I. The Challenge of the Story of the Blessings
The book of Bereishit is full of charged family stories, but the story of the blessings seems particularly challenging. It is difficult to understand how Yitzchak's family could have sunk so low – to the point of the father being deceived by his wife and son, who took advantage of his failing eyesight. How could Yaakov have acted so deceitfully at the expense of his brother, who had gone out to fulfill their father's command?
Beyond the moral questions that arise from the parasha, it is also difficult to understand the story itself. During the course of the deception, Yitzchak begins to suspect that he is being deceived and therefore asks to touch Yaakov (Bereishit 27:21). After touching him, he wavers: should he trust the voice, "the voice of Yaakov," or the hairy hands, which suggest "the hands of Esav" (27:22). In such a state of uncertainty, you don't have to be particularly sharp to understand that the person standing before you is Yaakov in disguise. It is simpler and far more reasonable to trust the voice and assume that the garb is deceptive than the other way around. Yitzchak seems to act with undue naiveté in believing that he is indeed facing Esav, who for some reason is speaking with Yaakov's voice. What caused Yitzchak to behave in such a strange way?
Furthermore, it is puzzling why Yitzchak chose to bless Esav in the first place considering that Esav's character, as portrayed in the stories preceding the blessing, is quite negative.
First, Esav is engaged in hunting. This is a vocation not found among the patriarchs, nor more generally among the heroes of the Bible. It seems, in fact, to be a vocation foreign to the spirit of the Jewish people.[1] It would have been much more logical to choose Yaakov, who is described as an "ish tam (a simple, or perfect, man)" (25:27).
Second, before the story of the blessings, the Torah relates that Yitzchak viewed Esav's choice of wives negatively:
And when Esav was forty years old, he took to wife Yehudit the daughter of Be'eri the Chittite, and Basemat the daughter of Elon the Chittite. And they were [a source of] bitterness to Yitzchak and to Rivka. (26:34-35)
Why does Yitzchak bless Esav, who chose problematic wives with whom he would continue the line of Avraham's family?
The story of Esav's selling his birthright for lentil stew (25:29-31) also shows him to be a reckless individual who prefers momentary pleasure to long-term planning and thinking. Is this the son whom Yitzchak wishes to bless and entrust with the continuation of the covenant between God and Avraham?
Indeed, it would seem that Yitzchak's eyes were "dim" not only physically but also spiritually.[2] Something in Yitzchak refused to see the personality of his beloved son Esav.
What led Yitzchak to such blindness?
II. Communication Difficulties
Before we attempt to fathom Yitzchak's motives, let us try to understand the perspective of Rivka, who undermines Yitzchak in order to ensure that the blessings will be bestowed on Yaakov. In contrast to Yitzchak, Rivka is more easily understood. She seems to have grasped the nature of her sons and to have perceived that Yaakov chose to be a "tent-dweller" rather than a "hunter," and that, unlike Esav, he has no dealings with problematic women (or with women in general). But beyond this, it is likely that Rivka is acting first and foremost in accordance with the prophecy she received during her pregnancy:
And the Lord said to her: Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from within you; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. (25:23)
Rivka received an explicit prophecy from God, according to which the younger son is to lead the family onward. Thus her actions, which at first glance seem inexplicable, become a clear response to the word of God.
This point, however, only raises a more perplexing issue: It seems that Yitzchak was not at all aware of this prophecy! Had he been aware of it, he probably would not have tried to promote Esav over Yaakov. Perhaps Rivka had not told him about it at all, or perhaps she had tried to tell him but he did not accept her words.
In any case, it is clear that the story of the blessings tells us, first and foremost, about a fundamental rupture in the relationship between Yitzchak and Rivka. There is a profound lack of communication between them, so that critical information does not get passed from one to the other. If communication had been more open and based on trust, then things would probably have been much simpler, thanks to the prophecy from the period of Rivka's pregnancy.
But communication difficulties also appear in another axis of the family, between Yaakov and his father. Before the story of the blessings, we witness Yaakov's purchase of Esav's birthright for lentil stew. Ostensibly, this transaction should have led to Yaakov's receiving Yitzchak's blessing. Again, it seems that Yitzchak is unaware of critical information that should have influenced his behavior. Yaakov did not attempt to inform his father – or perhaps he tried but did not succeed in conveying the message – that he had legally purchased the birthright and was therefore entitled to the blessing.
Thus we are witness to communication and trust difficulties on both axes – between Rivka and Yitzchak and between Yaakov and Yitzchak. Something is not working there.
Not infrequently, when a family finds itself in such a situation, patterns of deception, imposture, and lying develop. Simple communication, based on candor and trust, fails to work, and so there is no alternative but to resort to devious ways. Rivka and Yaakov know full well from their side that they are in the right. But since they are unable to convey this straightforwardly to the head of the household, they are forced to resort to subterfuge.
It would seem that the parents' difficulty in communicating with each other about the boys stemmed from each of them being immersed in their feelings for the favored son:
Now Yitzchak loved Esav, because [Esav's] hunted game was in his mouth; and Rivka loved Yaakov. (25:28)
This description sounds jarring and anomalous within the context of family life – a father loving one son and a mother loving another. Clearly this is a problematic situation, both on the marital level and on the parental level. Rivka apparently feels that there is no one to talk to, as Yitzchak is immersed in his love for Esav.
III. Yitzchak, Yishmael, and Esav
As noted, Yitzchak's blind love requires elucidation. The text itself attempts to explain the motives behind it – "because [Esav's] hunted game was in his mouth" – but this rationale seems puzzling. It is precisely the profession of hunting, which seems dubious, that is the cause of Yitzchak's love for Esav! What is it about hunting that evokes Yitzchak's love and, apparently, also his esteem?
If we go back a little, we find in Yitzchak's past an old connection to another hunter – none other than his brother Yishmael, of whom it is stated:
And God was with the lad, and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. (21:20)
Yishmael became a professional archer, and it is reasonable to assume that this involved hunting animals.[3] The connection between Yishmael the expert archer and Esav the hunter becomes clear when Yitzchak commands Esav to bring him game:
Now therefore take, I pray you, your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me. (27:3)
Yitzchak emphasizes to Esav that he wants him to go out with his bow and with his quiver of arrows slung upon him ("your quiver").[4] Ostensibly, this emphasis is superfluous – it would have sufficed to tell Esav to go hunting, and presumably he would have known which implements to take. But Yitzchak wants the food to be provided specifically by way of a bow – the bow that reminds him of his brother Yishmael, the archer.[5]
If we delve deeper, we find that there are other indications of Yitzchak's affinity towards Yishmael. Hagar called the place where the angel appeared to her and announced the birth of Yishmael "Be'er la-Chai Ro'i" (16:14). To our surprise, we find Yitzchak going to this specific place on two different occasions. When he first encounters Rivka, Scripture notes: "And Yitzchak had come from the way of Be'er la-Chai Ro'i" (24:62). This fact seems irrelevant to the story, but seems to indicate an attraction to the place identified with Yishmael. We do not know what Yitzchak was doing there, but perhaps something in him wanted to remember and connect with his brother, who had been separated from him prematurely.
After Avraham died, we find that Yitzchak did not just continue visiting Be'er la-Chai Ro'i, but also chose to reside there:
And it came to pass after the death of Avraham, that God blessed Yitzchak his son; and Yitzchak dwelt by Be'er la-Chai Ro'i. (25:11)
Yitzchak waited for his father to die, and as soon as he could, he moved to a place that was identified with Yishmael.[6]
Another point of affinity between Yitzchak and Yishmael is that the verb "tz-ch-k"is used in connection with both of them:
And Sara saw the son of Hagar… making sport [metzachek]. (21:9)
And he saw, and behold, Yitzchak was sporting [metzachek] with Rivka, his wife. (26:8)
It would seem that there is a difference between the cases. Yishmael "sported" in a negative sense, which led to his banishment. With Yitzchak, on the other hand, it was a natural act between a husband and wife. Nevertheless, the very use of the same rare term is one more indication of a connection between the brothers.[7]
Moreover, at the end of the parasha, when Esav discovers that his parents are displeased with his wives, he takes a wife from the daughters of Yishmael:
And Esav saw that the daughters of Canaan were displeasing in the eyes of Yitzchak his father, so Esav went to Yishmael, and took unto the wives that he had Machalat the daughter of Yishmael, Avraham's son, the sister of Nevayot, to be his wife. (28:8-9)
Apparently, Esav senses his father's appreciation of or attraction to Yishmael and sees this marriage as a way to please his father. The marriage creates a triangular connection between Yitzchak, his beloved son Esav, and the brother he misses, Yishmael.
IV. Weakness and a Longing for Power
In order to understand the Yitzchak-Yishmael-Esav relationship, one must look at Yitzchak's life in a broader perspective. The difference between Yitzchak and the other two patriarchs, Avraham and Yaakov, is striking. While Avraham and Yaakov are accorded much space in Sefer Bereishit (Avraham gets three parashot and the stories of Yaakov span six parashot), the life of Yitzchak is addressed in brief (one parasha), with just one chapter really talking about his life (chapter 26) and the rest of the parasha being more about his children.
This is not surprising, for Yitzchak's life is characterized by relative quiet, with few dramatic events. Yitzchak is not an especially enterprising or active personality. He is mainly occupied with maintaining the hold on the land that his father began.
In fact, some of the events of his life are essentially reenactments of events in Avraham's life. For example, the story of his residence in Gerar, in which he presents Rivka as his sister (26:6-11), is very similar to the story of Avraham in Gerar (20:1-14). Moreover, the wells that Yitzchak digs in Gerar are only a reopening of his father's wells, and even their names remain the same:
And Yitzchak dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Avraham his father; for the Pelishtim had stopped them after the death of Avraham; and he called their names like the names by which his father had called them. (26:18)
Yitzchak not only restores his father's hold on the land but also strives to establish and deepen it. This mission is evident from the Divine commandment forbidding Yitzchak to leave the land even in a time of famine (26:2-3), in contrast to Avraham and Yaakov. Such a departure would impair Yitzchak's hold on the land, and therefore he is required to forgo it despite the difficulty.
Yitzchak's destiny is also reflected in the fact that, unlike Avraham, he begins to engage in agriculture and not just herding sheep:
And Yitzchak sowed in that land, and found in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed great, and grew more and more until he became very great. (26:12-13)
The transition from herding sheep to agriculture is revolutionary in the context of the settlement of the land: instead of nomadic wandering in order to find sustenance, agriculture involves holding and establishing oneself in a particular place, deriving sustenance from the land itself.
But this leap is not simple. Once Yitzchak begins to establish himself and become stronger in the land, the Pelishtim around him begin to feel threatened and start to harass him:
And the man waxed great, and grew more and more until he became very great… And Avimelekh said to Yitzchak: Go from us; for you are much mightier than we. (26:13-16)
From then on, Yitzchak resumes wandering from place to place, like his father Avraham[8] – and the agricultural settlement project in the land seems to have failed.
In practice, Yitzchak's situation becomes even more difficult than that of Avraham. Even after moving away from the Pelishtim, he has difficulty holding onto the land. The shepherds of Gerar quarrel with his shepherds over the water wells, and Yitzchak cannot cope with them and is forced to dig a new well each time (26:20-22). Finally, he succeeds in digging a well without a fight, but for some reason he is forced to move on from there too, to Be'er Sheva (26:23). We don't know of such incidents from his father's time, and it is specifically noted that the filling of the wells was only "after the death of Avraham" (26:18).
Yitzchak's weakness in comparison to his father, regarding the threats posed by his environment, is also evident from a comparison of the covenants that each of them made with Avimelekh, king of Gerar. After Yitzchak's move to Be'er Sheva, Avimelekh and his entourage come to him and demand that he enter into a covenant with them. Their words seem more like a threat than a request for peace:
That you will do us no hurt, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace; you are now the blessed of the Lord. (26:29)
The words "as we have done to you nothing but good" contain a great deal of irony, since they had mostly done him harm. Avimelekh hints to him that he should be grateful they did not kill him but merely sent him away in peace. Having no choice in the matter, Yitzchak responds to this demand, makes them a feast, and enters into a covenant with them (26:30-31).
In the earlier covenant between Avimelekh and Avraham, however, there is reciprocity. Avimelekh asks that Avraham and his descendants show him kindness as he has shown him the kindness of letting him dwell in his land (21:22-23). Avraham agrees, but in turn, rebukes Avimelekh for stealing a well (21:25). Such a rebuke would have been appropriate in the story of Yitzchak, but unlike his father, he dares not do such a thing.[9]
Avraham's strong character is also evident in other places, such as his war against the four kings and in the words of the sons of Chet during the purchase of the Makhpela Cave – "You are a mighty prince among us" (23:6).[10] How far removed is this from Yitzchak, who is driven away from place to place while his wells are plundered.
Yitzchak's failure to establish himself in the land and his weakness against the peoples of the region gradually gave rise to a longing for power and strength. We can understand if, from time to time, he remembered with longing his brother Yishmael, who, unlike him, had received a promise of special power against the peoples of the region:
And he shall be a wild donkey of a man: his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the face of all his brothers. (16:12)
Yitzchak also hears of Yishmael's successes as he makes his living in the wilderness as an archer, a hunter who is feared by those around him (21:20). Yitzchak would like something of this in order to succeed in his life's mission of establishing himself in the land. He understands that the continuity of the covenant with God cannot exist without a strong and powerful dimension that will give substance to the great ideas of faith.
V. Power and Wisdom
When Esav and Yaakov are born and each develops in his own direction, Yitzchak immediately falls in love with Esav "because [Esav's] hunted game was in his mouth" (25:28). He reminds him of his brother the hunter, and something in him is drawn to that power. He understands that Esav will succeed where he has failed.[11]
Beyond being a hunter, Esav is also described as "a man of the field" (25:27). He reminds Yitzchak of the very field in which he had tried to establish himself as a novice farmer. The field is repeatedly mentioned in connection with Esav: in the story of the sale of the birthright, "And Esav came in from the field" (25:29); in Yitzchak's command at the beginning of the story of the blessings, "Go out into the field" (27:3); and when Yaakov comes disguised as Esav, and Yitzchak is especially moved by his smell:
See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed. (27:27)
At that moment, Yitzchak remembered that same field from the past, where he had toiled and received God's blessing (26:12). This uplifting moment led him to bless his son, with a blessing focused on agricultural abundance from a position of strength:
And God shall give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fat places of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be every one that curses you, and blessed be every one that blesses you. (27:28-29)
With this blessing, Yitzchak hopes that his son will succeed where he failed. Esav will be blessed with agricultural abundance as well as with power over the surrounding peoples, who will not interfere with his hold on the land (as had already happened to Yitzchak).
Rivka, on the other hand, did not suffer from the same weakness as Yitzchak and therefore saw Esav in a more realistic light – as a man of strength and power, but without the ability to lead and inspire. One who sells his birthright for a pot of lentil stew may have strength and a strong will, but he lacks the ability to think ahead and engage in long-term planning.
As noted, Rivka and Yitzchak have trouble communicating; Rivka is unable to convey the message to Yitzchak directly, and therefore resorts to subterfuge and deception. But in the story of the blessings, she also tries to hint to Yitzchak a deep message: if the main thing is masculine hands and the smell of the field, this can be easily achieved – by donning Esav's garments. This has no real meaning. It is but a superficial veneer. The man of brains will be the one to reap the blessings, in a subtle manner. The wise will prevail over the strong. The Jewish people need first of all spiritual understanding and strength, and only then, physical strength and power.
It is possible that this understanding seeped down to Yitzchak during the incident of the blessings. When he says: "The voice is the voice of Yaakov, but the hands are the hands of Esav" (27:22), he apparently understands to a certain point that he is encountering a blessed hybridization of the two forces, with Yaakov being the primary force pulling the strings. While Yaakov will still have to learn the art of power and confrontation in the course of his life, he is the one who should be chosen for his personal virtues. Power is an additional layer, but wisdom is the essence.
(Translated by David Strauss; edited by Sarah Rudolph)
[1] As the Noda bi-Yehuda writes, in his responsum regarding Halakha's attitude toward hunting: "And indeed, I am greatly amazed by the very matter, as we find no hunters [in Scripture] but Nimrod and Esav, and this is not the way of the sons of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov… How can an Israelite kill animals with his hands, for no other reason than to pass the time indulging in the sport of hunting?" (Respona Noda bi-Yehuda, 2nd edition, Yoreh De'a, no. 10).
[2] Chazal in Bereishit Rabba (65) noted this point and linked the dimness of Yitzchak's eyes to the prohibition of bribery, which is said to "blind the eyes of the wise" (Devarim 16:19). We are dealing here not only with a physical impairment of sight, but with a mental blindness that afflicted Yitzchak with regard to Esav.
[3] This is how Rashi interprets the description of Yishmael as "a wild donkey of a man" [pere adam]: "He loves the wilderness to hunt wild beasts, as it is written: 'And he became an archer'" (Rashi 16:12).
[4] See the commentary of the Rashbam.
[5] There is another allusion to a bow in the context of Yishmael when Hagar wanders with him in the wilderness: "And she went and sat herself down over opposite [him], at a bowshot's distance" (21:16).
[6] He could not go to Yishmael and live with him, for he was somewhere in Egypt and Yitzchak had been commanded not to leave the land of Canaan (26:2). But at the very least, he could dwell in the place where the prophecy of his birth had been given.
[7] This verb also appears in the context of the sin of the golden calf: "And they rose up to make merry [le-tzachek]" (32:6). There too the context is negative, and so it turns out that the case of Yitzchak is the only one in the Torah in which the word has a positive connotation. It likely refers to a sexual act, and perhaps hints that Yitzchak was able to engage in that context in purity, together with his wife, in contrast to the other appearances of the term.
[8] Yitzchak moves from Gerar to Wadi Gerar (26:17) and then to Be'er Sheva (26:23). He ends his life in Kiryat Arba (35:27).
[9] The gap is also striking in the rationale for the name of the city Be'er Sheva: in the story of Avraham, the name is given because Avraham sets aside seven ewe lambs to serve as a witness that he had dug the well.
[10] For more on Avraham's status, see the previous shiur, on Parashat Chayei Sara.
[11] Similarly, Rabbi S. R. Hirsch explains: "That Yitzchak's sympathies were more inclined toward Esav, Rivka's to Yaakov can moreover easily be explained by the attraction of opposites. We see Yitzchak, risen up again from death on the altar, preferring to withdraw from the bustle of the world and to live quietly in the proximity of the desert, living at the well of Be'er la-Chai Ro'i, away from the busy traffic of men. That Esav's lusty active nature appealed to him, and that he perhaps saw in him a force which he had lost that could be a support to the home, would be quite possible."
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