"...the
world is not just what we see; there is so much more to it. The hand of G0d
guides each and every one of us. Our mission in this world is to see the
Divine's guiding hand in everything, and to know that there is so much more
than what meets the eye.
Laughter And Destiny
By Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein
Understanding the secret of the name "Yitzchak" (Isaac) is the key to our future
The book of Genesis is about the foundations of the Jewish people --- our founding fathers and mothers. In the two previous Torah portions, we were introduced to Abraham and Sarah. Last week we read about the birth of Yitzchok (Isaac), and in this week's reading we have the passing of Abraham and Sarah and Yitzchok's marriage to Rebecca, moving from the first generation of the Forefathers and --- mothers to the second.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NAME 'YITZCHOK'
The name Yitzchok is an interesting name. It comes from the Hebrew word for laughter, tz'chok. When Yitzchok was born, Sarah said (Genesis 21: 6), tz'chok asa li Elokim, kol hashome'a Yitzchok li, "G0d has made laughter of me; whoever hears [about the birth] will laugh." The foremost commentator, Rashi, interprets this to mean not that people will laugh but that people will rejoice. Abraham and Sarah had waited so long, and so Yitzchok's birth brought great joy to them and to others as well, since everyone had seen them struggling for years. Rashi adds from the Midrash that many people who had been suffering from ill health or who had also been unable to have children had their prayers answered on the day that Yitzchok was born. Thus his name represents the tz'chok, the joy that his birth brought to the world.
However, the name Yitzchok has much more significance than merely the joy at the time of his birth. As one of the founding fathers of the Jewish people, his name obviously has much greater significance. This is evident in the fact that G0d himself chose his name, even before Yitzchok was born, as we read in chapter 17 verse 19: G0d said to Abraham "surely your wife Sarah will give birth to a son and you will call his name Yitzchok." What is the significance behind this name?
Rashi offers two explanations: the first is that it is for the joy that his birth brought, as mentioned above, and the second is that the name Yitzchok is composed of four Hebrew letters - a yud, a tzadik, a ches and a kuf, each of which has numerical significance: the yudis numerically ten, referring to the ten tests with which Abraham was tested; the tzadikis numerically ninety, referring to Sarah's age at Yitzchok's birth; the ches is numerically eight, referring to the eighth day on which Yitzchok was circumcised; and the kuf, is numerically a hundred, Abraham's age at Yitzchok's birth. These four letters comprising the name Yitzchok contain a reference to all of these major events: the ten tests, the ninety years of Sarah, the eighth day of the circumcision and the hundred years of Abraham.
In his commentary on Rashi, the Maharal of Prague explains that these four milestones -- the ten tests, Abraham and Sarah's age, and the eighth day on which Yitzchok was circumcised -- are all interconnected, and this actually answers the question of why G0d made Abraham wait for so long to have a child.
G0d wanted Yitzchok to be born after the commandment of circumcision had been given, so that he would be circumcised on the eighth day in accordance with the exact specifications of the mitzvah (unlike Ishmael, who had been circumcised at thirteen because that is how old he was at the time Abraham received the commandment). And G0d specifically delayed the commandment of circumcision till Abraham was old, because circumcising himself at such an old age was one of G0d's ten tests of Abraham's faith.
Courtesy: http://jewishworldreview.com/1111/goldstein_isaac_yitzchok
