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PARSHAT TOLDOT A ROSE AMONG THORNS "And Yitchak was forty years old when he took Rivkah to wife, the daughter of Betuel the Aramian of Padanaram, the sister to Lavan the Aramian" (Bereishit 25:20). Why does the Torah emphasize the birthplace and genealogy of Rivkah? This is in order to emphasize how she flourished to become "a rose among thorns" (Bereishit Raba 63:4). To resist the influence of her environment, Rivkah learned to make her own decisions and to act with complete self-confidence. She was compelled to be assertive, since she grew up in an in an environment where it was impossible to rely upon anyone to act correctly, let alone her own family. She became familiar with evil, without being affected by it. On the contrary, evil drew her towards good. Her life exemplifies the victory that a person can have over her environment. She embodied the light that emanates from darkness. Whenever there is a question of what to do, Rivkah became the one to take charge. She didn't send her husband to seek Hashem but went by herself, and she was the one to receive the Divine message about her situation and its future outcome. THE PAIN OF HER PREGNANCY "And the children struggled together within her; and she
said, if it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of Hashem."
(Bereishit 25:22) After having prayed years for a child, Rivkah
finally became pregnant - and with twins! However, their struggling
against one another, which she felt within her, was almost too much
to bear. Rather than rejoicing, she was so disturbed by her discomfort
that "she went to inquire of G?d." According to Rashi,
Rivkah asked, "If the pain of pregnancy be so great, why did
I pray and long to become pregnant?" Ohr Hachaim questions:
How could this righteous woman be disturbed by the discomfort of
pregnancy? We know that Tzaddikim are able to endure great pain
in this world, for the sake of eternal goodness. Moreover, when
Hashem answered her, "Two nations are in your womb..."
(Ibid. 23), how did that take away the pain of her pregnancy?
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