פרשת תולדות
ואלה תולדות יצחק בן אברהם אברהם הוליד את יצחק..|. בראשית כ"ה, י"ט
And these are the offspring of Yitzchok son of Avraham – Avrohom begot Yitzchok…
A common question asked on this posuk is, if we are discussing the children of Yitzchok, why does the Torah need to tell us that Avraham was Yitzchok’s father? Shouldn’t the Torah mention the children rather than the father of Yitzchok?
Rav Gamliel Rabinowitz shlit”a explains that in order to be a successful parent, one must look back at the path his father paved, respect it and emulate it. He even puts it into a category of segulah.
If you want to have good children who follow in your path, then show your children how you, too, follow in the path your parents paved for you. Of course, every individual is unique and adds his own dimension to his chinuch, but a parent who demonstrates how he follows and respects the path of his ancestors, will enable his children to feel pride in their mesorah, and desire to further it.
Although Yitzchok was a completely different personality and nature than his father Avraham, he still tried in every way possible to emulate Avraham Avinu. The middah of Avrohom is chesed and the middah of Yitzchok is pachad. What was he “afraid” of?
Rav Matisyahu Slolmon shlit”a is quoted as saying, that Yitzchok was afraid of deviating from the mesorah he received from his father, even a minuscule amount. We see this from, the fact that the Torah goes into great length about Yitzchok reopening the wells that Avraham had dug and renaming them names his father had. There aren’t too many stories about Yitzchok, but the Torah mentions the wells.
Rabbeini Bachaya says that in order to teach us that to properly continue the chain of our mesorah, a Jew must respect uphold and follow the past set forth before him by this parent.
About the Author: Rabbi Yisroel Meir Rubinfeld
Rabbi Rubinfeld has been in the field of Torah education for over 3 decades and serves as an Executive School Consultant for Torah Umesorah. He provides an array of services to schools across North America, including teacher and principal mentorship, school and curricula evaluations, professional development and parent education.
Rabbi Rubinfeld's expertise includes classroom management and discipline, effective instruction, bullying, cultivating sensitivity in the classroom, impulse disorders (such as ADHD and ODD), and balancing the educational needs of mainstream and special needs children in the classroom.
Rabbi Rubinfeld is the also the founder and director of Torah Umesorah's Lilmod U'Lilamed department which provides professional development for teachers and principals throughout the year.
Rabbi Rubinfeld is a talmid of the distinguished Yeshivos of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, the Mirrer Yeshiva in Yerushalayim and Bais Medrash Govoha in Lakewood.
