dauer said:
But why is Ephron called son of Zohar? What is it about Ephron that makes him son of Zohar ooh just checked the hebrew. It's a bad transliteration. It's tzohar. Oh well. Let's move on.
Abraham sends his servant to a well to look for a bride for Isaac, who is growing up pretty quickly I'd say. What's with Isaac? He doesn't speak much. Why not? Why's he so silent? And why does he get spoken of so little? And why is so much time spent on finding him a wife?
Dauer
hmmm dauer - is my copy wrong because it does say son of Zohar?
on to Abraham and the bride for Isaac - yes it was a rather elaborate search and the gifts given were significant .... there is a comment in the commentaries about the camels which is interesting because he says that camels were not domesticated at this time but perhaps camels did have some restricted use for long desert travel, even though they were not generally employed. And in this part the camels are there as a major part in the process to seek a wife for Isaac .... also Isaac is the most pasive of all the patriarchs and Rebekah is forceful and enterprising so they are almost polarities in spirit .... and I don't know what it means when it says
and they blessed Rebekah and said to her; "OUr sister, become hence myriads teeming. May your seed take hold of the gate of its foes." which the commentary points out is nearly identical to the prose blessing on Abraham in 22:17 "I will greatly bless you and will greatly multiply your seed, as the stars in the heavens and as the sand on the shore of the sea, and your seed shall take hold of its enemies' gate." what gates are we talking about, are they part of the 12 gates ? And as the quietness of Isaac, there is one part in the Zohar about the binding of Abraham and Isaac and here is part of it:
"Why then is it written: 'Elohim tested Abraham' and not 'Isaac?'
No, it had to be Abraham
He had to be crowned with Rigor
For until now, Abraham had no rigor at all.
Now Water was crowned with Fire.
Abraham was not complete until now
when he was invested with the power to execute Judgment,
to ordain it in its domain.
His whole life long, he had not been whole until now
when Water was crowed with Fire, and Fire with Water.
.........
.........
Come and see the secret of the word:
Even though we have said
that Abraham, not Isaac, is designated in the verse,
Isaac is secretly implied,
for it is written:
"Elohim tested et Abraham.'
Not 'Abraham, ' but 'et Abraham.'
It is precisely this et that refers to Isaac.
For until now, Isaac was dwelling in the sphere of low power.
As soon as he was bound on the altar,
initiated into Judgement by Abraham,
he was arrayed in his own sphere alongside Abraham.
Fire was crowned with Water; both rose higher.
Thus the battle was joined; Water versus Fire.
Who has ever seen a compassionate father turn cruel?
It was only to reveal the polarity; Water versus Fire,
each one arrayed in its own sphere,
unti Jacob appeared and everything harmonized:
the triad of Patriarchs,
the symmetry of above and below."
So perhaps we have something similar in the polarity of Isaac and Rebekah?Notes from The Zohar also say that "Isaac represents the sefirah of Gevurah, Power, which is also symbolized by gold." So I wonder if this is also related to the gold bracelets, etc given to Rebekah?
These are not easy to read because one has a tendancy to go in and out of different levels of meaning. I read that "the peshat is the starting point, the word on the page. As meaning unfolds, layer by layer one encounters the face of Torah. This is revelation, englightenment. But in Kabbalah, enlightenment leads back to the word; the peshat reappears as the upshot. Like the Zen koan: "First there is a mountain; then there is no mountain; then there is." On this one I think I've only reached "then there is no mountain" .... aloha nui, poh
