Gevurah as the Offspring of Chessed

1“These are the generations of Yitzchak son of Avraham” [Bereishis 25:19]. My father and teacher, R' Yechiel of Alexander, zt"l, explained this verse as follows. Avraham Avinu always went about with the thought that on his own account he had no merit at all to rely on, except for this one merit: that he had a worthy son, Yitzchak. And Yitzchak credited everything to the merit of his father Avraham. This was their constant, holy way. Thus far his words.

2His words are true. The Midrash on our parshah says the same (Bereishis Rabbah 63:2): “‘These are the generations of Yitzchak son of Avraham’: ‘Grandchildren are the crown of the elders’ (Mishlei 17:6). The fathers are a crown for the sons, and the sons are a crown for the fathers.”

3aTo explain what the verse means in terms of serving Hashem: it is known that Avraham's attribute is chessed, kindness, and Yitzchak's attribute is gevurah, severity. One can attain these two attributes only through humility. Through his humility Avraham attained Yitzchak's attribute, and through his humility Yitzchak attained the attribute of kindness. Each sweetened his own attribute with the other: kindness with severity, and severity with kindness. The point is that they passed on understanding to their descendants in the last generations. When something painful happens to a person, Heaven forbid, he should know that “evil does not come forth from the mouth of the Most High” (Eichah 3:38). It is all for his good, an expression of hidden love. Hashem's intention is not to punish him, Heaven forbid, only to make him afraid. And through fear of “the glory of His majesty” (Yeshayahu 2:10), he will be able to sweeten and quiet all the harsh judgments.

3bAs the godly gaon, the holy Yehudi of Peshischa, zt"l, said on the verse, “From Heaven You made judgment heard; the earth feared and was still” (Tehillim 76:9): judgment is not Hashem's essential way of conduct. It is only meant to frighten with the rod, to show that there is a ruling rod. Afterwards, when Israel hear the awesome judgment, and fear, shrink and tremble from the dread of the Day of Judgment, then “it was still”: all the judgments are sweetened and quieted. For if a person takes to heart from Whose source the distress and suffering came, and how much it pains Hashem, so to speak, that He must frighten His treasured people, the holy seed of Israel, with the ruling rod, he will see and understand that all this is mercy, and that within this judgment lies a root of kindness. Through this reflection everything becomes kindness, and the judgment is sweetened in the root of kindness found within it. As the holy Ba'al Shem Tov said, this is the sweetening of judgments at their root. And this is “Yitzchak son of Avraham”: even the attribute of severity, alluded to by Yitzchak, is love, for through the fear the judgments are quieted and sweetened. And this is “Avraham begot Yitzchak”: afterwards it becomes clear for all to see that the fear came from Hashem's love for us, alluded to by Avraham, in order to refine us so that we merit the love of Hashem.

4aWith our words we can understand the Midrash Tanchuma on our parshah (Toldos 5): “‘These are the generations of Yitzchak.’ This is what the verse says: ‘No weapon formed against you shall succeed...’ (Yeshayahu 54:17). You find Israel saying before the Holy One, blessed be He: ‘Master of the worlds, see how the nations enslave us! They have no other occupation but to sit and plot against us, as it says, “Look at their sitting and their rising; I am their song” (Eichah 3:63).’ The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: ‘What do they accomplish? They issue decrees against you, and I annul them and break them, as it says, “I am their song.”’” See the whole Midrash there. Everyone who reads it will wonder what this Midrash has to do with the verse, “These are the generations of Yitzchak.” But it follows the lines of what we said above. The verse “These are the generations of Yitzchak son of Avraham” means that the Creator's intention in the attribute of severity is severity within kindness. All the decrees and troubles have good and kindness as their goal: “the earth feared and was still.” But Heaven forbid that He should intend to destroy the nation of Israel, His treasured people, as it says, “For I, Hashem, have not changed, and you, children of Yaakov, have not been consumed” (Malachi 3:6).

4bThis is the meaning of the Midrash: “What do they accomplish with the decrees they issue? I annul them.” As it continues, “Pharaoh decreed, but Hashem did not decree.” It is known that the main purpose of the Egyptian exile was to sift out the holy sparks that had fallen and been swallowed among the forces of impurity, which could be raised only through suffering, as the holy Ohr HaChaim writes. That is “Pharaoh decreed, but Hashem did not decree”: “their thoughts are not My thoughts” (Yeshayahu 55:8). On the contrary, “the more they afflicted him, the more he multiplied and spread” (Shemos 1:12), for all this was for the sake of the redemption. “Haman sought to destroy, but Hashem did not seek it.” Instead it was turned around: through the awe and fear they did teshuvah out of love, and the judgments were sweetened. “Balak and Bilam sought to curse, but Hashem did not seek it”: “Hashem your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because Hashem your God loves you” (Devarim 23:6). All of this came from “because Hashem loves you.”

5aThis explains the Midrash further on: “Hadrian said to R' Yehoshua: ‘Great is the sheep that stands among seventy wolves!’ He answered: ‘Great is the Shepherd!’” At first glance, what was the question and what was the answer? The simple reading is that Hadrian was challenging him: how can such a nation survive among the wolves? But the Midrash can be explained through Chazal's words (Yoma 69b): “Why were they called the Men of the Great Assembly? Because they restored the crown to its former glory. Moshe came and said, ‘the great, the mighty and the awesome’ (Devarim 10:17). Yirmiyahu came and said, ‘Idolaters are carousing in His Sanctuary; where are His awesome deeds?’ and left out ‘awesome.’ They came and said: ‘On the contrary, these are His mighty deeds, and these are His awesome deeds. Were it not for the fear of Him, how could such a nation survive among the nations?’” The point is this. As is known, “awesome” is Tiferes, the attribute of Yaakov, the middle pillar, which blends kindness and severity and is mercy. That is why Yirmiyahu asked, “Where are His awesome deeds?” Is this the attribute of mercy? But the Men of the Great Assembly, “great,” which is kindness, Avraham's attribute with no admixture of judgment, said, “These are His mighty deeds, these are His awesome deeds”: this too is kindness. For afterwards the kindness was revealed for all to see, and it became clear in hindsight that the sufferings were for their good.

5bAs the verse says, “It is my sickness: the changing of the right hand of the Most High” (Tehillim 77:11). The right hand is kindness, as is known, and the “change” of the Most High's right hand is only to frighten, to make people shrink and tremble from the dread of the Day of Judgment, so that the judgments are sweetened and quieted. This is the meaning of Chazal's words (Shabbos 89b): in the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will say to Avraham, “Your children have sinned,” and he will say, “Let them be wiped out for the sanctification of Your Name.” Yaakov will say the same. But Yitzchak will say, “Half on me and half on You.” At first glance this is astonishing. Avraham's attribute is kindness and Yaakov's is mercy, yet they will say, “Let them be wiped out for the sanctification of Your Name,” while Yitzchak, whose attribute is severity, will say, “Half on me and half on You”? But in the future we will merit the light of understanding, as it says, “The earth shall be full of knowledge of Hashem” (Yeshayahu 11:9). Then every creature will understand and see Hashem's kindness: that even the attribute of severity is one of the offspring of kindness, and is hidden love. Yitzchak is “son of Avraham,” as explained above.

6This is the meaning of Chazal's words (Yevamos 64a) on “Hashem was entreated (vaye'aser) by him” (Bereishis 25:21): “Why is the prayer of tzaddikim likened to a pitchfork (eser)? Just as a pitchfork turns the grain over, so the prayer of tzaddikim turns the attribute of anger into the attribute of mercy.” The believer is called a tzaddik, as in “the tzaddik lives by his faith” (Chavakuk 2:4). By the strength of his faith in the nights, in the dark times, that this too is mercy, he turns anger into compassion, into good kindness, until it is revealed for all to see that it is kindness. This also explains the words of R' Yitzchak there: “Why were our forefathers barren? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, longs for the prayer of tzaddikim.” As we said above, the Creator's essential will in frightening us is that we come to the fear of Hashem: “the earth feared and was still.” Then “they cry out to Hashem in their distress” (Tehillim 107:6), from the depths of the heart: “God is the Rock of my heart and my portion” (Tehillim 73:26), and He answers them. For this is the Creator's essential will, as Chazal say on the verse “Let me hear your voice” (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:14): the Holy One, blessed be He, longs to hear their voice once again. For “the voice of Yaakov” roars from its depths, from the innermost heart. (The rest of the manuscript is missing.)