Why was Yitzchak able to bear constant awe of G-d?
Drawing on the Zohar, the Chiddushei HaRim explains that Yitzchak's capacity to sustain a constant, overwhelming awe, which otherwise would have been impossible for a human being, could only be borne because Avraham's attribute of chesed (lovingkindness) was included in the Akeidah, joining fire with water so that Yitzchak could unite with his wife and beget children. He adds, from the phrase "to his seed You shall remember" in the Rosh Hashanah liturgy, that only Yaakov, begotten by Avraham's line, is counted as the toldot of Yitzchak, which excludes Esav.AI summary · anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5
Parashat Toldot, 224
פרשת תולדות רכ"ד
"And these etc." – "Avraham begot." For Yitzchak our forefather was a chariot for the "Fear of Yitzchak," as it is written, "And [Yaakov] swore etc. by the Fear of his father Yitzchak." It is impossible to imagine that a flesh-and-blood person could bear such awe, which was constant. And from the sweat of the awe of the holy Chayot issues the river of fire (nahar dinur). How, then, could it have been possible for him to unite with his wife and beget children, were it not for the attribute of chesed of Avraham our forefather, through which, by means of the Akeidah, fire was included in water (esh b'maya), as stated in the holy Zohar?
It also appears that this comes to teach that only those whom Avraham begot are called the "toldot" of Yitzchak, to exclude Esav, who is not called the seed of Avraham. He is also not called the seed of Yitzchak, as stated in Rosh Hashanah (in the liturgy): "to his seed You shall remember."
ואלה כו' אברהם הוליד. שיצחק אבינו שהי' מרכבה לפחד יצחק כמ"ש וישבע כו' בפחד אביו יצחק וא"א לצייר בשכל אדם שיוכל בו"ד לסבול יראה כזו. שהי' תמיד. ומזיעת יראת החיות הקודש נפיק נהר דינור ואיך הי' אפשר לו להזדווג ולהוליד. לולי מידת החסד של א"א שע"י העקדה נכלל אשא במיא. כמ"ש בזה"ק. עוד נראה להורות כי אינו נקרא תולדות יצחק רק מה שאברהם הוליד לאפוקי עשו שאינו נקרא זרע אברהם גם זרע יצחק אינו נק' כמ"ש בר"ה לזרעו תזכור:
Translation: translated by AI (anthropic/claude-sonnet-5.5)