In examining the sequence of events leading up to the formation of the Jewish people, one is struck by the unlikelihood that our nation would ever come to be. The Talmud in Yevamos (64a) teaches us that Isaac, Sara, Rebecca, and Rachel were all infertile. With 3/4 of our matriarchs and 1/3 of our patriarchs unable to naturally procreate, the possibility of there ever being the Jewish nation was next to impossible. Yet, miraculously, with substantial prayer on the part of our forebears, and the Almighty’s mercy, all four of our matriarchs conceived, and you the reader, are still around some three-and-a-half-thousand years later!
An obvious philosophical question is: If the Almighty intended for there to be a Jewish nation that would eventually become his chosen people, why choose as their progenitors a group of people naturally incapable of procreation and miraculously reverse their situation? Would it not have made more sense to have selected fertile people as the founders of the nation, and avoid the heartache and intense prayer thrust upon all our avot (patriarchs) and imahot (matriarchs)?
The Talmud (ibid) gives a strange answer to this question, saying that the Almighty desires the prayers of the righteous, and He intentionally created our forefathers incapable of bearing children to force them into a situation that would require intense prayer to reverse their infertility. This statement sounds cruel, if not outright sadistic. It almost seems as if the Almighty had placed the avot and imahot in a situation that they would be forced to call out in pain and agony so that He could respond!
Clearly, this is not the case. The Almighty created this world as an outlet for His mercy, compassion and kindness, and the last thing in the world that He desired was to create unnecessary suffering. That being said, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato explains that the formative years of our people and the lives of our patriarchs and matriarchs were analogous to the crucial first years in the development of a tree. The future of the tree – its height, width, durability and viability – depends on the early development of the tree’s roots and trunk. There are so many variables that ultimately determine the longevity of the tree – sufficient sunlight, hydration, soil quality etc. – but if the tree develops properly in its formative years, its long-term existence is ensured. Conversely, if the tree experiences developmental setbacks, its entire future is questionable.
Similarly, writes Rabbi Luzzato, every incident and occurrence in the lives of our forefathers and mothers had an eternal effect on the future of the Jewish people. It would seem that the infertility of our forebears would not have been conducive to Jewish continuity, yet through prayer and the Almighty’s miraculous mercy, the fledgling Jewish people persisted, developed and thrived. Our roots were miraculous and so is our continued existence.
Historically, this phenomenon has been recognized by great minds such as Nikolai Berdyaev, the prominent Russian Orthodox philosopher, in his classic work, The Meaning of History (1935). He writes:
The Jews have played an all-important role in history. Their destiny is too imbued with the “metaphysical” to be explained either in material or positive historical terms … Its survival is a mysterious and wonderful phenomenon demonstrating that the life of this people is governed by special predetermination, transcending the process of adaptation … The survival of the Jews, their resistance to destruction, their endurance under absolute peculiar conditions and the fateful role played by them in history; all point to the particular and mysterious foundations of their destiny.
Similarly, it is said that King Louis XIV of France once asked Blaise Pascal, the renowned 17th-century mathematician and philosopher, to give him proof of the supernatural. Pascal answered: “Why, the Jews, your Majesty – the Jews.”
As we read through the weekly Torah portions that chronicle our mystical foundations and miraculous formation, let us pause for a moment and reflect upon the wonder of our people and the enduring miracle of Jewish continuity.