Rabbi Farkas writes that Abraham has just experienced two very dark events; his son Isaac has left him, and they never meet again, and his wife Sarah has died alone. And yet, the Torah tells us that the LORD blessed Abraham in all things. He cites Rabbi Sacks, who wrote that God does not do it all; we are responsible as well.
Rabbi Greene considers the problem of someone you know who is struggling, but you don’t know what to do to help them. There is a tension between what you think might help, and what they think they need. Then again, they may not even know. We can have the best of intentions, yet do things that do not help at all.
Isaac is quiet, introspective, and meditative. In fact, the Sages attributed his afternoon meditation to prayer. However, the Talmud is not concerned with the nature of meditation, as much as it is with the halakhah of prayer. Rabbi Sacks observes that there were two types of leaders at the time – patriarchs and prophets; no priests yet. Everyone prayed differently, and each prayer was unique.