fbpx

A Weeping Isaac Alone in the Field

[additional-authors]
November 13, 2014

Chayei Sarah is a monumental Torah portion in the Book of Genesis (23:1-25:18) that establishes Hevron as one of our people’s holiest cities in the land of Israel and tells the story of the betrothal of Isaac and Rebekah. Thus, for the first time in Jewish history we witness the passing of the baton of history from one generation to the next.

We, the current generation, however, have yet to fulfill our Jewish destiny. Until there is peace between the tribes of Israel and between Israel and the Palestinians, we will not have fulfilled our raison d’etre as a people to be rod’fei shalom, pursuers of peace.

I offer a poetic midrash on Isaac’s and Rebekah’s encounter leading to their marriage. I love this story because their meeting is pure and sweet, and it suggests a paradigm of what is possible not only between individuals, but between the tribes that comprise the Jewish people today (e.g. Hareidi, Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, secular, liberal and right-wing Zionists, American, Israeli, Russian, British, European, Latin, etc.), and the peoples of the Middle East who know far too much polarization, suspicion, distrust, and hatred of each other.

A Weeping Isaac Alone in the Field

To be alone amidst shifting wheat

And rocks and sun

Beneath stirred-up clouds

And singing angel voices

Audible only by the wind.

‘I’ve secluded myself

As my father did

When he went out alone

Leaving all he knew

For a place he’d never been

That God would show him.

I can do nothing else myself

Because my father broke my heart

And crushed my soul

When he betrayed me

By stealing me away one early morning

Before my mother awoke

And nearly offered me up to his God.

When my mother learned what he had done,

Her soul passed from the world.

O how she loved me!

And filled me up

With laughter, love and tears.

Bereft now of them both,

I’m desolate in this world

And in this field.

O Compassionate One –

Do You hear me

From this arid place

Filled with snakes and beasts,

hatred and vengeance?

I sit here needing You.’

As if in response,

Suddenly from afar

There appears a caravan

Of people and camels,

Led by Eliezer, Abraham’s servant,

With a young girl.

Isaac, burdened by his grief

Does not look nor see.

He sits still

Lasuach basadeh

Meditating and weeping

Beneath the afternoon sun

And swirling clouds

And singing angels

Whom he cannot hear.

Rebekah asks:

‘Who is that man crying alone in the field?’

Eliezer says:

‘He is my master Isaac, Your intended one,

Whose seed you will carry

Into the future.’

Vatipol min hagamal

And she fell from her camel”

Shocked and afraid

Onto the hard ground

Yearning.

She veiled her face

And bowed her head

And together Rebekah and Isaac

Entered Sarah’s tent,

And she comforted him.

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

Print Issue: Got College? | Mar 29, 2024

With the alarming rise in antisemitism across many college campuses, choosing where to apply has become more complicated for Jewish high school seniors. Some are even looking at Israel.

More news and opinions than at a
Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.