרַיִם, בֹּאֲכָה, אַשּׁוּרָה; עַל-פְּנֵי כָל-אֶחָיו, נָפָל.  {פ}

18 And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Asshur: over against all his brethren he did settle. {P}

יט  וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת יִצְחָק, בֶּן-אַבְרָהָם:  אַבְרָהָם, הוֹלִיד אֶת-יִצְחָק.

19 And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begot Isaac.

These 2 pesukim are next to each other, only separated by the fact that the first verse is the end of parshat Chayei Sarah and the second verse is the first pasuk of parshat Toldot. The Bal Haturim(son of the Rosh,Germany 14th century) , who is a master of the concept of ‘lateral thinking’ makes a tremendous comment based on the juxtaposition of the 2 verses, even though they are separated by the parshiot ending and beginning accordingly. He comments:

 על'פני כל'אחיו ׳ וסמיך ל'יח אליה תולידות יצחק ׳ ל'ומר כשיפול'ישםע 1

באחרית הימים אז יצמח בן דוד שהוא םתול'דות יצחק

‘The juxtaposition of the words “he fell” (referring to Yishmael) next to the words “and these are the generations of Yitzchak’ comes to teach you that in the ‘end of days’ when Yishmael will fall(i.e. the arab domination of the world will end) only then will ‘the generations of Yitzchak’ arise and Mashiach will finally come, who is descended from Yitzchak.’

This is a remarkable comment in itself in that the Bal Haturim does not see the gap between parshiot as restricting his comment, to make a meaningful connection between these two pesukim. But even more so for our generation, this is an incredible revelation. We all know today about a world in which ‘Yishmael’ has risen to prominence and has caused many difficulties in all areas of our lives, in our post 911 world. The Bal Haturim is giving us the sense of faith and trust to look beyond the current situation, to a world in which the influence of Yishmael will wane, as alluded to with the word”nafal’/he fell. This juxtaposition should give us the strength to understand that our current world is only a temporary stage leading to a glorious final revelation which we eagerly await. As all the’ Baalei Musar’ point out, the darkest moment of the night is just before the dawn. Let us hope that we will see the dawn very soon , with the arrival of Mashiach speedily in our days.

Rabbi Ian Shaffer        Cherry Hill NJ              Nov 2018