A vort from the Rebbe in this week's parshah, Parshat Toldot. In Parshat Toldot it says, \"ויזרע יצחק בארץ ההיא\", that Yitzchak planted, which means he planted grain. And in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, which is a Midrash, says, \"וכי יצחק זרע דגן, חס ושלום?\" Chas veshalom Yitzchak planted grain? And the answer is no, he really planted the grain for the sake of being able to take, to give tzedakah and make it into maaser, etc., etc. But the Rebbe asks, what's the question? Why is it such a wonder that he planted grain?

And the Rebbe answers like this: It says in Tanya that the avot were a merkavah. It says in the in Midrash, but Tanya says what it means is that the avot, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, were like a chariot to Hashem. They were completely batel to Hashem. Every part of their body and every second of their life was completely batel to Hashem. And the Mitteler Rebbe writes that's the reason why the avot, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, were shepherds, because if you're a shepherd you have free time, there's you're not involved, and you could sit all day and your mind could be connected to Hashem. On the other hand, if you work in planting and plowing and cutting, then you have to get more involved in gashmiusdike things. And the avot tried to stay away from that. They were completely involved in ruchniyusdike things, with the least connection to gashmius. And that's what the Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer asks: Is it chas veshalom to say that he got involved in planting, which means he had to get involved in the gashmius? His whole life was only ruchniyus. So to get involved in a lot of gashmius like it takes to plant, that doesn't sound right. And he says chas veshalom, it's God forbid to say that that's what he did. And then Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer answers that what it was is he planted it for the sake of tzedakah, the sake of maaser. So even his planting, and he was involved in gashmius, is really no contradiction to his being completely batel to Hashem every second of his life. If you do the planting for the sake of planting, then at that moment you're involved in gashmiusdike things which are not fit, does not fit to being completely batel to Hashem. But if the whole kavanah of it is you're doing the gashmiut in order to serve Hashem, so then getting involved in the gashmiut as much as it means having to get involved, it's all part of serving Hashem. And that's what the Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer says, that when it says \"ויזרע יצחק בארץ\", that he planted, the planting itself, which is a gashmiusdike thing, was part of his being batel to Hashem. And since מעשה אבות סימן לבנים, whatever happened to the אבות is a sign and a strength given to the Yidden, so this is also part of the strength given to the Yidden, that Yidden are able to, every Yid is able to, even when he's involved in gashmiut, it should be part of his avodat Hashem, that whatever he does is \"כל מעשיך לשם שמים\", everything you do is for the sake of Hashem, \"בכל דרכיך דעהו\", and everything that you do in your own things, da'ehu, this is a way to know Hashem.