The Last Laugh

by Rabbi Zev Brenner
Special To The Jewish Week

Candlelighting, Readings:
Shabbat candles: 4:29 p.m.
Torah reading: Genesis 18:1-22:24
Haftarah: II Kings 4:1-37
Shabbat ends: 5:29 p.m.

Vayera heralds the birth of the first Jewish child, Isaac (Yitzhak), certainly a seminal event in Jewish history.

When Abraham and Sarah were told of his birth, they laughed. The Midrash tells us that even the Angels laughed, the world laughed; God commanded that laughter be embedded in his name, Yitzhak, “He Will Laugh.”

His relationship with his half-brother Yishamel is affected by Yishamel laughing at him. Even Yitzhak’s deepest relationship is defined by laughter, “Yitzhak was laughing with Rivka his wife” [Genesis 26:8].

/>Since it’s a basic Jewish teaching that a name defines a person, Rabbi Matis Weinberg calls this “history’s prize winning misnomer: The name Yitzhak.” It seems preposterous that this unfunny patriarch who was created out of the anguish of the Akeida (the almost-sacrifice on Moriah) should be given a name of laughter rather than something more august.

Prior to Yitzhak’s birth, the parsha lays the foundation for the birth of the Messiah, by telling the story of the incestuous relationship of Lot and his daughters which resulted in the birth of Moab [Gen. 19:37], the ancestor of Ruth, King David and ultimately of the Messiah.

The Shach wonders why Israel’s lineage, dominion and kingship appear in such a way that it might be traced to an aspect of illegitimacy. One would think that the Holy Messiah should come from the most illustrious and prestigious lineage.

The Noam Elimelech explains why this is the case by quoting the Midrash that states, “I found David, My servant. Where did I find him? In Sedom” [Bereishit Rabbah 50:10].

The Noam Elimelech explains that this is a Kabbalistic concept elucidating why Abraham descended from Terach, an idol worshipper, and why so many Holy Tzadikim came from impure ancestry: When the “Evil Accusers” see an exalted soul they employ every strategy to prevent it from coming into the world. God places these in a defiled body, so the accusers leave it alone, thinking it unable to ascend to the heights of holiness. Better that the holy souls fly under the rader.

Rabbi Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal, author of “Eim Habonim Semeicha,” written while hiding from the Nazis, before his martyrdom, applies this concept to our times.

Initially anti-Zionist, he came to the conclusion that just as the original light of the Messiah developed in ugly wrappings, the same thing applies during the era of the footsteps of the Messiah. “The time came,” he writes “for Moshiach to arrive, but the land needed to be prepared and rebuilt. Therefore Hashem was compelled to steal away from the evil forces and destroy their strength using their own tactics, so he chose unworthy men.”

Rabbi Teichtal concludes the Holy Rabbis couldn’t build up the Holy Land. It could only be done by those who weren’t religious and who fell under the radar.

With this concept we can connect the two births listed in our sedra — Yitzhak and Moab — which at first glance don’t seem to have much to do with each other.

Tradition tells us when Yitzhak was born the whole world trembled. The rulers and tyrants were frightened that a child was to be born to promulgate the belief in one God, and whose descendants would teach the world justice, truth and mercy.

The tyrants wanted to destroy this child who would change the status quo. Their advisors allayed their apprehensions by saying the whole thing was not serious, they joined the laughter at a child born to such old parents; even his name was a laughing matter. In their ignorance, Yitzhak was a name of universal derision, much as Judaism will endure the mockery of humanity throughout history — until the end of days, until the coming of the Messiah (descendent of Moab) when all will recognize Judaism’s grandeur.

Just as Yitzhak was born against all odds to old parents, so would his descendants be counted out time and again. They laughed at the Jews when we started returning to the Holy Land. When the U.N. voted to partition Palestine, Ernest Bevin, the British prime minister, laughed. “The Jews will ask the British to return,” Bevin sneered. “What chance have they against seven Arab countries which vow they will drive the Jews into the sea?”

The laughter Yitzhak represents is the happy ending that awaits us all — the Messianic era. As Psalm 126 promises, at the end of exile, returning to Zion, “then will laughter fill our mouths,” mockery will turn to true laughter and joy. May we have the last laugh speedily in our days.

Rabbi Zev Brenner, president and CEO of Talkline Communications Network, and host of its flagship program “Talkline with Zev Brenner,” is founder of the daily 9:15 minyan at Congregation Hechal Moshe (The Vorhand Shul) in Manhattan. His Torah insights here are dedicated to the memory of his father, Harav Pesach Ben-Moshe Aryeh, whose yahrtzeit is this week.

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