There's a very interesting Pasuk in this week's Parsha:
"And Itzchak returned and he dug up the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Avraham his father..and he called them by the same names that his father had called them " (Bereshit 26,18)
Honestly, who wants to do the same thing that your father did? Where's the creativity in naming the wells the same names as before? Why copy-paste the last generation's actions? Are we not at an era that demands innovation?
Maybe, but not for Yitzchak. This is exactly what he wanted.
After Avraham's revolutionary message to the world, it was up to the second generation to continue and walk down that same path.
A lot of times this is no less difficult than creating and pronouncing a new idea. It's much more desirable and satisfying being the first to do something. To be the one who can write in his resume "founder of". In Israel there’s a saying: “No one remember’s Bar Kochva’s assistant.” We complement each other by saying “Number 1!” No one likes being number 2.
In our fast and ongoing "wow" culture, this Parsha come to teach us a very important lesson. Hard labor, dedication, perseverance and un-spotlighted actions are the very core of our essence. After all, without Yitzchak there would be no meaning to what Avraham, his father, did. How much gratitude must we give to the “Yitzchaks” of every generation? Jews who refused to give up on their father’s teaching and Torah no matter how outdated and “irrelevant” it seems. Those who the ones who fight hard to just pass on what they themselves receive - father to son, parent to child.
How difficult it is for us, in our lives to be that Yitzchak and not Avraham. Maybe this is why the Torah states only with by Yitzchak , that “and he named it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba until this very day”. Although both Avraham and Yitzchak named it the same, only the latter made it eternal.
From this we learn that only when we commit ourselves to what our forefathers started do we make sure it will stay forever in our consciousness and reality.
Lastly, I would like to ask you. How do you view Judaism? How do you go about living life? How much of it is like Avraham and how much is like Yitzchak?
Shabbat Shalom