While doing a late afternoon bike ride on Thanksgiving I heard a fascinating shiur from R' Mansour. This post is only a summary of some of the thoughts which I wanted to briefly summarize in a pre-Shabbos post. If you would like to watch or listen to the shiur, it is entitled Anochi/My Mission and can be downloaded or heard on itorah.com. Same ground rules as always apply. Any perceived inconsistencies are the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Mansour.
R' Mansour prefaced the vort by stating that he had seen these concepts in a sefer by R' Chaim Sabato.[I did not catch the name of the sefer, but if the rest of the vorts are like this one, I would want to buy it!]
The central theme of the vort is that each of the four Imahos utilize the term "Anochi" in a manner that defines or attempts to define who they are.
In Hebrew there are two different ways to say "I", it can be said as Ani or Anochi. R' Mansour posited that Ani is stating I, like I am here. However Anochi is a definition - who I am and what my mission is.
R' Mansour then told a personal story about visiting the Chabad dinner where the Shlichim came from all over the world to a convention in New York. At the dinner one of the Shlichim from California spoke about how the Rebbi spoke to people when he sent them out. He would tell them, this is why you came into the world and your reason for being on this earth is to go to the specific location and build it up. At the dinner they read a number of letters which had been written to the Rebbi by people who said that they wanted to leave their posts. In response to each letter, the Rebbi began - "this is a ridiculous request, why would you want to leave your post?"
However there was one particular letter wherein the Shaliach wrote that he was ill and weak and could no longer perform as Rav and wanted to leave his Shlichus. In response to him the Rebbi answered "Why do you ask to be resolved from your purpose, ask to be resolved from your sickness?" The person's mission remains their mission.
R' Mansour then stated that each of the Imahos was loyal and committed to their mission. He first made reference to Rivka in Parshas Toldos and her concern over the fetuses, where there was kicking when she went past a Beis Medrash and similar kicking when she passed less savory places. To this she stated in Bereishis 25:22 - וַיִּתְרֹֽצֲצ֤וּ הַבָּנִים֙ בְּקִרְבָּ֔הּ וַתֹּ֣אמֶר אִם־כֵּ֔ן לָ֥מָּה זֶּ֖ה אָנֹ֑כִי וַתֵּ֖לֶךְ לִדְר֥שׁ אֶת־יְהֹוָֽה. R' Mansour explained that Rivka was asking - what is my purpose if I am delivering a child that kicks similarly at positive and negative sites?
This also explains why she went to a Beis Medrash (Yeshivas Shem V'Ever) to ask about her pregnancy. She did not go to a doctor, she went to ask a Rebbi - what is my purpose if this is happening? They told her, you have twins and one is going to be a Tzaddik and one will be a Rasha. And then they told her that the younger one will be served by the greater numerical one. This is your Anochi and it must come through you.
R' Mansour said that this explained to him why she was so confident in her plan to have Ya'akov dress up as Esav to get the blessing and why she did not tell Yitzchak about what she was told at the yeshiva. She realized that the prophecy went to her because Hashem wanted her to cause this to occur - this was her Anochi.
This comes to fruition when Ya'akov comes to his father and responds to Yitzchak when asked who he is by stating אָֽנֹכִי֙ עֵשָׂ֣ו בְּכֹרֶ֔ךָ (Bereishis 27:19). Why does he use that word instead of Ani? Because he is fulfilling his mother's destiny and her Anochi, by receiving this beracha instead of Esav.
Sarah also had a very important purpose and an Anochi. She believed that this role was to bring children to Avraham. But she was unsuccessful at first, so she gave Hagar to Avraham. In so doing she said, I will fulfill my mission through the birth of a child through Hagar. But after Hagar got pregnant she became arrogant and looked down at Sarah. To this Sarah said אָֽנֹכִ֗י נָתַ֤תִּי שִׁפְחָתִי֙ בְּחֵיקֶ֔ךָ (Bereishis 16:5) - I thought I did this as my mission, but she looks down at me!
Years later both Sarah and Hagar are mothers and she sees that Yishmael is being a bad influence to Yitzchak. So she tells Avraham to send away Hagar and Yishmael, even though she gave Hagar to Avraham. Hashem then tells Avraham - everything she told you was right, she was right in telling you to take Hagar and she was right in saying, send her away.
This brings us to Rachel and Leah. Rachel could not have children and she said to Ya'akov in Bereishis 30:1 - הָֽבָה־לִּ֣י בָנִ֔ים וְאִם־אַ֖יִן מֵתָ֥ה אָנֹֽכִי. This is an odd way to speak - if she has no children she wants to kill herself? Even so, it should have said Ani, not Anochi! But based on our understanding, she was saying, if I dont provide children and become one of the Imahos, my Anochi is dead, it is unfulfilled.
To this, Ya'akov appears callus, as he says in the next pasuk - הֲתַ֤חַת אֱלֹהִים֙ אָנֹ֔כִי? Ya'akov says to her in effect, do I decide people's destiny? That is Hashem's role. I was guaranteed children and I had them through Leah. My father prayed because he had no choice, but I have childen already.
To this, Rachel follows Sarah's method and gives Bilha to Ya'akov and this time it is a success. After Bilha has the child, Rachel names the child and further says in Bereishis 30:6 וַיִּתֶּן־לִ֖י בֵּ֑ן - Hashem has given me a son.
But still she persisted and later she has children - Yosef & Binyamin. Why did she persist? Because she knew that the reason for her existence was to give birth to children.
The final example is Leah. She uses the term Anochi in connection with the birth of Shimon, stating in Bereishis 29:33 - כִּֽי־שָׁמַ֤ע יְהֹוָה֙ כִּֽי־שְׂנוּאָ֣ה אָנֹ֔כִי . Leah knew that her role was to endure the circumstance of being not as loved as Rachel. This was her Anochi and she accepted it without question.
R' Mansour closed the vort by noting that when Hashem introduced himself to the Jews and spoke to them en masse at Sinai he used the term Anochi, thus saying that Hashem is the one that decides each and every person's purpose - He gives everyone their mission.
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