Dvar Torah for Parshat Chayei Sarah
Based on Likutey MoHaran II, Lesson #11
"Yitzchak went out lasuach (to meditate)
in the field..." (Genesis 24:62-63).
"Lasuach means prayer" (Rashi).
"
Winter is pregnancy, summer is birth" (Sichot
HaRan #144).
The day is winding down. Hopefully, much has been accomplished. Even
if that 'muchÓ has only been on a microcosmic scale, within your own daled
amot (literally, four ells; colloquially, little corner) that are true,
real, and valuable accomplishments. Nonetheless, you're tired, your energies
have been pretty much spent.
You are in winterland. You want to hibernate. And even if events have
part of you wanting to hide from life, you know you can't; you know that
God is really just prodding you on to some greater good, to some insight
or intimacy with Him. You are ready to enter pregnancy, as both mother
and child.
Pregnancy is a contradictory time, both for the child and the mother.
The child is enveloped in a physically dark place"but an angel teaches
him Torah and with that light he sees from one end of the world to the
other. He is in place that is totally nourishing, where all he does is
take and gives nothing in return"nothing but the promise of a new life
full of promise. The child is extremely fragile and utterly defenseless.
Yet this helpless weakling makes the most fantastic leap of progress: from
non-existent to human being.
For the mother as well, there are contradictions. She must be protector
just at the time her strength is taxed. She must share everything she has
and her being when she herself needs to take more and be nurtured. She
must watch others around her move forward, 'do,Ó while she herself seems
to be inactive, when in fact her inactivity makes the greatest contribution
possible"a human being who can recognize the Creator.
We must fulfill the maternal role, protecting and nourishing ourselves,
so that our fetal self will develop as fully as necessary.
Yitzchak Avinu (our Patriarch) had spent his spiritual energy"he had
literally put his neck on the line to do God's will. Now he had to be re-born,
to enter a state of growth that would enable him to carry on his task of
founding a people dedicated solely to the mission of bringing glory to
God's name"the Jews. So he went off to the field to pray. As he did, he
saw the camels arriving, bearing his future wife, Rivkah Emeinu (our Matriarch),
the finishing touch to his birth, to his ability to recognize the Creator.
Rebbe Nachman writes:
Be aware that when a person goes out to pray in a field, all
the flora joins and assists his prayer. They add strength to it. This is
why prayer is called siach (bush; see Genesis
2:5). This is what is meant by the verse, "Yitzchak went out lasuach
in the field" This prayer/meditation was assisted and built on the strength
the flora gave him.
Thus, one of the curses is, 'nor will the earth provide her yevulÓ
(produce; Deuteronomy 11:17). Everything the
earth produces must supply its energy into prayer/meditation. Whenever
it cannot, it is an instance of 'nor will the earth provide her yevul.Ó
For even when one does not actually pray in a field, the earth's produce,
namely, anything which nourishes a person, like, his eating and drinking,
etc., assists his prayer. It is just that when one is in a field, when
one is even closer physical proximity to the flora, then all the flora
and produce contribute their energy to his prayer.
Thus, in Hebrew the word YeVUL is an acronym for the verse, 'Yitzchak
went out to meditate in the fieldÓ"for all the produce prayed with him....
From all that the earth produces, from everything that nourishes us,
we must coax out a prayer. We must use our maternal selves to make this
world as womb-like as possible for ourselves and others, so that we may
recognize our Creator to the utmost when the world is born again with the
coming of the Mashiach.
agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!
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