I think that it is important to distinguish between midrash and Torah. At no point does the Torah tell us how old Rivka was when she met and agreed to marry Yitzchak. Given her role as a shepherdess and the leeway given her by her family to decide whether or not to marry, it certainly seems as if she was older than three.

As the Rambam famously points out, midrashim are to be taken seriously, but not necessarily to be taken literally. With students, we need to uncover the message behind the midrashic statement that Rivka was three.

A good example of this is grappling with Yitzchak's age at the time of the Akeidah. The story has an entirely different meaning if Yitzchak is 37, if he is a teenager or if he is a child. The midrashim and meforshim who suggest the disparate ages are all trying to take different messages out of the story - which may not declare his age precisely so that so much can be derived from the story.

So I would prefer to understand the midrash as a metaphor rather than conclude that Yitzchak was a pedophile.

Alyssa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/06/2018 12:01PM by mlb.