## Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit

###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:1:1
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:1:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:1:1)

**ויהי רעב בארץ מלבד הרעב הראשון.** כתב הרמב"ן בזה אולי לא היה רעב בעולם עד ימי אברהם, ויש לתמוה עליו שהרי אמרו רז"ל עשרה רעבון באו לעולם, אחד בימי אדם הראשון שנאמר (בראשית ג׳:י״ז) ארורה האדמה בעבורך, ואחד בימי למך שנאמר (שם) מן האדמה אשר אררה ה', אבל הנכון שיהיה באור הכתוב הראשון לזה לא ראשון לעולם, וכן פירש הרב הוא בעצמו כי היו זוכרים הרעב הראשון ומספרים עליו כי מפני הרעב ההוא הוצרך אברהם לצאת מן הארץ ולרדת למצרים, ויצחק בנו רצה ללכת בדרך אבותיו ולרדת למצרים עד שאמר לו הקב"ה אל תרד מצרימה.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
ויהי רעב בארץ מלבד הרעב הראשון , “There was famine on earth, apart from the first famine, etc.” Nachmanides writes concerning this statement that it is possible that the first famine on earth was the one reported in Genesis 12,10 during the days of Avraham. His comment is surprising in view of what we learned in Bereshit Rabbah 64,2 that there were a total of 10 famines which have been mentioned in the Bible, the first one of which occurred in the days of Adam as a result of G’d cursing the earth for his sake (Genesis 3,17). The second is supposed to have occurred during the time of Lemech, Noach’s father who greeted Noach’s birth as a good omen, saving mankind from the earth which had been cursed (Genesis 5,29). 
 The correct interpretation of our verse is that the word “the first famine,” referred to in our verse describes the post-deluvian world, not the “first” ever. This is evident even from the continuation of Nachmanides’ commentary in which he writes: “for they were remembering the first famine and telling each other about it.” On account of that famine Avraham had felt impelled to leave the land of Canaan and to descend to Egypt. Yitzchak, true to the example set by his father, wanted to do the same, until G’d restrained him by telling him not to go to Egypt.


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:1:2
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:1:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:1:2)

**וכתב**הרב ז"ל כי הפרשה הזאת בענין יצחק עם אבימלך הכל רמז ודוגמא לגלות בבל, כי גלות אברהם למצרים מפני הרעב רמז שיגלו בניו לשם, ולכתו אל עיר גרר אל אבימלך לא היה גלות כי ברצונו הלך, דכתיב ויסע משם אברהם ארצה הנגב וגו' ויגר בגרר, אבל הליכתו של יצחק שם כענין שכתוב וילך יצחק אל אבימלך מלך פלשתים גררה ירמוז לגלות כי גלה ממקומו בעל כרחו והלך אל ארץ אחרת, והנה גלותו היה ממקומו אל ארץ פלשתים שהיא ארץ מגורי אביו, וירמוז לגלות בבל שהוא מקום מגורי אבותינו שהיו באור כשדים.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
Nachmanides, in commenting on this whole paragraph, involving Yitzchak and Avimelech, writes: “this entire paragraph is full of allusions and foreshadows what would happen to the Jewish people when they would go into exile to the land of the Babylonians. Whereas the exile of Avraham into Egypt had been due to a famine, foreshadowing that his descendants would also descend there on account of a famine, this exile of Avraham to Gerar was voluntary (Genesis 20,1) “Avraham journeyed from there to the land of the South and settled between Kadesh and Shur and he sojourned in Gerar.”
The descent of Yitzchak to Gerar, as opposed to that of his father, was involuntary and occurred at the specific command of G’d. (verse 2) It therefore can serve as a preview of an exile to a land one’s fathers had come from. Just as Avraham had come from Babylonia before migrating to the land of Canaan, so when his or Yitzchak’s descendants would march into exile it was fitting that the place they would be exiled to would be the land they had originally come from.


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:1:3
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:1:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:1:3)

**ודע**כי הגלות הנזכר רמוז במעשה יצחק כאשר לא לקחו אשתו ולא היה להם רק הגלות והפחד, ומתחלה אמר הנוגע באיש הזה ובאשתו מות יומת, ולאחר ימים חזר בו ואמר לו לך מעמנו ואחרי כן חזרו אליו בברית, וכן בגלות בבל גלו שם מפני זלעפות רעב, ובהיותם שם לא עבדום ולא ענו אותם אבל היו גדולי השרים במלכות, ואחרי כן אמרו (עזרא א ג) מי בכם מכל עמו יהי אלהיו עמו ויעל, והזהירו עליהם שרי עבר הנהר, ואח"כ בטלו הבנין והיה בטל עד זמן ועדן, ואח"כ חזרו ונתנו רשות בבנין והזהירו ואמרו (עזרא ו׳:י׳) די להוון מהקרבין ניחוחין לאלה שמיא ומצלין לחיי מלכא ובנוהי.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
Please remember that Yitzchak’s “exile” was different from his father’s. Avimelech did not rob him of his wife. He only lived in fear that this might happen, fear being one of the hallmarks of living in exile. At the beginning, as soon as Yitzchak arrived, Avimelech had issued instructions that no one should dare harm Yitzchak (verse 11), whereas ultimately he expelled him from his country (verse 16). Eventually, the same people who had expelled him sought an alliance with Yitzchak. This is very similar to the experience of the Jewish people during the Babylonian exile. The exile commenced due to the terrors of hunger (Lamentations 5,10). During the Jews’ stay in Babylon they were not oppressed, and many of them rose to positions of great influence. Finally, [after the Babylonians had themselves become vassals of the Persians, Ed.] King Coresh proclaimed that they were free to return to their homeland and gave them money and a military escort to protect them on the way (Ezra 1,3). He even warned the surrounding kingdoms not to molest the returning Jews (Ezra chapter 4 and Daniel chapter 7).


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:1:4
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:1:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:1:4)

**הגיד**הכתוב כי כשהיה הרעב הזה הלך יצחק אל אבימלך, הוא היה אותו אבימלך שהיה בימי אביו שכרת עמו ברית והלך אליו אולי ייטיב לו בימי הבצורת ולא יצטרך לרדת למצרים, ואבימלך זה מפני בריתו של אברהם לא נגע בו ולא בביתו כלל, אבל אנשי המקום שאלו ממנו דרך שאלה בעבור אשתו, וזהו שכתוב וישאלו אנשי המקום לאשתו ואעפ"כ לא נגעו בה כי היו נזכרים ברית אברהם, וזהו שאמר לו כמעט שכב אחד העם את אשתך, כלומר אני לא נגעתי בה ונשמרתי ממנה אבל קרוב היה שיכשל בה אחד מאנשי הארץ והיית מביא עלינו אשם כאשר בא בזמן אביך, ע"כ.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
Basically, what the Torah tells us in this paragraph is that there was a famine and Yitzchak went to the land of the Philistines, a land governed by the same Avimelech who had already governed it in the days of Yitzchak’s father and who had concluded a sacred covenant with his father. This was the reason Avimelech did not dare touch Yitzchak. [Originally, Avimelech had requested the covenant because he was afraid of what might happen to his offspring when the Jews would take over the country. It had not occurred to him that Avraham’s son might use his own country as a safe haven from famine. Ed.] The inquiry about the status of Rivkah was not made by Avimelech but by the local inhabitants, and this is why the Torah was careful to write (verse 7) “the men of the place inquired about his wife.” In spite of being told that Rivkah was not Yitzchak’s wife they did not molest her remembering the covenant with Avraham, Yitzchak’s father. When Avimelech protested to Yitzchak that “someone from the local population almost slept with Rivkah,” (verse 10) he meant: “I did not touch her and I was extremely careful not to get involved with her. But, at the same time, it was very possible that one of my countrymen could have done so and then you Avraham would have been the immediate cause of making us guilty just as happened in your father’s time.” Thus far Nachmanides


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:3:1
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:3:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:3:1)

**גור בארץ הזאת.** צוה אותו שלא יצא חוצה לארץ. וטעם הדבר לפי שנתקדש בהר המוריה והיה עולה תמימה ועל כן הזהירו שלא יצא מן הארץ הקדושה לעולם ושלא יטמא בארץ העכו"ם.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
גור בארץ הזאת, “dwell in this land.” G’d commanded Yitzchak not to leave the boundaries of the Holy Land. The reason was that he had been sanctified when he lay bound on the altar on Mount Moriah in order to become a burnt-offering (Bereshit Rabbah 64,3). [some ancient sources combine this with the fact that Yitzchak was born in Eretz Yisrael. Ed.] Had Yitzchak left the country he would have become ritually impure, just as are all the people outside the land of Israel.


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:3:2
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:3:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:3:2)

**ומה**שהוציא לשון הצווי בלשון גור אחר שאמר לו שכון, כדי לרמוז לו על גור אריה שהוא פחד יצחק, ואין לתמוה אם פחד יצחק ביום העקדה כיון שראה שם דמות אריה על גבי המזבח, ממה שדרשו רז"ל (בראשית כ״ז:ל״ג) ויחרד יצחק חרדה וגו' שתי חרדות חרד אחת על גבי המזבח ואחת כאן.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
Why did G’d phrase the command not to leave Eretz Yisrael as גור “dwell as a stranger,” when He had already told him in the previous verse שכון בארץ, “live permanently in the land!?” He wanted to give Yitzchak a hint of the גור אריה, the vision Yitzchak had seen while lying bound, something which transformed him into the epitome of פחד יצחק, the heading under which our tradition sums up Yitzchak’s relationship with G’d. It was because of this vision that when Yitzchak found out that he had been deceived by both his sons when he gave the blessing to Yaakov, that the Torah reports: ויחרד יצחק חרדה גדולה, ”Yitzchak experienced a very great trembling (27,33).” [Being wrong in one’s assessment of such an important matter as almost giving the power to bless and to curse to an unworthy person was a traumatic experience for someone whose life was based on the attribute of Justice. Ed.]


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:5:1
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:5:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:5:1)

**עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי.** מכאן הוכיחו רז"ל בן שלש שנים הכיר אברהם את בוראו לפי שהוא חי קע"ה שנה ושמע בקולו מנין עק"ב שנים אם כן בן שלש שנים הכירו.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי, "“because Avraham was obedient to Me.” This is the source of our sages in Nedarim 32 claiming that Avraham recognized his Maker when only three years old. He had lived for 175 years. When you add up the numerical value of the letters in the word עקב, you get 172. If you deduct this number from 175, the resulting number 3 is the number of years when Avraham was not yet obeying G’d’s commandments because he had not yet recognized Him as such.


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:5:2
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:5:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:5:2)

**וישמור משמרתי מצותי חקותי ותורותי.** ע"ד הפשט יאמר זה על מצות שנצטוו בני נח, כי מצותי הם גזל ושפיכות דמים, וחקותי אבר מן החי וכלאים של בהמה והרכבת האילן, ותורותי דינין וע"ז, שאלו כולן נצטוו בהם בני נח והוא השומר והעושה רצון בוראו ומשמר אפילו דקדוקין וחומרות במצות שלהן, וכמו שאמרו רז"ל מסכת ע"ז דאברהם אבינו ד' מאה פרקי הוה, ומשמרתי שהזכיר תחלה יאמר על שניות לעריות של בני נח. אבל דעת רז"ל ששמר כל התורה כולה עד שלא נתנה וקיים תרי"ג מצות בשכל, וזהו שאמר מצותי חוקותי ותורותי כי לג' חלקים יתחלקו תרי"ג מצות, והם מצות קלות מקובלות הנקראות עדות, והמצות שהן גזרת המלך ואין לנו בהם טעם והם נקראים חקים, והמצות המושכלות הנקראות משפטים, וזהו לשון הכתוב (דברים ו׳:כ׳) מה העדות והחקים והמשפטים, גם לשון הכתוב בכאן מצותי חקותי ותורתי כי המשפטים נקראים תורה, ועוד יכללו תורותי תורה שבכתב ושבעל פה.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
וישמר משמרתי, מצותי, חוקותי ותורותי, “he observed My safeguards, My commandments, My statutes and My moral/ethical instructions.” If we follow the approach of interpreting these nuances as the plain text, we must assume that G’d spoke of the seven Noachide laws which are applicable to all of mankind. The word מצותי then applies to the prohibition of robbery and bloodshed; the word חוקותי applies to the law not to eat tissue or blood from a living creature, as well as not to mate different species of animals with one another or to do the same with trees by crossbreeding. The word תורותי refers to the prohibition of all kinds of idolatry as well as to the positive commandment to establish a judiciary. People observing these laws are considered as doing G’d’s will. Finally, וישמר משמרתי “keeping G’d’s safeguards,” is a reference to “fences” around Biblical commandments to ensure that even if a “fence” had been violated, the Biblical commandment itself would remain inviolate. According to Bereshit Rabbah 64,4 Avraham was familiar even with such concepts as making an עירוב in private property to avoid becoming guilty of transferring property from one domain to another on the Sabbath. There is a view expressed in the same Midrash that the tractate Avodah Zarah dealing with idolatry and its sub-categories studied by Avraham was comprised of 400 chapters. The repetition of the word משמרתי after G’d had already said that Avraham observed, i.e. וישמר, is a reference to secondary incestuous relationships which were not even spelled out in the legislation concerning forbidden (sexual) marital relationships in the written Torah. 
The opinion of our sages is that the words וישמור משמרתי refers to Avraham observing voluntarily all the laws of the Torah which had not yet been legislated. According to this opinion it would be inappropriate for the Torah to commence the list with subordinate rabbinical ordinances before mention had been made of Biblical commandments. The verse divides these 613 commandments into specific categories each with its own heading. Basically, there are three categories of commandments. The first are called עדות, ”testimonies,” and comprise commandments which the mind can readily understand and which are therefore easy to fulfill. The second category is called חוקים. They are in the nature of Royal decrees which are usually incomprehensible to the human being, the subject of the King, as they are based on a superior intelligence. Finally, there is the category called משפטים, social laws, which are generally readily understandable. We find that the Torah quotes future generations of Israelites as dividing the Torah into these three categories when the Torah writes: מה העדות והחוקים והמשפטים, “what is the respective significance of these three categories of laws in the Torah?” (Deut. 6,20) The division in our verse is similar except that the social laws are referred to as תורותי, “My moral/ethical imperatives.” Furthermore, the reason for that word (and two others) appearing in the plural is that it refers to both the written as well as the “oral” Torah.


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:5:3
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:5:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:5:3)

**וכן**דרז"ל קיים אברהם אבינו אפילו ערובי תבשילין וערובי תחומין, וכן אמרו בפסוק (בראשית מ״ה:כ״א) ויתן להם יוסף עגלות, שפירש ממנו בפרשת עגלה ערופה שהיה עוסק בתורה, ויהיה פירוש משמרתי שבות לשבת.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
The Talmud Yuma 28 states that Avraham even observed the various rabbinical ordinances such as עירובי תבשילין and עירובי תחומים. [The former involves preparing food for the holiday before the holiday if the Sabbath occurred immediately after the holiday, in order that it would not appear that the holiday was used to prepare for the Sabbath. עירובי תחומים, on the other hand, is a device employed to change the radius of one’s habitat prior to the Sabbath by means of depositing food at the centre of the new radius in order to fulfill duties such as welcoming Torah scholars who did not reach that area prior to the beginning of the Sabbath. Ed.]. 
In illustrating the fact that our patriarchs taught their children all these aspects of Torah which had not been legislated as yet, they quote Genesis 45,21 in which the Torah refers to the wagons Joseph sent to transport his father Israel down to Egypt. The choice of the word עגלות for such wagons [which is less appropriate than, say, מרכבה, Ed.] is interpreted as Joseph reminding his father that the last subject in their Torah study they had learned prior to his going on his ill-fated mission, was the one called עגלה ערופה, the heifer which needs to be killed in order to atone for a murder committed near a Jewish community when the murderer has not been found. Joseph hinted to his father that during the 22 years he had not seen him he had maintained his custom to study Torah.


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:5:4
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:5:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:5:4)

**ולדעה**זו של רז"ל יש לתמוה כיון שהאבות קיימו כל התורה כולה עד שלא נתנה היאך נשא יעקב שתי אחיות בחייהן, והקים מצבה, ועמרם נשא דודתו, ומשה רבינו ע"ה הקים י"ב מצבות, וכתב הרמב"ן ז"ל כי עקר עשיית המצות בארץ, והאבות שהיו מקיימי אותן עד שלא נתנה התורה בארץ היה אבל לא בחוצה לארץ, ויעקב בחוצה לארץ נשא שתי אחיות, וכן עמרם נשא דודתו חוצה לארץ, כי המצות משפט אלהי הארץ הם, והמצבה מצוה שנתחדשה בזמן ידוע, ומה שהיה יוסף שומר שבת במצרים והיה חוצה לארץ לפי שהשבת שקולה ככל המצות והיא מעידה על חידוש העולם.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
The meaning of the word משמרתי according to this approach would be “the safeguards erected by the rabbis against violating Biblical injunctions on the Sabbath.” When we reflect on these opinions offered by the Talmud and subsequent scholars that the patriarchs observed even minutiae of later rabbinical ordinances, the question comes to mind how Yaakov could ignore a Biblical injunction and marry two sisters while both were alive, or how he could erect a מצבה, a monument, or how Amram could marry his aunt Yocheved? Not only that, but Moses himself, after the Ten Commandments had been revealed, erected 12 monuments as spelled out in Exodus 24,4. In answering these questions Nachmanides (in his commentary on Leviticus 18,28) points out that the principal function of the laws of the Torah is that they be observed within the boundaries of Eretz Yisrael. When the patriarchs did observe them, they did so in an entirely voluntary fashion. Seeing that the “so-called” infractions we mentioned occurred outside of Eretz Yisrael they were no infractions at all. The patriarchs had decided in each of these instances that the reasons for not observing these laws at that time and in that place were stronger than that they should voluntarily observe them.


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:12:1
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:12:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:12:1)

**ויזרע יצחק בארץ ההוא.** ארץ קשה היתה והשנה ההיא שנת בצורת היתה ואעפ"כ וימצא מאה שערים, והמקום הזה שזרע שם גרר היה ושם אירעו לו נסים גדולים ונסתרים בענין הזריעה במצאו מאה שערים בארץ יבשה וצמאון אשר אין שם מים עד שהיה בעיניהם חדוש גדול כשהיו אומרים מצאנו מים.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
ויזרע יצחק בארץ ההיא, “Yitzchak planted in that land, etc.” The reason the Torah emphasised “in that land,” is that it was hard ground, did not usually produce much. Considering the fact that the year was one of famine the achievement by Yitzchak in securing a hundredfold return on his seed was all the more remarkable. The place where he had planted the seed was Gerar. This is where these remarkable “hidden” miracles happened for him. The land was so parched that when the local people finally found some water, they exclaimed: “we have found water!” (verse 32)


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:12:2
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:12:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:12:2)

**מאה שערים.** דרשו רז"ל בסוף מס' כתובות בברכותיה של ארץ ישראל בית סאה עושה חמשת רבוא כורין, בישובה של צוען בית סאה עושה שבעים כורין, דתניא אמר ר"מ אני ראיתי בבקעת בית שאן בית סאה עושה שבעים כורין, ואין לך מעולה בכל הארצות יותר ממצרים שנאמר (בראשית י״ג:י׳) כגן ה' כארץ מצרים, ואין לך מעולה בכל ארץ מצרים כצוען דהוו מרבי בה מלכי שנאמר (ישעיה ל ד) כי היו בצוען שריו, ואין לך טרשין בכל ארץ ישראל יותר מחברון דהוו קברי בה שכיבי ואפילו הכי מבונה חברון אחד על ז' בצוען שנאמר (במדבר י״ג:כ״ב) וחברון שבע שנים נבנתה וגו', ובאור הדבר כי ז' פעמים ע' כורין הם ת"צ כורין, והני מילי במקום שיש טרשין כחברון שאין בית סאה עושה אלא ת"צ כורין אבל במקום שאין טרשין כחברון יש להוסיף עד ת"ק, ומסיים בגמרא שמבונה אחד משבעה בצוען בלא ברכותיה אבל בברכותיה כתיב ויזרע יצחק וימצא ק' שערים, כלומר בברכותיה על אחד שבשאר השנים נתברך למאה, ק' פעמים ת"ק הרי חמשת רבוא.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
מאה שערים, “one hundredfold.” At the end of tractate Ketuvot (folio 112) our sages explain that when the land of Israel enjoys G’d’s blessing, one בית סעה, of earth will yield a crop of 50,000 כור of grain. In the period when Tzoan in Egypt was at the height of its development, the yield of a measure of earth of a בית סעה would be equivalent to 70 כור. This is documented by Rabbi Meir having personally observed that in the valley of Beit Shean (Jordan valley) one בית סעה produced 70 כור. He added that there is no soil which is reputed to be richer than that of Egypt, i.e. the region around Tzoan, which the Torah described as being “like a garden of G’d” (Genesis 13,10), and where the Egyptian kings were being raised. We know this from Isaiah 30,4 where the prophet mentions that Egypt’s princes and kings were in Tzoan, and that the fertile region extended a far as Chaness. On the other hand, there was no more rocky region in Eretz Yisrael than the region of Hebron and in spite of this the single cluster of grapes which were brought back by the spies from that region had to be carried by eight men. The Torah had reported that Hebron had been cultivated seven years earlier than Tzoan in Egypt (Numbers 13,22). This number is not to be taken at face value, as it would have no bearing on what the Torah was trying to tell us in that verse. The meaning is that even in a rocky place in the land of Israel such as Hebron, the yield is seven times that of the yield of similar produce planted in Tzoan, i.e. 490 כור. In an area which is not covered with rocks such as Hebron the yield may be presumed to be 500 כור. The Talmud concludes its discussion on the relative fertility of the best part of Egypt and the worst part of the land of Israel by saying that the reason why the Torah makes a comparison is to teach that the worst part in the land of Israel is seven times superior to the best part of Egypt even if that part of Eretz Yisrael does not enjoy a special blessing during the year in question. Our verse then points out that when G’d does send His blessing the result is 100 times as great as in normal years (which themselves are phenomenal by world-wide standards.)


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:15:1
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:15:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:15:1)

**וכל הבארות אשר חפרו.** יגיד הכתוב כי מתוך הקנאה שנתקנאו בו פלשתים סתמו כל הבארות אשר חפרו בימי אברהם אביו כדי שלא יוכל יצחק להועיל עצמו בהן ולהשקות זריעותיו ומקנהו, ואח"כ נתגבר יצחק וחפר אותן וקרא להן כשמות אשר קרא להן אביו, ועשה כן לכבוד אביו. וממה שהתורה הודיעה זה נראה שנחשב לו לזכות ויש בזה התעוררות וק"ו שאל ישנה אדם מדרך אבותיו, שהרי יצחק אפילו שמות הבארות שקרא אותן אביו לא רצה לשנותן וזה ק"ו לדרכי האבות ומנהגותיהם ומוסר שלהם, ואולי מפני זה לא נשתנה שמו כמו שאר האבות וזו מדה, כנגד מדה, כן פירש הגאון ז"ל.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
וכל הבארות אשר חפרו עבדי אביו, “and all the wells which the servants of his father had dug, etc.” The Torah simply tells us that the Philistines were so jealous of Yitzchak’s success that they closed down wells which Avraham had dug in order to deny Yitzchak the opportunity of benefiting from his father’s foresight. They wanted to deny Yitzchak the water he needed to sustain his herds and flocks. Eventually, Yitzchak bestirred himself and he redug the same wells making sure he kept the names his father had given to these wells. The Torah reports this seemingly insignificant detail to acquaint us with the meticulous way Yitzchak adhered to the norms his father had taught him. Perhaps, this is even the reason why the Torah never reports that Yitzchak’s own name was changed, as distinct from the names of both his father and his son Yaakov. This would be a further illustration of the principle of מדה כנגד מדה, that G’d responds in kind. [Yitzchak had been named already prior to his birth and never needed to have his name adjusted in order to encourage him to become more perfect. Ed.]


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:15:2
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:15:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:15:2)

**ויש**שפי' כי הבארות הללו רמז לגרים שנתגיירו בימי אברהם כי הם קלים לקבלת האמונה כמו הבארות שהם קלים לקבלת המים ופתיחת הלב הסתום באמונה יכנה הכתוב חפירה, ולכך יאמר מצד הקנאה סתמום פלשתים כלומר סתמו את לבם והחזירום לסורם, וזהו וימלאום עפר, כי תחת שמלאם אברהם חכמה ודעת את ה' באמונת היחוד מלאום פלשתים אמונתם הרעה, כי יכנה הכתוב האמונה הרעה או העצה הרעה לעפר, וזהו שאמרו עפרא לפומיה, ואח"כ נתגבר עליהם יצחק והחזירן למוטב, הוא שכתוב וישב יצחק ויחפור את בארות המים אשר חפרו בימי אברהם אביו ויסתמום פלשתים אחרי מות אברהם ויקרא להן שמות כשמות וגו', כי כן דרך המתגיירים, וכענין שכתוב (ישעיהו ס״ה:ט״ו) ולעבדיו יקרא שם אחר.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
Some commentators claim that the wells are allusions to converts who had been converted in Avraham’s time to monotheism. The allusion would symbolise that conversion was as easy as accepting a source of water which the earth provides for free. Opening a heart which had been closed to belief in G’d is compared to “digging.” This is why the Torah describes the Philistines as having stopped up the hearts of these converts, i.e. filled them with dust. Allegorically speaking, whereas Avraham had filled the mouths of these converts with “water,” i.e. life-giving Torah knowledge, their pagan compatriots filled them with earth. The expression עפר, “earth, dust” to describe pagan religious concepts is not novel; we find it in Baba Batra 16 as describing someone like Job who used specious arguments to decry G’d’s system of Justice. The Torah reports that after a while Yitzchak made the effort to reconvert these converts his father had made. It is the nature of people who engage in missionary activity to place a great deal of emphasis on the names they give to their converts. Yitzchak did just this and named the people with whom he succeeded with the very same names his father had given them when they converted to monotheism. The source for this is Isaiah 65,15: “He calls His servants by another name.”


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:19:1
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:19:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:19:1)

**ויחפרו עבדי יצחק בנחל וימצאו שם באר מים חיים.** פירש הרמב"ן ז"ל מה שהאריכה התורה בספור הבארות הללו אין התועלת מגעת אלינו כל כך מזה ולא לכבוד גדול ליצחק, אבל טעם הספור לפי שהם רמז על העתיד, כי באר מים חיים רמז לבית המקדש שכתוב (ירמיהו י״ז:י״ג) מקור מים חיים את ה', והבאר הראשון קרא שמו **עשק** רמז לבית ראשון שנתעשקו עמנו ועשו אתנו כמה מחלוקות וכמה מלחמות עד שהחריבוהו, ויקרא שם השני **שטנה** שם קשה מן הראשון, רמז לבית שני שכתוב בו (עזרא ד׳:ו׳) ובמלכו אחשורוש בתחלת מלכותו כתבו שטנה על יושבי יהודה וירושלים, וכל ימיו היו לנו לשטן עד שהחריבוהו וגלינו ממנו גלות רעה.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
.ויחפרו עבדי יצחק בנחל וימצאו שם באר מים חיים , “Yitzchak’s servants dug in the valley and they discovered there a well of living water.” Nachmanides comments on this as follows: “The reason the Torah devotes so much space to the digging of wells is not because the knowledge of these facts is so useful to us, nor is the reason that the Torah wished to publicly honour Yitzchak for his activities in developing the area agriculturally. Rather, the reason is hat these details are allusions to what would happen to the Jewish people in their history long after Yitzchak had died. The words באר מים חיים, “a well of living water,” is an allusion to the Holy Temple of which it is written in Jeremiah 17,13: מקור מים חיים את ה', ”The Fount of living waters.” The first well which was called עשק is an allusion to the first Temple which became the object of contention (התעשקו) between the Jewish people and its adversaries until, in the end, they managed to destroy it. The second well, named שטנה, hatred, illustrates an even greater hatred than that which surrounded the first Temple and is an allusion to the second Temple, concerning which it has been written: “during the reign of Achashverosh, at the beginning of his reign, they issued letters of hate against all the inhabitants of Yehudah and Yerushalayim” (Ezra 4,6). This hatred continued throughout the existence of that Temple. Eventually, our opponents succeeded in destroying it and the Jewish people were exiled under very adverse conditions. The name of this well reminds you that this is where the source of Satan is to be found. Satan is none other than the spiritual representative of Esau in the celestial regions. Satan’s preoccupation in this world is to always oppose the Jewish people with a display of hatred.


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:19:2
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:19:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:19:2)

**ויש**לך להתעורר בשם הבאר הזה כי שם נמצא השטן שהוא שרו של עשו המשטין עלינו תמיד, וקרא שם הבאר הג' שיבנה במהרה בימינו **רחובות.** והזכיר ויעתק משם ובאורו ויעתק שכלו מן הבית השני והשתכל בבנין הבית השלישי, זהו ויחפור באר אחרת ולא רבו עליה ויקרא את שמה רחובות, על שם שכתוב בבית שלישי העתיד (יחזקאל מ״א:ז׳) ורחבה ונסבה למעלה למעלה, והוא יעשה בלא ריב ומצה והקב"ה ירחיב את גבולנו שנאמר (דברים י״ב:כ׳) ואם ירחיב ה' את גבולך כאשר דבר לך שהוא מדבר לעתיד ע"כ.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
Yitzchak named the third well רחובות, the Torah mentioning ויעתק משם, that he had previously moved from the sites of the first two wells. The meaning of these words is that Yitzchak freed himself from the mentality surrounding the second Temple and he was able to concentrate and look forward to the idyllic conditions which would exist once the third Temple would be built. Concerning that Temple it has been written in Ezekiel 41,7 ורחבה ונסבה למעלה, למעלה, “and the passage will become wider and wind its way upwards and upwards.” When that time arrives there will be no strife and hatred and G’d will expand the boundaries of our country as is written: (Deut. 12,20) “it will be when G’d will expand your boundaries as He has said to you.” This verse was written concerning a time in the distant future, the time envisaged in greater detail in the prophecies of the latter chapters of the Book of Ezekiel. Thus far Nachmanides.


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:19:3
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:19:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:19:3)

**ומה**שהזכיר את ה' בבאר השלישי, ולא עשה כן בשתים הראשונות יתכן לומר טעם מפני שהראשונים היו בנין בשר ודם ע"י שלמה וכורש אבל השלישי יהיה מעשה ה' ובנין שמים ולא ישלוט בו חרבן לכך הזכיר בו הש"י.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
The fact that in connection with the digging of that third well the Torah associates G’d’s name with it, i.e. כי הרחיב ה' לנו ופרינו בארץ, “for G’d has granted us ample space and we can be fruitful in the land,” was a prediction applicable to the future. Seeing that the first two Temples were constructed by human hands by the instructions of Solomon and Coresh respectively, they did not endure. The third Temple which will be constructed by G’d Himself (compare Rashi in Rosh Hashanah 30,1 צריכא), will no longer be subject to destruction. This is why G’d’s name is associated here with the digging of the third well.


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:19:4
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:19:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:19:4)

**ומצאתי**מדרש סיוע לזה שכן דרשו רז"ל (שמואל ב ה׳:ז׳) וילכד דוד את מצודת ציון היא עיר דוד, מפני מה נקראת על שמו של בשר ודם אלא לפי שהיה גלוי וידוע לפני מלך מלכי המלכים הקב"ה שבשר ודם בונין אותה ובשר ודם מחריבים אותה לכך נקרא על שמו של בשר ודם, אבל לעתיד לבא היא נקראת על שמו יתברך שנאמר (ישעיהו ס׳:י״ד) והלכו אליך שחוח בני מעניך והשתחוו וגו' וקראו לך עיר ה' ציון קדוש ישראל.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
I have found a Midrash which supports this. Our sages commented on Samuel II 5,7 where we read וילכוד דוד את מצודת ציון היא עיר דוד, “David captured the citadel of David which became the city of David.” The Midrash asks why the city was called after a mortal, i.e. after King David? The answer provided is that G’d knew perfectly well that the city would initially be built and subsequently destroyed by mortal human beings. This is why during the periods preceding the final Temple, Jerusalem was known as the city of David, i.e. the city of a mortal human being. However, in the future, it will bear the name of G’d Himself seeing that it would then no longer be subject to destruction. This is the meaning of Isaiah 60,14 והלכו אליך שחוח בני מעניך והשתחוו....וקראו לך עיר ה' ציון קדוש ישראל, “they shall come before you, the children of those who have tormented you....and you will be called ‘city of the Lord, Zion, the Holy One of Israel.”


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:26:1
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:26:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:26:1)

**ואבימלך הלך אליו מגרר.** מגורר, שעלו בו צמחים כלומר פצעים וחבורות, כן דרשו בב"ר.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
ואבימלך הלך אליו מגרר, “and Avimelech walked to him from Gerar.” The reason the Torah wrote מגרר, something quite superfluous, is so that we can read the word as מגורר, full of eczema; his skin had developed painful boils, etc. (compare Bereshit Rabbah 64,9).


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:27:1
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:27:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:27:1)

**מדוע באתם אלי ואתם שנאתם אותי ותשלחוני מאתכם.** הזכיר להם ג' ענינים, האחד מדוע באתם אלי מגרר לבאר שבע שאני בו עתה, השני ואתם שנאתם אותי להצלחתי ולרוב המקנה אשר לי, הג' ותשלחוני מאתכם כלומר מגרר שהייתי מתישב שם שאמרתם לי לך מעמנו.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
מדוע באתם אלי ואתם שנאתם אותי ותשלחוני מאתכם, “why do you come to me? You hate me and have driven me away from your midst!” Yitzchak reminded Avimelech and his chief of staff of three matters. 1) “why do you come to me?” He referred to the distance between Gerar and Beer Sheva where he now lived. 2) “You hate me” on account of my being successful and the vast numbers of cattle and sheep which I own. 3) You drove me away.” He referred to the district of Gerar where he had settled previously and Avimelech had told him “go away from us for you are too powerful for us” (26,16).


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:27:2
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:27:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:27:2)

**השיבו**על שלשתם, אתה אומר מדוע באתם אלי, ראו ראינו כי היה ה' עמך, כלומר ראה בזריעה ראנו בבארות בכל פעולותיך ראינו הצלחתך, ונאמר תהי נא אלה בינותינו בינינו ובינך, התרגום מפרש מומתא דהות ביה אבהתנא תתקיים, **אבל** ר"י פירש המלות בענין אחר וז"ל תהי נא אלה בינותינו שלא נזיק זה לזה וזה הדבר יהיה נעלם בינינו ובינך שלא ידעו העולם שהמלך משביע לאיש אחד שלא יזיקנו ונפל פחדו עליו, ומה שאתה אומר ואתם שנאתם אותי, ח"ו אם תעשה עמנו רעה וגו'. ומה שאתה אומר ותשלחוני מאתכם, ונשלחך בשלום ואם כן מה תרעומות יש לך עלינו, א"ת שמא בארץ גרר היית מצליח ולא כן בשאר ארצות ובשאר מקומות אתה עתה ברוך ה', הלא אתה בבאר שבע ברוך ה' ובכל מקום ההצלחה תבא לקראתך.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
Avimelech responded to all three questions: 
Concerning the question why he had come, he acknowledged: “we have seen very clearly that G’d is with you" (verse 28). They repeated this, thus implying that Yitzchak’s success in planting and bringing in a bumper crop, plus the fact that he always found water was ample proof that G’d was on his side. As a result of this belated realization they had come to make a covenant with him. Onkelos translates the word אלה, oath, as מומתא, “oath,” and the word תהי was meant to reconfirm an existing obligation entered into by Avraham. [They were afraid that by expelling Yitzchak they had given him cause not to feel bound by his father’s covenant with the same king. Ed.] A totally different explanation is quoted by our author in the name of Rabbi Ishmael the author of Sifri. [Our editions of the Sifri do not have this — Rabbi Chavell]. Rabbi Ishmael views the offer of a covenant as not related to the covenant concluded with Avraham but as a new “non-aggression pact” between Yitzchak and Avimelech not to cause each other damage in any way. They wanted this to be a secret agreement that the world was not to know about. It was embarrassing for Avimelech if the world at large would hear that he had come all the way to Yitzchak to make the latter swear not to harm him in any way, and that he was so scared of Yitzchak’s power. 
Concerning Yitzchak’s second point about their hating him, Avimelech said that this was absolutely not the case and he had no cause to be hostile to them. In fact he would be ungrateful if he did them any harm seeing they had not only allowed him to depart in peace but had not prevented him from taking all his wealth with him. [In the opinion of the Gentiles, letting a Jew depart with his locally made fortune is proof that they do not hate him. Ed.] 
 As to the third point Yitzchak had made, i.e. that they had expelled him, he had not suffered by this as G’d had made him equally successful elsewhere so that the fortune he had made could not be attributed to the location Gerar which they had recently denied him.


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:34:1
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:34:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:34:1)

**ויהי עשו בן ארבעים שנה ויקח אשה את יהודית בת בארי החתי ואת בשמת.** דרשו רז"ל כל ארבעים שנה היה עשו צד נשי אנשים ומענה אותן וכיון שהגיע לארבעים שנה דמה עצמו לאביו אמר מה אבא נשא אשה בן ארבעים אף אני בן ארבעים, ועל אומתו הזכיר אסף (תהילים פ׳:י״ד) יכרסמנה חזיר מיער, ודרשו רז"ל מה חזיר מראה טלפיו ואומר ראו שאני טהור, כך בני עשו גוזלין וחומסין ומראין עצמן כאלו הם עובדי הש"י, והיו נשי עשו חתיות והחתי משבעה עממין שנצטוו ישראל להחרימם שנאמר (דברים כ׳:י״ז) כי החרם תחרימם החתי האמורי וגו', והגיד הכתוב כי עשו הרשע לקח נשיו מזרע הרשעים וזהו שכתוב (תהילים קכ״ה:ה׳) והמטים עקלקלותם יוליכם ה' את פועלי האון, כלומר מתחברים הם לפועלי האון ואז שלום על ישראל שלא יתערב זרע פסול בזרעם, והנה עשו הלך אחר מינו, ואמרו רז"ל לא לחנם הלך זרזיר אצל עורב אלא מפני שהוא מינו, ייתי הדין מחיק שמא ויסב להדין מחיקת שמא.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
ויהי עשו בן ארבעים שנה ויקח אשה את יהודית בת בארי החתי ואת בשמת, “when Esau had reached the age of forty he took as a wife Yehudit daughter of Be-eri the Hittite and Bosmas.” Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 65,1 interpreted the wording to mean that during the first forty years of his life Esau chased married women. When he attained the age at which his father had married his mother, he decided to emulate his father’s example and to take a wife also. He reasoned: “just as my father married at the age of forty, I shall do the same.” Concerning this strange attack of sudden piety on the part of Esau, Rabbi Pinchas quoted Rabbi Simon that it is strange that the pig has been mentioned only on two occasions by the prophets. Once by Moses who emphasized that it is unfit to be eaten by Jews (Leviticus 11,7), and the second time by Assaph in Psalms 80,14 “the wild boar gnaws at it and creatures of the field feed on it.” The psalmist uses the pig as an example of a creature which when “lying down” extends its hooves to display that it is a pure animal, while at all other times it unabashedly disregards civilized conduct. Esau, when getting ready to settle down, pretended to be following in the footsteps of his father by choosing the age at which his father had gotten married to emulate him. The nation descended from Esau also excels in pretending to apply civilized standards as something demanded of others while they themselves rob, plunder and murder. They have a record of perpetrating evil under the cloak of being servants of the Lord. 
Both Esau’s wives were Hittites, Canaanites, members of the seven tribes whom the Jewish people have been instructed to exterminate if they do not vacate the land of Canaan first (Deut. 20,17). The Torah informs us that wicked Esau married wives belonging to a wicked people. The verse applied to the marriages of the wicked is found in Psalms 125,5: “but those who in their crookedness act corruptly, let the Lord make them go the way of the evildoers; peace on Israel.” The psalmist means that when the wicked join other evildoers the ultimate result will be peace for Israel as the wicked will self-destruct. Hail to Israel who do not act in this fashion. Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 65,3 have stated “when a starling is seen joining a raven, this is not by accident. It proves they have something in common.” [In current parlance this is the meaning of the expression “birds of a feather.” Ed.] If Esau, though biologically descended from a father who epitomized holiness nevertheless married such women, it proved that spiritually he was totally corrupt.


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:35:1
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:35:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:35:1)

**ותהיין מורת רוח ליצחק ולרבקה.** החפץ והדעת קרא בלשוננו רוח, מלשון רז"ל שיכול להלך כנגד רוחו של כל אחד ואחד, והכתוב יאמר באלו כי כל אחת היתה מסרבת הרוח ליצחק ולרבקה, כלומר שהיתה מכעסת אותם ועושה כל מה שעושה כנגד דעתם.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
ותהיינה מורת רוח ליצחק ולרבקה, “they were a source of aggravation for both Yitzchak and Rivkah.” Satisfaction with something as well as knowledge of something are called רוח in our tongue as we know from Sifri Pinchas on (Numbers 27,16) that the leader must be able to confront every individual’s spirit and make it amenable to his own. We are told in our verse that each of the wives of Esau refused to fall in with the wishes of either Yitzchak or Rivkah. They angered both Yitzchak and Rivkah in all they did, as they did so provocatively.


###### Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:35:2
[Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 26:35:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbeinu%20Bahya/s/Bereshit/r/26:35:2)

**ובמדרש**מורת רוח מרימות רוח מסלקות רוח הקודש מיצחק ומרבקה, ובא הענין כי סלוק רוח הקודש מפני ב' דברים, האחד מפני הכעסות ומקרים הבאים על האדם ומתוך כך הוא עצב ואין רוח הקודש שורה מתוך עצבון אלא מתוך דבר שמחה, והשני מפני חברת הרע, וכענין שכתוב באברהם (בראשית י״ג:י״ד) אחרי הפרד לוט מעמו, ואמרו רז"ל ז"ל שרבקה היתה בת כומרים ולא היתה מקפדת על טנופת ע"ז, ויצחק ע"י שהיה בן קדושים היה מקפיד על טנופת ע"ז לפיכך **ליצחק** תחילה.

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
According to a Midrash Tanchuma Toldot 8 the words מורת רוח mean מרימת רוח, “they caused the holy spirit which had previously rested on Yitzchak as well as on Rivkah to lift itself off Yitzchak and Rivkah and to depart from them.” Departure of holy spirit from a person may be due to two reasons. 1) Because a person becomes angry and loses his “cool.” We have a tradition that holy spirit rests on a person only when he is in a joyous frame of mind (Berachot 31). 2) Another reason why the holy spirit departs from a person is when he keeps company with wicked persons. We have observed a classic example of this when the Torah did not report G’d as communicating with Avraham until the latter had separated himself from Lot (compare Genesis 13,14). Bereshit Rabbah 65,4 states that one of Esau’s wives was a daughter of a priest. Seeing that Rivkah herself was a daughter of an idolatrous priest, she did not mind so much when she saw garbage of idolatry. [My version of this Midrash. All of this would only explain why Yitzchak reacted earlier to this phenomenon than Rivkah. Ed.].