Chayei Sara As It Should Be

It is always important to keep in mind that there can be many layers of meaning in the Takanos Chazal that established the weekly Haftorah. Although sometimes we may assume that the connection to the Parshas is latent, a closer look may reveal another important message that our Chachamim wished us to receive from the Divrei HaNavi. Perhaps we find such an instance this week.

The Hafotorah for Parshas Chayei Sara is taken from the very beginning of Sefer Melachim, and discusses the final days of Dovid Hamelech. The Pessukim begin with the words “V’Hamelech Dovid Zaken Bah Bayamim”, which are quite similar to a phrase that appears in the Sedra: “V’Avraham Zaken Bah Bayamim”. The connection between the Parsha and Haftorah likely extends beyond these similar words, however.

The bulk of the Haftorah is dedicated to the story of Adoniyahu ben Chagis, a son of Dovid HaMelech who attempted to usurp the Malchus from Shlomo, the heir apparent. The Navi describes the steps that Adoniyahu took to try and solidify his power, and then the approach that Nosson HaNavi and Batsheva used to bring the matter to the attention of Dovid. Overall, the theme of the Haftorah seems to be the transfer of power, and progression of Mesorah, from one generation to the next. This also seems relevant to the Parsha which is largely focused on the transition from a focus on the life of Avrohom to that of Yitzchok Avinu.

Perhaps, however, there is a lesson contained within the Pessukim that pertains more directly to Yitzchok.

When Adoniyahu decided that he would attempt to assume the throne, declaring “Ani Emloch”, he created an event to mark the occasion. A group of compatriots—Including Yoav ben Tzruya and Evyasar Hakohen, powerful men in the kingdom—were gathered, and Adoniyahu brought Korbanos in the manner of a victor. The Passuk tells us what he brought, “Vayizbach Adoniyahu Tzon U’Bakar U’Miri”, fattened and respectable animals, and where he brought them: “Im Even HaZolachas Asher Etzel Ein Rogel”. The celebration was attended by his brothers, the other sons of Dovid Hamelech, and the local Anshei Yehuda, and was seen as the “crowning” achievement of the young self-appointed regent.

In examining the Navi’s description of this event, the named location is difficult to understand: what is an “Even HaZolachas”, and why is it mentioned here?

Rashi defines Even HaZolachas as a large stone that was the subject of a competition: “HaBachurim Menasim Bah Es Kocham L’Hazizah ULiGarera”. Young men would display their physical prowess by trying to move the large rock, which did not easily budge. The word “Zolachas”, in this Pshat, relates to the term “Mayim Zochalin”, or still water—commonly known as a Mikva. The stone, which was not movable, was as still as the waters of a Mikva.

The Targum Yonasan, for his part, translates the word Even HaZolachas as “Even Sekusa”. Rashi explains, in this approach, that the Even Zolachas was a large stone upon which one could stand to see far into the distance. It is not immediately clear, however, how this description of the Even HaZolachas is seen from its name.

Other Meforshim provide similar explanations as to why this particular rock was called Even HaZolachas, but there is a larger question at hand: why do we even know about it? Why did Adoniyahu choose to make his celebration, and faux correlation, at this location and why does the Navi specifically mention it? What message is there for us in this stone?

In order to understand the meaning of the Even HaZolachas let us examine its appearance in the Divrei Chazal.

The Gemara in Meseches Sanhedrin discusses those who rebel against authority, and makes a very strong statement: “Kol HaCholek Al Malchus Bais Dovid Ra’uy L’Hakchisho Nachash.” Anyone who disputes the Malchus of Bais Dovid, says the Gemarah, is worthy of being bitten by a snake. The Gemarah establishes the root of this idea in our Passuk: Adoniyahu, who was disputing the potential Malchus of Shlomo, brought his Korbanos at the Even HaZolachas, and the Passuk in Parshas Hazinu uses the term “Chemas Zochlei Afar” to refer to a snake. We see then that the word “Zocheles” ties one who is Cholek Al Malchus Bais Dovid to a Nachash.

There are, of course, a number of important questions that must be raised in learning this Gemarah.

First, it seems that Chazal see Adoniyahu as being Cholek Al Malchus Bais Dovid, a presumption that is a little hard to understand. If a person contests the primacy of Bais Dovid, insisting that perhaps the king may come from a different lineage or Shevet, he could be seen as being Cholek on Malchus Bais Dovid. Adoniyahu, on the other hand, was not challenging the fact that the Melucha belonged to Dovid and his children—his challenge related to which of Dovid’s sons deserved to be the next Melech. How is this seen as a Cholek Al Malchus Bais Dovid?

Also, what is the connection between one who is Cholek on Malchus Bais Dovid and a Nachash? Why is it this specific punishment that the Gemarah refers to, based on the Drasha from our Passuk?

The Yerushalmi in Meseches Pe’ah learns another Halacha from the story of Adoniyahu: from the fact that Nosson plotted with Batsheva to tell Dovid about his son’s rebellion, we see that it is Muttar to speak Lashon Harah about a Ba’al Machlokes.

The Sefer Chofetz Chaim, which is of course a fundamental work on Hilchos Lashon Harah, takes something of a limited approach in this Heter, not necessarily allowing Lashon Harah to be spoken about those who engage in Machlokes. It would seem that this runs contrary to the Yerushalmi in Pe’ah, a matter discussed by the later Meforshim on Sefer Chofetz Chaim.

The Zera Chaim, one such commentary, establishes a difference between one who is a Ba’al Riv and a Ba’al Machlokes. Someone who is argumentative, or perhaps has sundry arguments with friends and neighbors, is called a Ba’al Riv, and perhaps subject to the same set of Halachos as anyone else with regard to Lashon Harah. A Ba’al Machlokes, explains the Zera Chaim, is different.

The Gemarah in Sanhedrin establishes the prototypical Ba’al Machlokes, Korach, and then brings the Memra regarding a Cholek Al Malchus Bais Dovid. From here we see, explains the Zera Chaim, that a Ba’al Machlokes is one who is Cholek on a basic and fundamental part of the Mesorah, such that it touches on the Yichud Haborei. When Korach fought with Moshe, he was not only guilty of arguing with a leader, but of challenging the Mesorah of Kehuna given by HKBH. So too, Adoniyahu was not a mere Ba’al Riv, one who was creating strife and Pirud—he was a Cholek Al Malchus Bais Dovid in the Derech of Korach V’Adaso. This rendered him a Ba’al Machlokes, about whom it was Muttar for Nosson HaNavi to speak Lashon Harah.

This definition of a Ba’al Machlokes is quite helpful to our discussion: those who think that they understand how things are supposed to be, how Klal Yisroel is to be run, how the Mesorah is to be transmitted, fall into a category all their own.

The superiority of Malchus Bais Dovid is predicated on the understanding that the transmission of the Melucha is not determined by human instinct or preference, but through the Hashgachas Hashem. Adoniyahu, in declaring “Ani Emloch”, was removing the Malchus from that realm and placing it in the sphere of human interaction. In so doing, he was just as much a Cholek Al Malchus Bais Dovid as one who thought the next king should come from Shever Reuven. He had an alternate, and perverted, approach to the Mesorah of Melucha, and that was his downfall.

The Tosefta in Sota compares one who perverts the institution of marriage to the Nachash HaKadmoni. The Nachash, explains the Tosefta, was meant to be the Melech on all animals, but it decided to try and reign over Chava as well, and suffered the consequences. It would seem that a snake bite is then a fitting punishment for one who is Cholek Al Malchus Bais Dovid. Just as the Nachash tried to circumvent the way the world was meant to be, to create an alternate reality in which he ruled over Chava, so to one who is Cholek Al Malchus Bais Dovid is not only sowing seeds of disagreement, but making claims that run contrary to the Ratzon Haborei on which our world stands.

With this in mind we can also understand the significance of the Even Hazolachas to the story of Adoniyahu.

In both approaches found in Rashi, his own and that of the Targum, the Even Hazolachas represented an attempt to go beyond established boundaries. Young men, eager to show just how strong they are, would try to move a rock that was not meant to budge—they would fail, the Even remaining still as a Mikva. Alternatively, the rock was used as a vantage point, for people to attempt to see beyond their own Daled Amos, to view that which was truly beyond them.

Perhaps Adoniyahu selected this spot for precisely for its symbolism, as a declreation of his intent to leave the boundaries set for him, and create his own reality. He would move the rock, so to speak, and see a future beyond his present constraints. His mistake was that is was specifically this attitude and approach that made him into a true Ba’al Machlokes rendering him a Cholek Al Malchus Bais Dovid.

This message seems uniquely tied to Yitzchok Avinu, whose life we begin to learn about this week,

We know that each of the Avos represented different Middos. Avrohom was the Amud HaChesed and represented that Middah, his son Yitzchok, in stark contrast, represents the Middah of Din.

Though there are many ways to understand Din, and how it manifested itself in the Avoda and life of Yitzchok Avinu, there is one aspect of Din that is clear. Chazal tell us that originally the world was to be created with Midas HaDin, but Hashem saw that such an approach would not be sustainable and so he used the Middas HaRachamim. The ShI”a Hakadosh explains that the original intent, Din, was not destroyed, but set aside. It emerges, then, that the true Yesod of the world, the way that it is really supposed to run, is with Din.

Yitzchok, the Amud of Din, led a life that was committed to this original state of being, and as such never questioned events in any way. He saw the world through a lens that allowed him to determine the truest Ratzon HaBorei, in the original Derech of Midas Hadin. We see this in the Pessukim as Yitzchok leads something of a sanguine existence, taking everything in stride and adjusting his reality accordingly.

During the weeks that are devoted to learning about Yitzchok Avinu, we can use the story of Adoniyahu, and the message of the Even HaZolachas, to learn an important message. Though we are not masters of Din, like Yitzchok, we must nonetheless avoid the pitfalls of the Even Hazolachas. Each one of us has boundaries created by the Hashgachas Hashem, which represent the Ratzon Haborei. Our task is to learn how to live, to grow and to thrive, within the reality we have rather than trying to create one of our own. We must learn how to live with the stone, rather than trying to move it.