Ohev Yisrael

"And Isaac went out to meditate in the field, etc." One may say that it is known that the attribute of Yitzchak is the attribute of fear and gevurah (severity/strength). And evening, too, is the attribute of dinim (judgments), and Yitzchak the tzaddik (righteous one) wished to rectify his aspect and to remove and clear away the harsh dinim from upon Yisrael his children. This is "and Yitzchak went out to meditate in the field" — in the manner that Yitzchak called it "field," and when he looked upon the destruction of the Temple, "Zion shall be plowed as a field," he prayed about this matter. This is "lasuach basadeh" (to meditate in the field) — to pray in the "field of holy apples." And "toward evening" means to remove all the dinim from upon Knesset Yisrael (the Community of Israel), above and below, and especially at the time when they are scattered and dispersed among the nations. "And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, camels (gemalim) were coming." This means: he saw the good reward (gemul) that would grow from this for the seed of Israel in the future, on account of the greatness and multitude of the troubles and afflictions that they accepted upon themselves and suffered in the time of exile, and nevertheless they served Hashem Yitbarach (the Blessed One) and kept the Torah and mitzvot. And when he saw this good reward, his mind was set at ease about it and he agreed to the matter. "And Rivkah" — she is the Shechinah (Divine Presence) — "lifted up her eyes and saw Yitzchak." This means: when she, too, saw the troubles and afflictions that would pass over Israel in the time of exile, her mercy was greatly stirred and her innards yearned for her children. "And she fell from off the camel (gamal)" means that she fell from the good reward (gemul) that would grow for the seed of Israel from this in the future, and her mind was not set at ease by this. For this reason she did not wish to agree to it — namely, that they should have troubles and afflictions beyond measure, even though afterward their reward, their goodness, and their success would be doubled without measure or limit — in the manner of "neither them nor their reward." "And she said to the servant, 'Who is this man...'" — for Yitzchak signifies his attribute, the attribute of din (judgment), and this is "coming to meet us" — meaning that it is in opposition to us, for she did not wish to agree to this matter. "And he said, 'He is my master'" — this is the attribute of Yitzchak, which is the attribute of gevurah.

"And she took the veil and covered herself" — this means that when the Shechinah sees, as it were, that Knesset Yisrael is in distress and exile, she, too, clothes herself in various garments and joins with them in their distress; and please G-d, at the time of the redemption, the glory of Hashem will be revealed, and she will remove herself from the garments, and His kingship will be revealed over us, as it is written, "And your eyes shall see your Teacher." Further, "the veil" (hatzaif) in gematria (numerical value) equals "rinah" (song) — meaning that the righteousness of Rivkah our mother, peace be upon her, availed through her prayer: that through the rinah and singing of Pesukei DeZimrah (Verses of Praise) with complete intention, in yirah (awe) and ahavah (love), they would be able to cover themselves from the dinim, and also to nullify them, and to protect them. Also, "zemirot" (songs) carries the meaning of "zamir aritzim" (the cutting down of the tyrannical). That is, through the zemirot, offered in dread, yirah, and ahavah, truly and wholly, one can cut down and destroy all the accusers and prosecutors, and nullify all the dinim and afflictions from upon them, and sweeten them at their root. And through this, all goodness will be drawn down upon them, so may it be His will, Amen. And understand this.