What made Yitzchak's love for Rivkah true love
Yitzchak's love for Rivkah was not rooted in physical attraction or self-gratification, but in recognizing her as a true partner enabling him to serve the Creator more fully. A husband's love for the wife who enables his mitzvah is measured by how much she helps him fulfill the Divine will, not by how his own desires are satisfied.AI summary · anthropic/claude-sonnet-5
Genesis 24,67. “Yitzchok brought Rivkah into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he wed her and she became his wife and he loved her.” We need to examine what the Torah meant by Yitzchok loving Rivkah that is so extraordinary that it has to be spelled out here. A husband can love his wife on two different levels. He may love her, i.e. be physically attracted to her as she enables him to satisfy his biological urges. If this is his “love,” it is not love at all, but is merely love of his self. There are husbands who do not love their wives because they are instruments of fulfilling their physical desires, but because their wives enable them to perform their Creator’s will better and more profoundly. This is the true meaning of “someone loving his wife.” The Torah testifies that Yitzchok’s love for Rivkah was of the latter category.
ויביאה יצחק ותהי לו לאשה ויאהבה (בראשית כד, סז). ויש לדקדק מאי בא להשמיענו שיצחק אהב את רבקה. ונראה, כי יש שני אהבות מאיש לאשה, יש אדם שאוהב אשתו תאות גופניות שלו שעל ידי זה ממלא תאותו ונמצא זה אינו אוהב אשתו כלל רק אוהב את עצמו. ויש אדם שאוהב אשתו ואינו מחמת תאות גוף שימלא תאותו, רק מחמת שהיא כלי לקיים על ידה מצות הבורא יתברך שמו כמו שאדם אוהב שאר מצות וזה נקרא אוהב את אשתו. וזהו ויאהבה יצחק, שלא חשב כלל מחמת תאות הגוף שלו, רק כדי לקיים מצות הבורא יתברך שמו ויתעלה זכרו:
Translation: Kedushat Levi translated by Rb. Eliyahu Munk