Parsha Tol'Dot-Prayers of Soul Mates

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Parsha Tol'Dot-Prayers of Soul Mates

Parsha Tol'Dot-Prayers of Soul Mates

Prayers of Soul Mates

And Yitzhak was forty years old when he took Rivkah, a daughter of Bethuel the Aramite of Paddan-Aram, a sister of Lavan the Aramite, to be his wife. And Yitzhak entreated HaShem concerning his wife, for she was barren, and HaShem was entreated by him, and Rivkah, his wife, conceived….now Yitzhakwas sixty years old when she bore them (Yaakov and Esau).-- Genesis 25:20-21,26

Rivkah did not conceive children right away. Several reasons are proffered. One was that the blessing of her idolatrous family would have been credited and therefore would have fostered the notion that they had a stake in the building of the family of Israel’s Patriarchs. Another is that HaShem strongly desires the prayers of His saints, for those words have redemptive power in the world. Also, with the count of the Egyptian exile beginning at the birth of Yitzhak, this delay shortened the time of the actual years.

Rivkah had been barren for twenty years of her marriage to Yitzhak when they went to the mountain, where he had been bound on the altar, to pray for her to become pregnant. They stood opposite each other and each prayed. Yet the pashat seems to say only Yitzhak prayed and was answered. Why? One opinion says that the prayer of the child of saintly person will be answered before that of the child of a wicked person. In the merit of Avraham, Yitzkak’s prayer was heard before Rivka’s.

I would like to suggest another opinion. When Adam and Chava were first created, HaShem “called them Adam” (Genesis 5:2). They were so close, they shared a name. When Yitzhak and Rivka came together in prayer, their souls merged into one, with one heart, one mind, and one name--Yitzhak. Their soul cried out to HaShem for the pain of being childless. However, in that joint soul, one was stronger and one weaker, one feeling the pain of the lack more than the other. The stronger one could stand before the Heavenly Court and pray the necessary words that the weaker one might not be able to pray adequately.

At the Akedah, Yitzhak’s soul had seen across the chasm of death into the judgment of souls. He is therefore associated with the sefirotic attribute of din (judgment). Yet he was able to transcend and see the merciful sweetness attached to judgment of a Gd, the ultimate giver of good, and laugh—as his name indicates. Although Yitzhak may appear to be the most silent and illusive of the Patriarchs, making us even consider him weak (Gd forbid), there is a unique strength that he was able to bring down from the Akedah as a heritage of his children. This was the ability to look at the judgment with calm faithful assurance in the Divine goodness that brought about holy laughter. It was this strength that he brought to the prayer with Rivka. As in future times of trouble, “the ashes of Yitzhak” invoked divine mercy for his descendants; whenever harsh judgment would be required against them it was this ultimate willing sacrifice that would invoke mercy. Yes, the situation in the world was bleak and heartbreaking, but there was something beyond, a healing plan that would bring victory to them and to all their children. This was the strength Yitzhak brought to the prayer, lifting Rivka, feeling her pain as his own and speaking the words of their soul’s heart—words from the very the heart of HaShem, as they together unified with Him and drew down His will into the world.

The prayer of a soul mate can be the most powerful, being the first person with the authority to pray for the pain of the partner. As the partner suffers with sickness, or some other debilitating ailment, he may become too weakened and discouraged to pray for himself. The soul mate can then step into his place, asking for the words to speak on his behalf as his advocate before the Court of Heaven. Indeed, this is most powerful when they can realize their joint connection with the suffering. This is beautifully illustrated in a story told of a time when Rav Kook had to take his wife to the doctor with an injured foot. He said, “Doctor, our foot hurts.” Whatever the ailment, when the partner can so completely connect with that pain as his own, the prayer will be all the more powerful. In addition, this takes the union of the two into perfect union with HaShem. It is raising up the pain as a sacrifice, a vehicle, to merge with His Will.

Yitzhak connected in this way with Rivka’s pain of being childless, and the result was twin sons who would set the stage of world history.

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