In R. Jonathan Sacks’ 2010 internet Devar Tora for Parashat Toldot, “Kinship and Difference”, he too discusses the first verse in the Parashat HaShavua (see “Questioning our Seminal Texts”), and employs a relevant Midrash to launch into a discussion of modern reproductive techniques!
The RaShI on Beraishit 25:1, cites a Rabbinic perspective in order to account for the seemingly unnecessary phrase at the end of the verse, “…Avraham begat Yitzchak” since this fact had already been pointed out by the verse’s beginning: “And these are the generations of Yitchak, son of Avraham.” The Rabbis suggest that since there were questions regarding Yitzchak’s paternity, God made him resemble his father in order to quell such controversies. R. Sacks points out that another Rabbinic interpretation makes the same assumption, and therefore sees fit to attribute to Avraham a prayer that taking a too literal approach to having offspring look like their parents will cause difficulties:
Sanhedrin 107b on Beraishit 24:1 “And Avraham was old, well stricken in age; and the LORD had Blessed Avraham in all things.”
Until Avraham there was no old age: (because Yitzchak strikingly resembled his father Avraham) whoever saw Avraham said: This is Yitzchak; and whoever saw Yitzchak said: This is Avraham. Therefore, Avraham prayed that there should be old age, as it is written: “And Avraham was old, and well-stricken in age.”
R. Sacks interprets the Gemora as stating more than simply a physiological development in the history of humanity:
The close physical resemblance between Avraham and Yitzchak created unexpected difficulties. Both father and son suffered a loss of individuality. Nor is this pure speculation. Examine Genesis carefully, and we see that Yitzchak is the least individuated of the patriarchs. His life reads like a replay of his father’s. He too is 1) forced by famine to go to the land of the Philistines (these various incidents are described in Chapt. 26.) He too 2) encounters Avimelech (see “A Comparison of Texts Leads to Significant Conclusions.”) He too 3) feels impelled to say that his wife is his sister. 4) He re-digs the wells his father dug. Yitzchak seems to do little that is distinctively his own.
Sensitive to this, the rabbis told a profound psychological story. Parents are not their children. Children are not replicas of their parents. We are each unique and have a unique purpose. That is why Avraham prayed to God that there be some clear and recognizable difference between father and son.
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