Live your life- and take some risks

There is a Medrash towards the end of Parshat Chayei Sarah that at first seems peculiar, but I believe it can teach us an important lesson.

                After Avraham’s death we read (25:11) “And it was after the death of Avraham that God blessed Yitzchak his son.” Rashi quotes two interpretations. The first interpretation emphasizes the timing of God’s blessing Yitzchak: ie after the death of Avraham. According to this explanation, God “made a shiva visit” to Yitzcah and offered him consolation over the loss of his father Avraham. This is the source in Chumash that God engaged in comforting mourners and from where we learn that we must act similarly and comfort mourners as well.

                In the second interpretation the focus is on who is blessing of Yitzchak: ie God, and not Avraham. We would have expected Avraham to bless his son before his death, just as Yitzchak and Yaakov do at the end of their lives. Rashi explains that Avraham considered blessing Yitzchak but refrained from doing so, after foreseeing that Yitzchak was destined to have a wicked son, Eisav. In light of this defect, Avraham was not comfortable offering Yitzchak a blessing and instead left the decision whether to bless Yitzchak up to God. The Torah clearly states that while Avraham may have had qualms about blessing Yitzchak, God did not.

                Perhaps the Torah here is teaching us the value of taking risks. Sure, there was a definite risk in spiritually fortifying Yitzchak, for that meant that Eisav would also be blessed by extension. This was a risk that Avraham was not willing to take. However Hashem “overrules” Avraham and blessed Yitzchak anyway. Hashem is teaching us that we sometimes need to take risks in order to create the big opportunities and huge accomplishments. Eisav may have been blessed by extension, but more importantly Yitzchak and Yaakov and all of their descendant were blessed, thereby changing the course of Jewish history. It may be that God’s decisions are less risky because He knows the outcome. Nevertheless I view Rashi’s second explanation here as a reminder and encouragement for us to take risks at times in order to maximize our success in life.