In this week’s parashah, we learn about the death of Sarah, her burial, and Avraham’s servant discovering Rivka as a wife for Yitzhak. The servant brings Rivka to meet Yitzhak and they find him meditating in the field. He is not in action but in meditation.

Genesis 24:63

וַיֵּצֵ֥א יִצְחָ֛ק לָשׂ֥וּחַ בַּשָּׂדֶ֖ה לִפְנ֣וֹת עָ֑רֶב

And Isaac went out walking in the field toward evening…

Where we see the translation of ‘walking’ for lasuach, Rashi translates lasuach to mean ‘to meditate’. What does it mean that Yitzhak went out to the field to meditate? Perhaps he went out for a slow walk where he could take time to grieve for the death of his mother. Perhaps on this walk, he noticed the beauty of the field and the light as evening arrived. He was quiet and, in some way, listened and reflected, all aspects of meditation.

Psalm 65:2

לְךָ֤ דֻֽמִיָּ֬ה תְהִלָּ֓ה

Silence to you is praise.

I imagine that it is through taking time to be quiet; walking, listening, not in action or conversation, that Yitzhak, then, had availability to receive Rivka when she arrived, even to love her immediately. Taking time to pause helped him make space inside so he had more space for her and the world outside himself.

And what makes this practice one of praise? When we take the time to slow down and to quiet the outside noises, we can return to who we actually are. Who we actually are is what we discover when we step away from the news, the worry, the grief, the fear, the yearning, the grasping and the catastrophizing. When we look closely, it is just us meditating in the field taking in the changing of the light; God’s light. Choosing to use the time to be lovingly at home in ourselves is a celebration of what is true, and what is true is all Divine.

May we each commit to making space so that we can bring more love to ourselves, to those around us, and beyond ourselves.

Shabbat Shalom,

Aviva