B"H
Thursday, Mar-Cheshvan 16, 5780 / November 14, 2019
In this week’s Parsha, Vayeira, the Torah tells the story of the birth of Yitzchak (Isaac) & his circumcision on the eighth day. We also read the story of G-d commanding Abraham to bring Yitzchak to Mount Moriah to be offered as a sacrifice. Only at the last minute, as Abraham was about to fulfill this commandment, did the angel tell him that it was only a test - the greatest test of all.
Q. Who chose the name Yitzchak & why?
A. G-d told Abraham to name his sonYitzchak. Yitzchak is comprised of four Hebrew letters and each of the letters has a numerical value; Yud (10), Tzadik (90), Chet (8), Kuf (100). Each of these four letters represent an important event related to Yitzchak’s life.
Ten(Yud) represents Abraham’s tenth test, when G-d told him to bring Yitzchak as a sacrifice.
Ninety(Tzadik) represents Sarah’s age when she gave birth to Yitzchak.
Eight (Chet) alludes to the eighth day in which Yitzchak was circumcised (he was the first one to be circumcised at eight days).
One hundred(Kuf) is Abraham’s age when Yitzchak was born.
Yitzchakalso comes from the word “tzchok” which means laughter and happiness. One can only imagine the great joy and laughter Yitzchak’s birth brought to his parents; his 90 year old mother & 100 year old father.
Q. How old was Yitzchak when his father led him to be slaughtered on Mount Moriah?
A. He wasn’t a young child. He was thirty seven years old! Abraham was 137 at that time!
Q. Where is Mount Moriah?
A. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where many years later the Holy Temple was built.
Q. Which day of the year was Yitzchak born?
A. Yitzchak was born on the first day of Pesach (Passover), exactly 400 years before the Exodus. In the previous Parsha we read that G-d told Abraham that his descendants will be in exile for 400 years and they will come out with great wealth. The four hundred years began with the birth of Yitzchak. The Jewish people were redeemed from their Egyptian exile on Pesach on the very same day of Yitzchak’s birth, precisely when the 400 years were up.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY