Chasidut for Taanit 50:1

And this is as the Scripture states "beyond the river dwelt your ancestors from olden times; Terach, the father of Avraham" (Yehoshua 24:2). That is to say, Terach the father of Avraham, his dwelling and his level was in the attribute of "beyond the river", which is, the second side of the river, to perform evil deeds [chasadim hara'im] in the world. "But I took your father Avraham from beyond the river" (Yehoshua 24:3) - from that level itself of "beyond the river" I took Avraham, to the other, opposite side: to do and to increase good deeds in the world [chasadim tovim]. And this is a great and wondrous level, the attribute of one who is forgiving [lit. "passes over their traits"], who the Sages of blessed memory praised (Ta'anit 25b:5). Since They took evil attributes and reversed their attributes to be made into good attributes, regarding this the Scripture says (Yirmiyahu 15:19) "If you produce what is noble out of the worthless, you shall be like My mouth". And our Sages of blessed memory said (Bava Metzia 85a) that even if the Holy Blessed One decrees a decree, They will nullify it for the sake of such a one. And behold, our sages of blessed memory said, blood is spoiled up and made into milk (Niddah 9a), as it is said "Who will make pure from impure?" (Iyov 14:4). And they explained it, that the impure blood alone, it itself is spoiled and made into pure milk. Regarding this it says "Who will make pure from impure?" -- like Avraham from Terach, from the impurity of Terach, Terach himself who was accustomed to do evil deeds in the world and to make known matters of idolatry, how to serve every different idol: from this impurity itself Avraham reversed and made it pure, and taught the people the ways of God and converted the converts, as it is said!

"And Yitzchak entreated God regarding his wife, for she was barren, and God was entreated of him..." (Bereishit 25:21). Regarding his wife entirely, and see Rashi on Genesis 25:21 [which says that it means facing his wife]. And we can continue in precision: "for she was barren" has no explanation, and it should have said "And Rivka was barren, and Yitzchak entreated..." And the commentators pose a further problem regarding what Rashi wrote: "[And God was entreated] to him" [Yitzchak] and not to her, because the prayer of a righteous person child of a righteous person isn't similar to the prayer of a righteous person child of a wicked person. And behold, our Sages of blessed memory said (Ta'anit 25b) regarding Rabbi Eliezer who said 24 prayers and was not answered, and Rabbi Akiva was answered -- not because one was greater than the other, but because this one was forgiving (lit. "passed over his traits"). And it was explained regarding this value[?], that it wished to say that since there was a a child of converts and needed to break his nature and traits and look there -- behold, it seems the opposite, that the prayer of a righteous person child of a wicked person is more acceptable! And we can continue in precision with the language of Rashi, who wrote that the prayer of a righteous person child of a righteous person isn't similar, etc. - he should have said the opposite, that the prayer of a righteous person child of wicked person isn't similar to the prayer of a righteous person child of a righteous person, and [the former] is better. And we can further continue in precision with Rashi's conclusion, that "therefore [God was entreated] to him and not to her", that it's an additional lip [?] and doubled language. And we can also be precise with its saying of "and [God] was entreated" [vaye'ater ויעתר], and our Sages of blessed memory said, (Sukkot 14a) "Why is the prayer of the righteous like a pitchfork [עתר 'eter]? Just as a pitchfork turns grain on the threshing floor from place to place, so too the prayer of the righteous turns the mind of the Holy Blessed One from justice to mercy. What is this verse teaching us that this matter is specifically here? Did Avraham and the rest of the righteous not also pray, and it didn't say this language [ie that God was entreated]? And we can be further precise, in her saying "If so, why do I exist?" she was praying regarding children, which seems as though she was choosing childlessness from the pain of the pregnancy - and certainly this righteous one was not considering this!