The Weekly Shtikle - Toledos

This week's shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmas my rebbe and Rosh HaYeshivah of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, Harav Yaakov Moshe Kulefsky, zt"l (Yaakov Moshe ben Refael Nissan Shlomo) whose 25^th yahrtzeit is this coming Sunday, 3 Kisleiv.

At the beginning of this week's parsha, we have the well-known episode of Rivkah's difficult pregnancy and the subsequent birth of her twin sons. As her pregnancy concludes, we are told (25:24) "v'hinei somim b'vitnah," behold there were twins in her womb. As many commentaries point out, the word hinei is used to express the novelty of the matter. This would be understandable under any other circumstance. However, the pasuk just before details the prophecy that Rivkah received, making it very clear that she was carrying twins. So there should have been no surprises when she actually gave birth to twins.

Some commentaries suggest that even though Rivkah knew she was carrying twins, no one else did. The novelty of the matter was only experienced by the others present at the time. However, it remains to be seen why that fact alone would be worth accentuating in the pasuk.

R' Yaakov Kamenetsky, in Emes L'Yaakov, offers a fascinating approach. He suggests that in those times, twins were not all that uncommon at all. If we incorporate all of the midrashim, there were indeed multiple instances just in sefer Bereishis. However, the common occurrence was twins of opposite gender. To have twin boys was actually quite rare. This explains why the pasuk is worded in this way.

(He uses this same idea to explain Chavah's assumption at the birth of Sheis. The previous boys were born with twin sisters. Shais, however, was not. This was a clear indication to her that his birth was to fill the void left by Hevel's demise.)

Have a good Shabbos and Chodesh Tov.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: (From the) The Fats of the Land

Dikdukian: Be'er Sheva / Shava

Dikdukian: I will eat, You will eat

AstroTorah: Yaakov and Eisav's Interesting Birthdays by R' Ari Storch

AstroTorah: When is Rosh Chodesh? by R' Ari Storch

AstroTorah: Fighting in Kislev by R' Ari Storch

AstroTorah: Sweet Fifteen by R' Ari Storch

 

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