Prayer That Leans on Another's Merit

1Rashi [on Bereishis 25:21], drawing on the Gemara (Yevamos 64a), writes: “‘Hashem was entreated by him’: by him and not by her. For the prayer of a tzaddik the son of a tzaddik is not like the prayer of a tzaddik the son of a rasha. Therefore, by him and not by her.” The commentators point out that Rashi's closing words, “therefore, by him and not by her,” seem superfluous, since he already said so at the start. Indeed, these words do not appear in the Gemara.

2It seems to me that the answer lies in the words of my father and teacher, R' Yechiel of Alexander, zt"l, on the verse “These are the generations of Yitzchak the son of Avraham: Avraham begot Yitzchak” [Bereishis 25:19]. Avraham always went about with the thought that on his own account he had no merit at all to rely on, except the one merit of having a worthy son, Yitzchak. And Yitzchak relied entirely on the merit of his father Avraham. This was their constant way in holiness.

3aHis words rest on the Gemara (Berachos 10b): “Whoever relies on his own merit is made to depend on the merit of others, and whoever relies on the merit of others is answered in his own merit.” Here both of them relied on the merit of others: Avraham on Yitzchak's, and Yitzchak on Avraham's. Perhaps this is what Rashi means by “the prayer of a tzaddik the son of a tzaddik is not like the prayer of a tzaddik the son of a rasha.” The tzaddik who is the son of a tzaddik relies entirely on the merit of his forefathers. He was born in holiness and purity and has a gentle nature, so he always sees his own shortcomings. He knows he is not worthy to pray, and leans entirely on his forefathers' merit. The tzaddik who is the son of a rasha has no ancestral merit to lean on. His birth, too, was not in such holiness. He sees himself as better than his parents, as indeed he is. So he relies on his own merit alone. That is far from the way of Avraham Avinu, whose whole avodah was “I am but dust and ashes” [Bereishis 18:27].

3bIt follows that the prayers of Yitzchak and Rivkah were not alike. They were opposites: he prayed in the merit of his forefathers, and she in her own merit. This is the meaning of “Yitzchak entreated Hashem opposite (l'nochach) his wife” [Bereishis 25:21]: truly opposite her. She relied on her own merit, and he on the merit of Avraham Avinu. Lowliness and humility are dear to Hashem, who “dwells with the crushed” [cf. Yeshayahu 57:15]. That is why the prayer of a tzaddik the son of a tzaddik, who leans on the merit of others, is dear to Him. This is the meaning of “by him and not by her.”

4aOr perhaps the holy Rashi meant this. All the deeds of the Avos are a sign for their children [cf. Ramban on Bereishis 12:6]. All their prayers were for the sake of their children after them, so that they too would be able to pray in their time of trouble. When Chazal say “the Avos instituted the prayers” (Berachos 26b), it means that they prepared a path for our prayers to pass through, by our being included in their prayer. The holy Zohar on this parshah [Zohar I:137a–b] explains it, in words needed for our subject: “Another explanation: ‘Yitzchak entreated’: he prayed a prayer and bored a tunnel upward, toward the mazala, the supernal source of destiny, for children.” And further on: “So that holiness may grow and increase for everyone who is in need, through the prayers of the tzaddikim.” That is, their prayer made a path for everyone who comes to pray afterward. Even someone who is not worthy of such a prayer will have holiness added to him, so that his prayer achieves all he asks¹, through the merit of the prayers of the tzaddikim who prayed for this very thing. This holds even for children, life and sustenance, which “do not depend on merit but on mazal” (Moed Katan 28a), as the Zohar there explains.

4bNow, as we said, Rivkah relied on her own merit, for she was truly righteous. Had Hashem answered her prayer then, the memory of these wonders would have been left through her prayer, in that mode of prayer as well. Then a person with no merit of his own to rely on could not pray and awaken Rivkah's prayer, since his prayer is not like hers: she was righteous and had merit of her own, and he does not. So Hashem, who looks to the end of all generations, in order “to make a remembrance for His wonders, gracious and merciful is Hashem” [Tehillim 111:4], listened to the prayer of Yitzchak, who relied entirely on his father's merit. In truth Yitzchak had merit of his own, yet he relied entirely on the merit of his forefathers. So the power of such a prayer, prayer in the merit of the Avos, was awakened. As a result we too, though we have no merit of our own, pray for everything as Yitzchak Avinu did, only in the merit of the Avos. Their merit and their prayer are awakened, so that we too can be saved through all our prayers. Holiness is added to us through our prayers, until we become worthy in our own merit as well, and Hashem can answer us in our own merit. Therefore, “by him and not by her.”

5Perhaps this is the meaning of “These are the generations of Yitzchak the son of Avraham: Avraham begot Yitzchak” [Bereishis 25:19]. Yitzchak relied entirely on Avraham's merit and not at all on his own, and became in his own eyes truly nothing. Therefore, “by him and not by her.” Through the power of his immense self-nullification he awakened the Supernal Ayin, the divine “Nothingness,” which is called the Supernal Mazal, as the Likkutei Torah explains on this parshah. When Avraham Avinu saw Yitzchak's power of self-nullification, he understood his son's precious worth all the more. In his eyes it was a new birth, something he had not known until then, as it says, “You are my son; this day have I begotten you” (Tehillim 2:7). This is “The father of a tzaddik will greatly rejoice (gil yagil)” (Mishlei 23:24): joy after joy, as his son rose from level to level.

6aPerhaps we can read still more into the verse, following what the holy Zohar and the holy books explain. Before the Akeidah, Yitzchak's soul came from the feminine world, the receiving side of the upper worlds. Through the Akeidah that soul flew out of him, and a soul from the masculine world, the giving side, was born in him. His earlier soul flew into the ram slaughtered in his place, so Yitzchak was actually slaughtered, since his soul was in the ram. While he had a soul from the feminine world, he could not father children. Only afterward, when he had a soul from the masculine world, did he become fit to father children. Now Yitzchak Avinu credited the whole trial of the Akeidah to his father Avraham, while Avraham Avinu credited it all to his son Yitzchak. This is the meaning of “These are the generations of Yitzchak the son of Avraham: Avraham begot Yitzchak,” and of Rashi's comment, “Yaakov and Esav, who are spoken of in the parshah.” Yitzchak attributed all his offspring, which came from the new soul he received at the Akeidah, entirely to his father, who had brought it all about.

6bSo the verse says, “These are the generations of Yitzchak,” Yaakov and Esav, who are spoken of in the parshah: all of it came through the power of “the son of Avraham,” through his father Avraham. But in Avraham's mind, the son's strength exceeds the father's [cf. Bava Basra 159a]. Yitzchak stretched out his neck for the Akeidah, and he brought about all the offspring. This is the meaning of the verse that the Midrash expounds about Yitzchak [cf. Bereishis Rabbah 63:1]: “The father of a tzaddik will greatly rejoice, and one who begets a wise son will be glad in him” (Mishlei 23:24), joy after joy. The first joy was at his birth. Afterward, when Avraham Avinu saw Yitzchak's great holiness, that he stretched out his neck to be slaughtered, it was said of him, “You are my son; this day have I begotten you” [Tehillim 2:7], and a new joy was added: he had merited so righteous a son. And after the Akeidah, when he saw that Yitzchak did not credit the achievement to himself but only to his father, that is “wise.” Chochmah, wisdom, is ko'ach mah, the power of “What am I?” Then “one who begets a wise son will be glad in him”: something still greater was born in him, an added wisdom. (From the author's handwritten manuscript.)