Parashat Toledot talks about Yitzhak Avinu. When there was a famine in Eretz Yisrael, Yitzhak went to the land of the Pelishtim. Then, after an altercation with Avimelech, the king of the Pelishtim, who took Rivkah and then returned her, it says,
וַיִּזְרַ֤ע יִצְחָק֙ בָּאָ֣רֶץ הַהִ֔וא וַיִּמְצָ֛א בַּשָּׁנָ֥ה הַהִ֖וא מֵאָ֣ה שְׁעָרִ֑ים וַֽיְבָרֲכֵ֖הוּ ה׳ ׃
Yitzhak planted in that land, and found in that year a hundred-fold, And G-d blessed him.
This is a powerful pasuk, full of beracha. In fact, the Ben Ish Hai lists certain pesukim that one should say on the eve of Rosh Hashana and this is one of them. Why? What’s the lesson of this pasuk, to bring beracha upon us?
Firstly, Rashi tells us that it says that ארץ ההוא, this land, אַעַ"פִּ שֶׁאֵינוֹ חֲשׁוּבָה
Wasn’t especially sacred or important.
Furthermore this year בשנה ההוא ,-was not a normal year, because it was a time of famine,
And yet, despite both these negatives,שֶׁאֲמָדוּהָ כַּמָּה רְאוּיָה לַעֲשׂוֹת מֵאָ֣ה שְׁעָרִ֑ים,
Yitzhak Avinu yielded 100 times the projected amount. Imagine a stock doing 100 times better than the analysts expected!
The stock would go flying.
Yitzhak projected x, and he got 100 times more.
But why was Yitzhak even estimating his profit?
The secret to his success was: אֹמֶד זֶה לְמַעַשְׂרוֹת הָיָה:
This assessment was for the purpose of Maaser (tithing).
Yitzhak wanted to know the projected amount, so that he could give his Maaser.
Some people give their Maaser (10%) early, and they’re ahead of the game. For example, at Rosh Hashana, they might project that their earnings for that year will be 10 million dollars, so they give 1 million to charity in the first three months of the year, before they actually earn it, just based on their projections.
So too, Yitzhak Avinu was always assessing what he would make, in order to calculate and give Maaser. And this occurred during a year of famine!
As we will soon learn, the Hovot Halevavot tells us that regarding Maaser, Hashem says, ובחנוני נא בזאת -we can test Hashem with this. ( Maaser)
Because, according to the Hovot HaLevavot, giving Maaser is based on bitachon. It’s the only area that we are allowed to test Hashem, because when we give it early, despite knowing how things will actually turn out, we are showing our bitachon.
Giving the Maaser early brought Yitzhak Avinu beracha.
That’s a powerful lesson of bitachon and Maaser.
Furthermore it says,
וַיִּזְרַ֤ע יִצְחָק֙ בָּאָ֣רֶץ הַהִ֔וא וַיִּמְצָ֛א בַּשָּׁנָ֥ה הַהִ֖וא
Yitzhak planted in that land and found a hundredfold the same year.
He found? What does that mean? He planted and it grew- why does it say he found?
There’s a famous Gemara ( Megillah 6b) that says יגעת ומצאת תאמין
If you toil.. You find and you’ll be successful. People wonder about this Gemara as well. If I toiled , why will I find it ?
The explanation is that even though we toil, it’s not our toil that makes it happen. We realize its G-d that’s giving it to us.
We realize its G-d’s beracha- we didn’t earn it, we found it. It’s like walking outside and finding a gold coin.
Yitzhak knew that it wasn’t his toil, but that he found it. Recognizing this mindset is yet another secret of this pasuk.
Furthermore, elsewhere in the parasha, the sefer Zera Shimshon explains that Yitzhak Avinu told Yaakov, when he came back,
מה זה מהרת למצוא בני
How’d you find it so fast, my son?
This was the training of his house.
He had “found” it fast..
Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld was the chief rabbi of Yerushalayim in the 1920s-1930s, when the city went through a time of famine. It was around the time of the First World War and there was no food to be had. His wife felt the tremendous pressure of no money or food, but he was totally reliant. One day she reached her limit, so he decided it was time to go out to work. His neighbor was curious to see what the rabbi would do, so he followed him. The rabbi left the house, walked right and then turned left, looked down at the ground, found a gold coin, and returned home. That was his effort of going to work. Similarly, Yitzhak Avinu trained his children this way and when he asked
מה זה מהרת למצוא
How’d you find it so fast?
The answer was, כי הקרה ה׳ אלקיך לפני
Hashem, your G-d, caused me to stumble on it.
That’s the way the Avot looked at their parnassa. Of course they did their Hishtadlut, but they understood that it was מהרת למצוא -Found quickly, כי הקרה ה׳ אלקיך לפני-Because Hashem brought it about.
Have a wonderful day.