Musar do Rodzaju 27:78

Some of the proud vaunt themselves in the exercise of this blameworthy quality, because they delight therein (and try to excuse themselves by) arguing, that the soul inclines to distinction, and finds lowliness irksome. Again, they hold that domineering (supremacy) strengthens it, while submission weakens it, and were there no domination, the world would not be well adjusted.¹ Guttmann ("Saadya," pp. 276, 277, note 2, Emunoth we-Deoth, x. 9) points out that Gabirol closely follows the teaching of Saadya with respect to the love of dominion ; it is worthy of notice that Gabirol quotes the same scriptural passages. S. Landauer (pp. xix.-xxi. of his introduction to the Arabic text of Saadya's work) holds that this chapter, the tenth, is a later addition to the book; cf. D. S. A. Taubeles ("Saadia Gaon," Halle, 1888, p. 32, note 43). They further say that the prayers of the excellent had the attainment thereof in view when they said (Gen. xxvii. 29), "Let people serve thee and nations bow down to thee."

And the penitent should also pray to God to erase his transgressions like a fog, and his sins like a cloud; and that He desire him, accept him and listen to him as if he had not sinned - like the matter that is written in the words of Elihu about a penitent after [he has suffered] afflictions (Job 33:26), "He prays to God and is accepted by Him." For it is likely for the iniquity to be forgiven and he be redeemed from all afflictions and from all decrees, but God [still] not desire him and not want to accept an offering from him. And it is the desire of the righteous from [their] successes, to incline God's will towards them and that He should desire them. And his will is [for] real everlasting life and for the great light that includes all of the pleasant things - like the matter that is stated (Psalms 30:6), "when He is pleased there is life." And it [also] stated (Psalms 80:20), "O Lord, God of hosts, restore us; shine Your countenance that we may be delivered" - and our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed said "(Midrash Tehillim 80), "We have nothing besides the shining of Your countenance." And that is the matter of [His] desire - and we have already mentioned this and explained it. Therefore you will see in the prayer of David at the time of [his] repentance after he said (Psalms 51:4), "Wash me thoroughly of my iniquity, and purify me of my sin," [that] he prayed further about the desire - that God's desire, may He be blessed - for him to be like before the sin. So he said (Psalms 51:13), "Do not cast me out of Your presence, or take Your holy spirit away from me." Afterwards he prayed and said (Psalms 51:14), "Let me again rejoice in Your salvation" - that the miracles of God and His salvation be found with him, and that the spirit of God would come upon him as at first. And afterwards he [continued], "and a generous spirit sustain me." Its explanation is - behold I have been lessened because of my transgressions and am not fitting to be a prince, and for Your holy arm to be revealed upon Me. And even if you have lifted (forgiven) the iniquity of my sin, I am not worthy to be beloved and acceptable as in earlier times. Yet sustain me with a generous spirit; for there is no end to Your generosity and Your goodness. And [the word,] spirit, comes lacking a [letter,] bet (in front of it, which would mean, with the spirit), like [in] (Genesis 27:37), "sustained him grain and wine" (which is to be understood as if grain was preceded by a letter bet, meaning "with grain, etc."). And Hosea, peace be upon him, said about this matter (Hosea 14:5), "I will heal their affliction, I will take them back in generous love." The matter of generous love is like the matter that David said, ["and a generous spirit] sustain me."

Jacob said to Joseph that he wanted him to perform a חסד ואמת, with him (47,27); he described the kindness as a "true kindness" because in performing a deed of this nature to a departed there can be no expectation of recompense to the performer. Many people raise the point that Joseph had already received his reward for this kindness before he actually performed it. Had not his father promised that Ephrayim and Menashe, Joseph's two sons, would each inherit a slice of the land of Israel, just like Jacob's own sons? So how can we speak about a חסד של אמת? Not only that, Jacob gave special blessings to Joseph's children (something that is not recorded as having happened with his other grandsons); he also allocated the city of Shechem as belonging to the tribal territory of Joseph. In view of all this, how can one speak about a חסד של אמת, a totally altruistic act of kindness? Bereshit Rabbah 98,2 understands the additional שכם Jacob bestowed on Joseph as the birthright and the garments of Adam (which had been owned by Esau; Genesis 27,15). In view of all this, how can we speak about a totally altruistic act of kindness?

And the third section: One that comes with deception and deceptive words to prevent good from someone and to bring the good to himself. It is not to rob his fellow of something that is his nor to extort him. Rather he puts his eye upon a good that will be coming to his fellow in the future, and ambushes it to bring it to himself by the falsehood of his words; or his lying words cause his fellow to give it to him as a gift. And the main punishment is for the lie. Indeed, the punishment of the lie is enlarged if it causes a loss to someone besides himself, even though the main part of the punishment is not for the loss [here] - for he did not cause him to lose something that he had acquired. It is like the matter that our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Sanhedrin 92a), “Anyone who alters [the truth in] his speech, it is as though he worships idols. As, it is stated (Genesis 27:12), ‘Maybe my father will feel me, and I shall seem to him a deceiver (metate’a)’; and it is written there (Jeremiah 10:15) [regarding idolatry], ‘They are vanity, the work of deception [tatuim].’” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said that it was as if he worshipped idolatry [here] - they brought it to the extreme and other (and it appears to me that it needs to say, to the final extreme). For he is (traded) (it needs to say, hidden - and it is from the usage of the verse [Isaiah 28:15], “We have hidden in falsehood” - and so is it found in the Chapter on Falsehood in the Paths of the Righteous, the chapters of which are built upon the pearls of this holy book Y. B.) in falsehood and girded in vanity.

The fourth section: One who attaches himself to an evildoer. It is not enough for him that he does not reprimand him with the rod of his mouth and surely distance him; but he rather brings him close like a friend. And it is stated (II Chronicles 20:37), “As you have made a partnership, etc., the Lord will break up your work.” Whereas the righteous are surely disgusted by the evildoer, as it is stated (Psalms 15:4), “A contemptible man is disgusting in his eyes.” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Bava Kamma 92b), “Not for naught did the starling go to the raven, but because it is its kind. And it stated, ‘All fowl will live with its kind, and men with those like him’ (Book of Ben Sira 13:17).” And they said (Megillah 28a), “It is prohibited for a person to gaze at the likeness of a wicked man, as it is stated (II Kings 3:14), ‘Were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judea, I would not look toward you, nor see you.’” And they [continued], “[Any one who gazes at the likeness of an evil man,] his eyes become dim [at the time of his old age], as it is stated (Genesis 27:1), ‘And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim so that he could not see’ - because he gazed at the wicked Esau.” And we have already discussed very well that there are many ways of death found by one who attaches himself to an evildoer.

We find further in the Midrash (Eichah Rabbah Pethichta): "(Bereshith 27:22): 'The voice is the voice of Jacob' — So long as the voice of Jacob "chirps" in the houses of prayer and the houses of study the hands of Esav will not prevail over him. But if the voice of Jacob, etc."

But a life that has no reverence of God in it cannot be called life. And a person should be disgusted with and reject a life that is against the will of the Creator, may He be Blessed, as is said of Rebecca: "And Rebecca said to Isaac, 'I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these daughters of the land, then of what good is my life to me?' " (Gen. 27:46). Therefore, in a place where there is desecration of God's Name he should not worry about his life and always let his heart be ready to surrender himself for the Sanctification of God's Name in all of the commandments, be they light or of great importance.

What is required in addition to remorse, is the forsaking of evil and the performance of good deeds. One needs to hold on to the pillar of Torah which is the banner of true freedom, i.e. freedom from the evil urge. We are capable of performing mighty deeds as long as we embrace Torah with our right hand, paraphrasing the words of Moses describing G–d's mighty deeds: ימינך ה' נאדרי בכח ימינך ה' תרעץ אויב. Our sages (Midrash Hagadol) in commenting on Genesis 27,22: הקול קול יעקב והידים ידי עשו, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, whereas the hands are the hands of Esau," interpret this phrase to mean that as long as the voice is the voice of Jacob, the hands of Esau are powerless against us.

ויחרדו איש אל אחיו . We find an outstanding example of how G–d employs the principle of מדה כנגד מדה, tit for tat, in this paragraph. When Jacob masqueraded as his twin brother Esau in order to obtain the blessing from his father, the Torah spoke about the עורות גדיי העזים, "the skins of the goats," with which he covered the smooth skin of his arms (Genesis 27,16). G–d punished him for this when the brothers dipped Joseph's coat in the blood of the goat they slaughtered in order to deceive their father. Jacob caused his father חרדה, great alarm, when Isaac realized that he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau. The brothers caused their father great alarm when they asked him to determine if the blood-drenched coat was Joseph's. Yehudah, who had deceived his father, was in turn deceived by Tamar who challenged him with the identical words Yehudah had used to his father at the time, i.e. 38,25) !הכר נא). Now, when the "one" i.e. Levi (who had been separated from Shimon whom Joseph had imprisoned) opened his sack and found his money, he experienced alarm. The expression והנה … ויאמר אל אחיו ויחרדו איש אל אחיו … מה זאת עשה אלוקים לנו in 42 27-28, parallels the time when Shimon and Levi had announced the approach of Joseph with the words: הנה בעל החלומות בא ויאמרו איש אל אחיו in 37, 19. The latter words correspond to what they had said to their father in 37,32: זאת מצאנו. When we keep this in mind, we understand a number of words in these paragraphs which otherwise appear superfluous. The Torah wanted to direct our attention to the manner in which G–d made the punishment fit the crime. The author credits the above comments to a book called .דברי שלום

Some Kabbalists explain Exodus 18,1, in which we are told what Yitro "had heard," as a description of Moses' spiritual ascent. According to that view, the words אשר עשה אלוקים למשה, mean that G–d in His capacity as י-ה-ו-ה, made an Elo-him of Moses. Yitro had heard that G–d said about Moses: ראה נתתיך אלוהים לפרעה, "See here, I have made you a deity over Pharaoh," while at the same time He had made the people His עם, nation. It was Yitro's understanding that becoming G–d's people meant becoming His "army." This would have been the realisation of G–d's wish ever since the Creation to have a residence in the material world. The reason that G–d, i.e. His manifest Presence, שכינה, withdrew from earth was only because man had seriously damaged that part of G–d's creation by his sins. Now G–d had refined the Jewish people in the "crucible" of the Egyptian bondage experience to the point where He chose them to be His "army" in lieu of His Celestial Army. This is the meaning of the words in 6,26: הוציאו את בני ישראל מארץ מצרים על צבאותם, "Take the children of Israel out of Egypt in their armies." Rashi comments that the words: צבאותם mean "every army according to their tribes." Had not these people participated in the sin of the golden calf afterwards, they would have remained on that lofty level indefinitely, just as they will be in the Messianic future of which the Torah says in Leviticus 26,12,: והתהלכתי בתוככם, "I shall be walking amongst you."

(Ibid. 5): "And Joseph dreamed a dream… (8) …Will you reign over us?": Scripture expatiates upon the dreams to rationalize somewhat the extreme hatred of the brothers to Joseph to the point of wanting to remove him from the world: They assumed that he desired to reign over them, for which reason he had brought "evil report" of them to their father, so that he should remove them from his presence [as Rashi explains (Ibid.): "for his dreams and for his words" — "for the evil report that he had brought to their father." And the robe that his father made him served as "supporting evidence" that he had accepted his report], and that perhaps, G-d forbid, he would agree with Joseph, so that he [Joseph] would be a "master" over them, as in Isaac's blessing to Jacob (Ibid. 27:29): "Be a master to you brothers, and your mother's sons will bow down to you." Or, [they thought,] G-d forbid, that he [Jacob] would banish them altogether, as Noach said (Ibid. 9:25): "Cursed is Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers." Therefore, they took counsel on how to rid themselves of him.

Jacob's descendants merited the same advantages in due course. They experienced that the sea was split for their sake, and they witnessed the "great hand" of G–d at work (Exodus 14, 31). Israel merited the “רקיע” when G–d descended to Mount Sinai traversing all seven Heavenly Regions each known as a different רקיע at the time He gave them the Torah, commencing His revelation with the words: "I am the Lord your G–d who has taken you out of Egypt" (Midrash Hagadol Exodus 19, 20 – slightly different wording). Israel's relationship with G–d's throne is alluded to in Jeremiah 17, 12: כסא כבוד מרום מראשון מקם מקדשנו, "O Throne of Glory exalted from of old, our sacred Shrine". The "throne" mentioned is the throne of G–d in His Heaven. The same prophet wrote in Lamentations 2, 1: (after the destruction of the Temple) ‘השליך משמים ארץ תפארת ישראל, "He cast down from Heaven to Earth the majesty of Israel." Our sages in Eicha Rabbah 2,2 commented on this verse: G–d said: "The only reason you have the audacity to annoy Me is the fact that Jacob's features are engraved on My throne; Here I fling it down in your faces!" At that point in time, the letter כ in the ירך of Jacob became dislocated. The three letters in the word ירך, thigh, are the respective first letters of the words ים, רקיע, כסא. The dislocation of Jacob's thigh joint is an allusion to the dislocation of G–d's throne. The numerical value of the word כף in the expression כף ירך יעקב, is 100. It is an allusion to the letter ק which is written smaller in Rebeccah's exclamation קצתי בחיי, in Genesis 27, 46. We had explained previously that that was an allusion to the destruction of the Temple as foreseen by Rebeccah. Allegorically speaking, if one removes the letter ק from Jacob's name, one is left only with יעב, meaning a cloud which blocks out the sun and the daylight. This is the deeper meaning of Jeremiah in Lamentations 2, 1: איכה יעיב באפו א-דני את בת ציון, "How has the Lord shamed (brought dark clouds) the daughter of Zion in His wrath." The prophet refers to the former distinction of Israel having been flung to earth.

(Ibid. 42:37): "And Reuven said to his father: 'You may kill my two sons if I do not bring him [Benjamin] back to you… (38): And he said: 'My son shall not go down with you.'" The Midrash relates that Yaakov said about him [Reuven]: "He is a foolish bechor [(first-born)]. Are they his sons and not my sons?" The words of Reuven must, indeed, be understood, but, essentially, this is the explanation: Whatever issues from a man's mouth [(aside from what relates to fear of the L-rd, which is a function of man's free will)] is brought about by Heaven. This is the thrust of Chazal's statement: "All is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven." And the Midrash tells us that this ejaculation of Reuven's [("You may kill my two sons, etc.")] was fulfilled in his sons, [i.e., descendants], Dathan and Aviram [(in the episode of Korach)]. And, in truth, he [Reuven] himself was the cause of this, by saying (Bereshith 27:32): "Cast him into this pit which is in the desert." The act was extremely evil, for which reason they [Dathan and Aviram] descended, living, to Sheol, to the midst of the pit. As to his intent, being good, as it is written (Bereshith, Ibid.): "in order to rescue him from their hands to return him to his father," he merited that one of his descendants, On ben Peleth, be saved, by returning in repentance to His Father in heaven (wherefore he was called "On," his being in aninuth ["mourning" (for his sin)] all of his life, as Chazal have stated.

There is an interesting Midrash on Psalms 2,2, יתיצבו מלכי ארץ, "The kings of the earth will take their stand, and regents will intrigue together against G–d and His anointed." Rabbi Berechyah quotes Rabbi Levi as saying that the wicked are cursed, since they conspire against Israel. Each one claims to outdo the other in his devious plot. Esau describes Cain as having been foolish, since he killed Abel during Adam's lifetime, enabling Adam to replace Abel with other children. He, Esau was going to wait to kill Jacob until after his father had died and Jacob could no longer be replaced by Isaac siring any other children (Genesis 27,41). Pharaoh considered Esau as having been foolish, since he had overlooked the fact that while he waited, Jacob himself had a chance to sire many children, thus ensuring survival of the Jewish nation. He, Pharaoh, would not go about in in this way, but he would kill the Jewish males as soon as they emerged from their mother's womb (Exodus 1,22). Haman, on the other hand, considered that even Pharaoh had been foolish, since the latter had not realised that when the Jewish girls would marry they would multiply, the children being considered Jewish in Jewish law. Hence he decreed death for all Jews (Esther 3,13). In the future Gog and Magog will consider all former enemies of the Jews as having been fools for having ignored the fact that the Jews have a Patron in Heaven who may come to their rescue. Hence Gog and Magog plan to first contend with said Patron of the Jews, i.e. G–d, and only afterwards to attack Israel itself. This is why the verse in Psalms we quoted, reads "against G–d and His Messiah." G–d is reported as smiling, saying to Gog and Magog that their undertaking is both foolish and arrogant, since they have no idea how heavily outnumbered they will be when G–d employs His lightning, etc. After all, it is written (Isaiah 42,13): "G–d will go forth like a warrior, like a fighter. He will awaken His jealousy like a man of war." It also says (Zachariah 14,9) that "G–d will be king over the entire universe" (after having battled Gog and Magog).

They further said on the verse: "'then Rivkah took the finest clothes of Eisav her older son' (Gen 27:15) - Raban Shimon ben Gamliel says: 'I served my father... but when Eisav served his father, he would only do so while wearing royal clothing'" (Bereishis Raba 65:16).

Esau ridiculed this, saying that Adam had been able to reproduce other human beings of whom the Torah testifies that they were "in His image and form," i.e. of equal or greater worth. Thereby he had restored the damage Cain had wrought (Genesis 5,3). This occurred when Shet was born, who provided the strain of mankind that survived the deluge. Esau vowed not to repeat Cain's mistake, but to ensure that no one could be sired by Isaac to replace Jacob. He particularly wanted to destroy one of the pillars supporting the universe, i.e. the Torah, which was represented by Jacob, the יושב אוהלים, the dweller in tents (a euphemism for Torah academies). On Genesis 25, 27, Rashi explains the plural as comprising the academies of Shem and Ever respectively. Esau reasoned that during the days of mourning for their father Isaac Jacob would have to interrupt his Torah study and the angel of death, Esau's guardian angel, would be able to claim him at such a time. We know from king David that the angel of death could not touch David while he was immersed in Torah study. He had to be distracted so that the angel of death could claim his soul. The Talmud relates a similar occasion when the angel of death tried to claim the soul of Rabbah. The latter had to be distracted through some tremendous noise (Baba Metzia 86).

But, here too one needs to discern and make distinctions, for all this was said regarding the mitzvot themselves which we are completely obligated in. In those one should "set his face like flint" (Isaiah 50:7).

These things can only be evaluated by one of understanding heart and sound intellect since it is impossible to clarify all their endless details, and "G-d gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding" (Mishlei 2:6).

The third category is where one lies to his fellow not to rob him of anything he possesses, but he learns that a certain good thing is going to come to his fellow in the future, and so with falsehood and with cunning he praises this good fortune that is coming, and makes it appear that he has a share in it. Or he lies to his fellow until he gives him a gift, for example, he brings him good tidings — false tidings — in order to get a gift because of this. And there are many similar cases. And our Sages, of blessed memory, said, "Whoever dissembles in his speech is as though he had practiced idolatry" (Sanh. 92a). As it is said, "My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a mocker" (Gen. 27:12). And it is said, concerning idolatry, "They are vanity, a work of delusion" (Jer. 10:15). Now this does not mean that one who lies is actually like one who worships idols, but the resemblance is there, for he conceals himself in falsehood and is helped by empty things.

Hearing is also used in connection with acceptance and approval, which are at the basis of love; thus it is written (Ex. xxiv. 7), "We will do and we will hear." The performance of a thing is due to the love of a man therefore; thus it is said (Gen. xxvii. 4), "Make me savoury meat, such as I love."

Sometimes satisfaction and cheerfulness follow upon hearing: thus it is said (Lev. x. 20), "When Moses heard that he was content," just as anger ensues in the absence of assent and hearkening, as (Ex. xvi. 20), "Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto Moses." ..."And Moses was wroth with them." Hatred also results from hearing, as thou must know from the case of Esau, of whom it is said (Gen. xxvii. 34), "When Esau heard," and then follows (id. xxvii. 41), "Esau hated Jacob." Mercy is known to result from "hearing"; thus God said (Ex. xxii. 26), "I will hear, for I am merciful." It is said of the righteous dead (Prov. i. 33), "Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely." In contrast to this, it is said of the unrighteous (Job xv. 21), "A sound of fright is in his ears: in peace the despoiler shall come upon him," and so forth. Hard-heartedness results from the want of assent; thus it is said of Pharaoh in many places (Ex. ix. 12), "The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he hearkened not." A hard-hearted people is called (Deut. xxviii. 49), "A nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand, neither shalt thou hearken unto what it speaketh," and so forth.

Sometimes satisfaction and cheerfulness follow upon hearing: thus it is said (Lev. x. 20), "When Moses heard that he was content," just as anger ensues in the absence of assent and hearkening, as (Ex. xvi. 20), "Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto Moses." ..."And Moses was wroth with them." Hatred also results from hearing, as thou must know from the case of Esau, of whom it is said (Gen. xxvii. 34), "When Esau heard," and then follows (id. xxvii. 41), "Esau hated Jacob." Mercy is known to result from "hearing"; thus God said (Ex. xxii. 26), "I will hear, for I am merciful." It is said of the righteous dead (Prov. i. 33), "Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely." In contrast to this, it is said of the unrighteous (Job xv. 21), "A sound of fright is in his ears: in peace the despoiler shall come upon him," and so forth. Hard-heartedness results from the want of assent; thus it is said of Pharaoh in many places (Ex. ix. 12), "The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he hearkened not." A hard-hearted people is called (Deut. xxviii. 49), "A nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand, neither shalt thou hearken unto what it speaketh," and so forth.

We ask G–d daily at the end of the עמידה prayer ולמקללי נפשי תדום, "enable my soul to be silent to those who curse me." The wording seems peculiar. It would have sufficed to say: "Let me be silent to those who curse me." Why did the sages who composed this prayer add the words "my soul?" The answer is simply that unless one's humility is "soul-deep" as compared to merely "lip-deep," one has not truly attained the desired level of humility. Merely failing to respond to curses heaped upon one will not eliminate resentment and hatred carried in one's heart, and is hardly proof of humility. We may learn a lesson from nature itself. As long as the soil is hard and has not been subjected to plowing, (something which looks like abuse), it is not capable of producing crops. The same applies to our נפש. Only after experiencing some humiliating experiences is our soul capable of rising to the greatest heights it is capable of. It is clear from Proverbs 16,5: תועבת ה' כל גבה לב, "Every haughty person is an abomination to the Lord," that even if one only harbors such sentiments in one's heart, לב, G–d detests such sentiments.

The sense of taste includes as its species four qualities, namely, Joy (Cheerfulness), Grief (Apprehensiveness), Penitence, and Tranquility. Dost thou not see that the greatest pleasure is derived through eating and drinking, which is attained by means of the sense of taste? Hast thou not heard of the saying on the part of Isaac (Gen. xxvii. 25), "Bring it here unto me and I will eat of my son's venison"; and also (Ruth iii. 7), "And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, his heart was merry." Speech, consisting as it does of words, which are of a kind with (the objects of) taste, sometimes gives rise to joy; thus it is said (Prov. xv. 23), "A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth." Opposed to this we find that grief follows upon the failure to exercise this sense, as it is said (i Sam. i. 7), "She wept and did not eat." It is also related of Jonathan (id. xx. 34), "He did eat no meat the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David." Many such expressions are used with reference to Saul and others.

Rebeccah concluded that there was no point in living a life that was measured by the yardstick of the undiluted מדת הדין, seeing that hardly anyone could survive if he were to be measured by that attribute alone. This is why she said: קצ-תי בחיי, i.e. what good is my life under such circumstances! (Genesis 27,46) Unless some relief is found for the rest of the world's population this is the end of meaningful life. She referred to the tribe of חת, a Canaanite tribe whose daughters Esau had married. Seeing that the Canaanites were cursed already and that Esau himself was an outgrowth of the סטרא אחרא, she considered the combination as lethal, bound to lead to the oblivion of their offspring. Because of such considerations, the name that should by rights have been קצחי was changed to יצחק, to introduce the element of joy into their lives. The immediate cause for this was Isaac giving tithes which resulted in G–d blessing his efforts, as related in 26,12. It is strange that when Malachi 3,10 describes the blessing that results from tithing, he uses the expression of ארובות השמים, "the windows of heaven." Since the Torah uses the same expression at the onset of the deluge in Genesis 7,11, we wonder why the prophet would use an expression to symbolize blessing when that same expression had symbolized a curse on mankind in its prior usage in the Bible.

All of these ideas are alluded to in the blessing that Jacob took from Esau. Since Isaac personified the מדת הדין here on earth, he loved Esau who צד ציד, i.e. hunted people, acted as Satan does. Esau's other name אדום alludes to something red, i.e. blood. Isaac, on the other hand, represented the redness of the wine which is still preserved inside the grapes. There was an affinity between Isaac and Esau which is symbolized by wine and blood respectively. Jacob prepared delicacies for his father in Heaven at the advice of his mother who symbolized כנסת ישראל, the concept of the Jewish people. Jacob realized that all of his father's desire was concentrated on the delicacies he had prepared. He therefore prepared them with a mixture of sweet water and rooted himself in holiness in the mystical dimension of the birthright [having acquired this from Esau]. By doing this, he forced the wicked Esau out of occupying a higher spiritual plateau than that of himself, and he caused Esau to separate himself from Jacob and to go to his own country and his own people. He would forthwith not be able to act as accuser, but would be turned into a perennial slave, just as the slave in Exodus 21,6 who has his ear pierced as evidence that he belongs to his master permanently. Isaac explained all this to Esau when he said to him: הן גביר שמתיו לך, "Here I have made him senior to you." At that point, Isaac's former name קצחי was changed to יצחק.

ויהי לי שור וחמור . This statement has to be understood at face value when it was addressed to Esau in line with Rashi's explanation that, whereas in Isaac's blessing Jacob was promised "dew from the heavens and the fat parts of the earth," i.e. success as a farmer, he had in fact only acquired herds. Esau had no reason to be jealous, since that part of Isaac's blessing had not been fulfilled. The same words put in the mouth of Jacob's spiritual emissaries convey a different meaning, however. These words allude to a number of merits Jacob had acquired and that would accrue to him in the future. They correspond very much to Bereshit Rabbah 75,6 which explains that the word שור refers to the כהן משוח מלחמה, the priest who accompanied the troops into battle (Deut. 20,2). The Midrash bases this on Moses' blessing to the tribe of Joseph in Deut. 33, 17: בכור שורו הדר לו, "His firstling bullock, majesty is his." The word חמור is understood as a reference to the Messiah who traditionally is perceived as riding on a donkey, based on Zachariah 9, 9: עני ורוכב על החמור. The צאן, flock, that Jacob also mentions refers to the people of Israel who are repeatedly called צאני"My flock," by G–d in Ezekiel 34. The words עבד ושפחה also refer to Israel as the latter are alluded to in that manner in Psalms 123, 2.

The third approach to this meal is based on the mystical dimension behind the "delicacies," מטעמים, that Isaac wanted to taste before blessing Esau in Genesis 27,4. Our sages state that this was symbolic of the meal G–d will prepare for the righteous in the World to Come. The time frame for that event: After the world will have rejuvenated itself and has reached the spiritual level it should have maintained since the time Adam was created, and would have maintained if only Adam had not sinned. At such a time matter will have been so refined that men will need to wear only the כתנות אור, the garments woven of "light," as Adam had done before G–d had to provide him with leather aprons, i.e. כתנות עור. Then indeed G–d's blessing /command in Genesis 2,16 that man could eat from every tree in the garden will be fulfilled. Abraham alluded to this condition when he said to the angels "rest under the tree." He referred to it as representing the tree of life, seeing that at that time in the future death would be banished from the earth.

The verse (26,5) we have just quoted contains ten words corresponding to the Ten Commandments. When you examine the wording of the Ten Commandments you will find that it contains 172 words, the same as the numerical value of the word עקב, as pointed out by Baal HaTurim. You may ask: If this is so why was יעקב not called עקב? The answer is already alluded to when we read about Jacob's birth, when he is described as holding on to עקב עשו, the heel of Esau (25,26). The last three letters in Jacob's name are an indication that the sanctity, holiness expressed by the letter י in his name will prevail in the world only at the end of history, at the עקב, or סוף. The heel of Esau, however, the one that Jacob held on to, is symbolic of the serpent which hisses: it is the end of life, signifies darkness and death, as we have explained earlier. When the enmity that exists between the serpent and man is described in the Torah in Genesis 3,15: הוא ישופך ראש ואתה תשופנו עקב, "He (man) will strike at your head, and you (the snake) will strike at his heel," the Zohar writes on this verse that the word ראש refers to the first letter in the name יעקב, an allusion to the Ten Commandments. If Jacob observes the Ten Commandments, then he can successfully strike at the ראש, the head of the serpent and all that the serpent represents; but והיה כאשר תריד (Genesis 27,40) "when you will backslide in your service of G–d," then you (the snake) will strike at עקב, the part of the name יעקב when detached from the י and all that this letter stands for." If Jacob had not had the letter י in his name his name would have been associated only with elements derived from the סטרא אחרא, the negative side of the diagram of the emanations. When the Torah reports that וידו אוחזת, that "his hand was holding on to," the letters in the word for "his hand,” i.e. ידו, are the same as the letter יוד. The potential contained in the name יעקב, enabled Jacob to become ישראל, a name that was accorded to Jacob only after his successful refinement through harassment at the hands of Esau. The name ישראל is the pinnacle that the spiritually most refined people can achieve. It indicates that he had been able to contend with Heavenly forces and to prevail (Genesis 32,29). Onkelos translates this verse: "You have fought before G–d with man and have succeeded."

If Isaac is usually referred to as יצחק בן אברהם, this means that Abraham, who represented the attribute of חסד, was the natural forerunner of Isaac, who achieved the status of being worthy of the מדת הדין, attribute of Justice. The power of the son in this case proves to be greater than the power of the father, seeing that the attribute of Justice is the highest form of the attribute of Mercy. G–d, so to speak, rises from the throne called Justice and sits on the throne called Mercy. At that time the name יצחק, which is synonymous with Justice, will be revealed as the source of joy, the deeper meaning of that name spelled as ישחק, as in Psalms 105,9 for instance. The Zohar sees in the letters of Isaac's name when spelled ק"ץ ח"י, a hint of the attribute of Justice, since judgment ends in death, i.e. Ketz Chay. In the future his name will symbolize joy as in Psalms 105. We have repeatedly explained how Abraham was the real reason Heaven and Earth were created as hinted in the spelling of the word בהבראם in Genesis 2,4. Isaac, however, was the spiritual equivalent of Adam before his sin, since he was the first person who was both conceived and born by parents who had sanctified themselves. The removal of Abraham's foreskin repaired the damage Adam had done by sinning and acquiring a קליפה, husk (symbol of sin). Our sages expressed this by saying that אדם הראשון משוך בערלתו, Adam pulled, i.e. disguised, the fact that he had no foreskin, as distinct from Isaac, sanctified (from birth), who became the equivalent of first man who had been formed by G–d from holy soil. This may well account for the fact that he was not allowed to leave the holy soil of ארץ ישראל (Genesis 27,2).

Let us now explore the mystical dimension of the name יעקב. In Genesis 27,35 Isaac says to Esau: בא אחיך במרמה, "Your brother came with wisdom to take the blessings." This means that Jacob came to outwit Esau. Isaac referred to Jacob having outwitted what Esau stands for, i.e. Satan, the pollutant of the original serpent, seeing Esau is also Edom, the classic symbol of all that is polluted and cursed. This original serpent had been described in the Torah as ערום, sly (Genesis 3,1). This being so, Jacob had to resort to a wily strategy to outwit such an opponent. He had to counter with ערמה, slyness, in order to defeat the serpent or its representative at its own game. We find something similar when Rashi explains (Numbers 31,8) that the reason the Torah stresses that Bileam was killed by the sword was because the sword was his stock-in-trade. He should have stuck to his trade. Isaac had told Esau that he would live by his sword (27,40), whereas the traditional weapon of Israel is the mouth, i.e. prayer. Since Bileam perverted his function by using Israel's weapon, the mouth, Israel used his own traditional weapon against him. In order to best him absolutely, he had to be killed by the weapon that he had once considered himself a champion of. The Zohar goes as far as to say that the only way it was possible to kill Bileam was by the sword. Onkelos explains the meaning of יודע ציד in 25,27 as being "Esau was shrewd." The Tziyoni derives from that word נחשירכן (the word Onkelos uses to explain יודע ציד), that the mystical dimension of the serpent is contained in the ירך, reproductive organ, thigh, and that Esau had the likeness of a serpent tatooed on his thigh. This was the reason that Samael, or the spiritual representative of Esau, tried to injure that organ of Jacob's during the nocturnal confrontation. The reason he did not succeed was that Jacob did not contain any residual pollution of the serpent. Bileam alluded to this when he said in Numbers 23,23: כי לא נחש ביעקב, that Jacob was not infected by the serpent. Esau is rooted in the cursed serpent. Jacob and his descendants ירך יעקב, are of blessed origin. Jacob had to come with עקבה, trickery, the craft of the serpent, and he wrested the blessing from the clutches of the unworthy. We know from Proverbs 8,12 that חכמה and ערמה are used interchangeably, i.e. אני חכמה, שכנתי ערמה, "I, wisdom, am neighbor to ערמה.” Later on, when he had established a hold in the Celestial Regions, the source of all blessings, he is referred to as ישראל, since he had ascended to these "higher" regions. The level of ישראל in those regions is very high, seeing that Israel surpassed the level of the angels during his ascent. He occupies a position there that is not even accessible to the angels. He proceeds to rise higher and higher until he even surpasses the region of the ministering angels, the most highly placed angels. It is this that Onkelos referred to when he described Israel as "you are a great lion before G–d and men."

The reason Jacob had to be called Israel is to teach us that he had a dual task. First he had to remove the influence of evil. We should not think that tricking Esau was unethical; on the contrary, it was part of the process of neutralizing spiritually negative influences. Next, as Israel, his task was to help positive spiritual forces to assert themselves, and for him personally to achieve ever closer affinity to G–d. The name Jacob was never discarded, not even after he was given the name Israel. The reason for this is that even the name ישראל contains elements of the name יעקב. We have demonstrated that the עקב part equals the number 172, the number of words in the Ten Commandments, whereas the letter י before is the link to them. We have also pointed out that Jacob's function as יעקב is the principle of היום לעשותם, whereas the function of ישראל is the מחר לקבל שכרם, receiving the reward for the מצות in the Celestial Spheres as alluded to in the name ישראל. The name יעקב contains numerous allusions to a variety of moral imperatives, some of which we have already mentioned. When Isaac said to Jacob, in his blessing: הוה גביר לאחיך, "be your brother's superior" (27,29), this was a command to subjugate the אדומי, the evil urge represented by Esau. Jacob was to do this in his capacity of יעקב. This is analogous to the Mishnah in Avot 4,1 we quoted earlier.

והיה כי יביאך ה' אלוקיך אל הארץ אשר אתה בא שמה לרשתה . "When the Lord your G–d will bring you to the land to which you will come in order to inherit it." The Torah speaks of terrestrial ארץ ישראל which is similar to its celestial counterpart. The word הארץ refers to the "earth" after one's death in which one "sleeps," i.e. refines the body through metamorphosis in order to be able to take one's place in one's original inheritance, the one intended for Adam before the sin. Just as on our earth there are two mountains, Mount Gerizim and Mount Eival, which symbolize blessing and curse respectively, so there are two parallel mountains in the Celestial Regions. One is generally known in our scriptures as ההר הטוב, or הר ה', "the Mountain of ‘good,’ or the Mountain of G–d," the one which can be climbed only by people who have complied with the criteria set down in Psalms 24,4. The other Mountain is known as הר שעיר, the Mountain of Se'ir, symbolizing darkness exuded by the evil urge. Our rabbis describe it as a "Mountain" because they view the overcoming of the evil urge as similar to the scaling of a mountain. The wicked, on the other hand, consider the evil urge as something they can easily control and therefore the evil urge appears to them merely as high as an hair, hence the name הר שעיר, "the mountain no higher than an hair." Were it not for the "good angels" created by our various מצות, our access to the Mountain of G–d would be severed completely. G–d in His great mercy decided to pay more attention to the "voice" of what these good angels relate about us than to the foul deeds we commit with our hands, i.e. הקול קול יעקב והידים ידי עשו, "though the hands are the hands of an Esau, the voice is that of Jacob." [A homiletical explanation by Midrash Shmuel of Genesis 27,22 applied to Akavyah's statement in Avot 3,1. Ed.] The words ואין אתה בא לידי עברה mean that if you have קול יעקב going for you you are in no danger at the hands of Esau, the hands of Satan. The meaning of the name הר גריזים is similar to the meaning of Psalms 31,23: ואני אמרתי בחפזי נגרזתי לפניך, "I said in my haste I am thrust out of Your sight." The Psalmist goes on to say that David learned that he had not been cast out by G–d after all. The function of Mount Gerizim then is to reassure us that Paradise lost is recoverable. Our deeds create the "good angels" whose pleas reach the throne of G–d. there are also barriers in the heavens between the different categories of צדיקים. Every righteous person occupies a station appropriate to his conduct while he lived on earth. Our Rabbis (Tanchuma Beshalach 10) explained that G–d made separate lanes when the tribes of Israel crossed the Sea of Reeds. They base this on Psalms 136,13: "Who divided the Sea of Reeds into גזרים, sections." The same happened when the Jewish people crossed the river Jordan into the Holy Land. This was one of the reasons twelve stones were erected in the river-bed; they marked where each tribe crossed.

The symbolisms expressed by the use of בת-אחות-אם "daughter-sister-mother" relationship between G–d and the Jewish people, or the matriarchs and G–d, which we have described on page 137 and later, may be alluded to in the way the Torah divides the number of years Sarah lived into three distinct periods, i.e. "one hundred years, twenty years and seven years" (Genesis 23,1). Bereshit Rabbah 58,1 explains that Sarah was as beautiful at twenty as she had been at seven years of age, whereas she was as free from sin at a hundred years of age as she had been at twenty. The number seven may allegorically be explained as referring to the seven days of Creation (including the Sabbath) before the original light was withdrawn. This association gives Sarah the אם כל חי, "Mother Superior" image. When the Torah was given to the Jewish people and the serpent's pollutant was neutralised, the world was restored to a state when כתנות אור, garments woven of light, could have been worn. The passage dealing with the creation of light in Genesis 1, 3-5, mentions the word אור, light, five times, an allusion to the five Books of Moses, as pointed out in the Midrash. The Zohar sees in the verse commencing with Hashem Hashem in Exodus 34,6 an allusion to the number twenty, i.e. the Ten Commandments and the ten directives by which the universe was created. These complemented each other. When you spell the two letters Yud as words, i.e. יוד, their combined value is also 20. This idea is reflected in the "twenty years" the Torah here speaks of. Although the universe did not actually revert to the condition it had been in prior to withdrawal of the אור בראשית, the original light, the precondition existed, and, but for the sin of the golden calf, Israel would have achieved that status through Torah study and observance, and the original light would have been revealed to them. At the moment the Torah was revealed, the light appeared to them just as it had been during the seven days of Creation. This is the deeper meaning of Proverbs 7,4: אמור לחכמה אחותי את, "Say to wisdom 'you are my sister.'" Israel, due to the Revelation and Torah study, was on the level we have described as אחות. Afterwards, when the people made the golden calf, they ruined even that level of closeness to G–d with the result that the כ in 23,2 became reduced in size. When the Temple, which was one hundred cubits high, was built, this provided some degree of rehabilitation for the opportunity lost through the golden calf. [The Temple the author refers to must be the one of Herod; Solomon's Temple was only thirty cubits high. Ed.] When Bereshit Rabbah 58,1 on our verse next compares Sarah's innocence at one hundred to her innocence at twenty, this is an allusion to the partial rehabilitation during the period of the second Temple. There were public offerings which achieved atonement for the people. Nonetheless, the people were only on the level of בת, (the lowest of the three levels described on pages 137/138). This is why we find Israel referred to as בת ציון, בת ירושלים in Isaiah, Lamentations and elsewhere. The small letter כ in the word ולבכותה is a clear allusion to the aforegoing. When you remove the letter כ completely, you are left with the word לבתה, "to her daughter," i.e. the word בת, daughter. When the Temple was destroyed, the letter ק was also reduced in size, as pointed out by the Baaal Haturim in his commentray on Genesis 27,46 where Rebeccah expressed disdain for her own life if Jacob, too, were to marry a Canaanite girl. The cause of Rebeccah's desperate outcry, according to Baa l Haturim, was that in her mind's eye she saw the destruction of the hundred-cubit high Temple. When the Temple was destroyed the Jewish people forfeited even the status of בת in their relationship with G–d. For some time after that the most they could achieve in the way of direct communication with G–d was the בת קול, an echo of their former relationship. Nowadays, due to our sins, we do not even experience that form of communication with G–d. This situation will not improve until the Messiah will come, hopefully very soon. At such a time, אור חדש will shine over Zion.

All three patriarchs were refined through the experience of some degree of exile. Jacob together with his sons, of course, descended into exile in Egypt, where they were in real exile, having had to leave their homeland. Jacob actually should have been brought to Egypt in chains, as our sages state in Shabbat 89b. The 400-year exile started with the birth of Isaac, though Isaac did not actually leave the Holy Land. He is however, always referred to as being גר, a stranger, in that land. Even though the patriarchs were not physically enslaved, the status of being sojourners sufficed to consider them as being in exile. Even Abraham, who was looked up to as a prince among the local population, and who had been "crowned" king in the עמק השוה, as we have mentioned earlier, suffered thirty years of mental exile during the years between the ברית בין הבתרים and the birth of Isaac. Jacob was especially pursued by the קליפה, for Samael had managed to injure Jacob's ירך, thigh, hip joint. As a result, Jacob was in need of greater refinement than his father or grandfather, which manifested itself in a more serious form of exile. Although Esau was a son of Isaac, and honored his father, [which indicated Isaac's affinity to that קליפה of his, Ed.], the fact that Esau lived a life designed to lead to physical as well as spiritual death (as we know from his own admission in Genesis 25,32 when he sold the birthright, and again when he wished for his father to die prematurely, Genesis 27,41) meant that Isaac had rid himself of that קליפה and therefore only needed a minimal amount of exile experience. Abraham died before Esau had become wicked, and thus had no affinity to Esau's קליפה. Abraham also expelled Ishmael from his home when G–d commanded him to pay heed to what his wife Sarah had told him, namely to expel the servant woman and her son. As a result of his keeping away from both these קליפות Abraham did not have to experience actual exile. He did not even have to feel as a stranger. All that was needed to refine him was the anxiety experienced between the promise of the birth of an heir and the fulfillment of that promise, which meant the onset of the 400 years of his descendants being regarded as strangers or of their being actual slaves.

The reward for teaching children is very great and their breath has many beneficial effects, including the ability to avert terrible decree. Thus the Sages comment (Midrash Bereishis Rabbah 65:20) on the verse, “The voice is the voice of Yaakov” (Bereishis 27:22), that when the voices of children are heard chirping in the study halls and synagogues of Yaakov, the “hands of Eisav” cannot bring upon us evil decrees, Heaven forbid.

When these Romans referred to the "Master," and it seemed to mean Jacob, they referred to him sarcastically, seeing that Isaac had designated him as such in the blessings, i.e. הוה גביר לאחיך. They did not mean to challenge the validity of Isaac's blessing; they felt that Jacob/Israel had already outlived the period during which it was valid. Now that Israel's fortunes had declined, they felt sure that their turn had come. The kingdom of Edom had, after all, undergone a period during which eight Jewish kings reigned and the Edomites themselves did not even have a king. [Edom had lost its independence, as Rashi elaborates on 36,31 at the end of Parshat Vayishlach.] The Romans believed that Isaac's warning had been fulfilled when the first Temple was destroyed and the Jewish people endured 70 years of exile. Even after the rebuilding of the Temple five major manifestations of G–d's Presence in their land were never regained. Because of this the Romans were sure that the star of Israel was in permanent decline. They viewed the 70 years of exile as the reversal of the seventy years that David and Solomon ruled over greater Israel in all its glory.[I do not quite understand that figure. According to our best known sources that period was at least 73 years. Maybe David's reign is counted only after the capture of Jerusalem. Ed.]

This is the key to the meaning of 32, 29: "Your name will not be said to be Jacob any longer but Israel." We must remember that at birth Jacob was named Jacob because his hand gripped the heel of Esau. Esau interpreted this as referring to עקבה, deception. He exclaimed in Genesis 27, 36: "Is he not rightly called Jacob since he has deceived me already twice?" There is a conceptual relation between what happened at the birth of these twins, what happened when Jacob bought the birthright, and again at the time he secured the blessing. At birth, Jacob did not want Esau to leave the womb first, for he, Jacob, considered himself the בכור, the firstborn. He claimed that distinction because Isaac's first drop of semen resulted in fertilization of the ovum that would produce him (cf. Rashi on 25, 26). Jacob was thus within his rights then when he tried to retrieve what he had been deprived of by resorting to עקבה וערמה, devious ways and trickery. It was Esau who used deviousness already at birth, by forcing his way out of his mother's womb first. What he experienced later at the hands of Jacob was no more than מדה כנגד מדה, tit for tat. Jacob took a leaf out of Esau's book and "donned" Esau's kind of garments. After Jacob died and was resurrected his name "Jacob" assumed a different meaning. Jacob, i.e. "heel," or result, consequence, is an allusion to the eventual permanent world which follows on the heels of the transient world in which the Esaus and their kind feel at home.

A third problem is how we are to understand Rebeccah who said to her son Jacob: "May your curse be on my head, my son!" Could she imagine that Jacob would make peace with the idea that his mother would be cursed through something he did?

A further problem is that Isaac, as a result of Esau's complaint, appended a condition to the blessing he had given Jacob. What effect can the condition והיה כאשר תריד וכ' in 27,40 have on a blessing pronounced in 27,28?

In order to answer all these problems allow me two introductory remarks: 1) The blessings are capable of two interpretations. One interpretation, i.e. the פשט, views all the blessings in terms of material benefits in this world. G–d will grant sufficient dew in the summer to enable the fruit to grow in the fields. He will allow Jacob to feed on the fat part of the earth etc. 2) The other interpretation of the blessings sees in their wording allusions to the real blessings of the Torah which pertain to a "higher" world, i.e. the world in which blessings are of enduring value. The Midrash describes טל השמים as an allusion to the written Torah, משמני הארץ as a reference to Mishnah; דגן alludes to Talmud, whereas תירוש alludes to the Aggadic material in the Talmud. According to this interpretation both the words השמים and הארץ refer to their respective counterparts in the Celestial Regions. It appears that Bereshit Rabbah 67,2 refers to this when quoting Isaac as telling Esau ואוכל מכל, "I ate from it all" (Genesis 27,33). We find there that Rabbi Yehudah understands the word as meaning "all that has been created during the six days of creation," whereas Rabbi Nechemiah understands the expression as meaning "all that is stored up for future consumption in the World to Come." Both these Rabbis have correctly interpreted the blessings, each one emphasizing a different aspect. Even though the delicacies served Isaac were certainly made of foods available here on earth, of items created during the six days of Creation, they exuded a taste of something super-natural, something of the World to Come.

In order to answer all these problems allow me two introductory remarks: 1) The blessings are capable of two interpretations. One interpretation, i.e. the פשט, views all the blessings in terms of material benefits in this world. G–d will grant sufficient dew in the summer to enable the fruit to grow in the fields. He will allow Jacob to feed on the fat part of the earth etc. 2) The other interpretation of the blessings sees in their wording allusions to the real blessings of the Torah which pertain to a "higher" world, i.e. the world in which blessings are of enduring value. The Midrash describes טל השמים as an allusion to the written Torah, משמני הארץ as a reference to Mishnah; דגן alludes to Talmud, whereas תירוש alludes to the Aggadic material in the Talmud. According to this interpretation both the words השמים and הארץ refer to their respective counterparts in the Celestial Regions. It appears that Bereshit Rabbah 67,2 refers to this when quoting Isaac as telling Esau ואוכל מכל, "I ate from it all" (Genesis 27,33). We find there that Rabbi Yehudah understands the word as meaning "all that has been created during the six days of creation," whereas Rabbi Nechemiah understands the expression as meaning "all that is stored up for future consumption in the World to Come." Both these Rabbis have correctly interpreted the blessings, each one emphasizing a different aspect. Even though the delicacies served Isaac were certainly made of foods available here on earth, of items created during the six days of Creation, they exuded a taste of something super-natural, something of the World to Come.

Esau is characterized as "descending;" this is alluded to in Ovadiah 1,4, where the prophet says to Edom: "Even if you place your nest among the stars, I shall bring you down from there." When Rebeccah said; "your curse upon me, my son," she referred to what had already occurred in her womb before the twins were born, i.e. that everything that is accursed was already concentrated in Esau. He, Jacob, did not have to worry, seeing he was already blessed.

When Jacob describes Esau his brother as a hairy man, whereas he himself was smooth-skinned, he referred to the Esau of this world, and he alluded to Esau's power in the "higher" world by mentioning that he was איש שעיר. He referred to Esau as the קטרוג, the perennial accuser of man. Bereshit Rabbah 65,15 understands the word Sa-ir as identical with the one mentioned in Leviticus 17,7: ולא יזבחו עוד לשעירים, "so that they will no longer offer sacrifices to the demons." The word Chalak, is equated by that Midrash with the word Chelek, as in כי חלק ה' עמו, יעקב חלק נחלתו, "G–d's share is His people, Jacob is His inheritance" (Deut. 32,9). We know from Succah 52a that Satan is more prone to attack a Torah scholar than anyone else.

The Torah reports Isaac as blessing Jacob immediately after Isaac smelled the fragrance of Paradise, i.e. ויברכהו. He did not investigate further, for in the event that it was indeed the real Esau, he was entitled to the blessings valid in this world, whereas in the event it was Jacob who stood before him, Isaac intended these blessings to apply in the Hereafter. This is in accordance with what I wrote at the beginning, that these blessings must be understood on two different levels. The word ויברכהו was the umbrella term for these blessings. Only afterwards did Isaac want to know who really stood in front of him. When the Torah describes Jacob as bringing wine from which Isaac drank (27,25), this is a reference to the "wine preserved in its grapes since the days of creation,” which will be served to the righteous in the Hereafter, as we have explained on several occasions.

This is why Isaac said: "I ate from everything,” meaning all that had been created during the six days of Creation, including all that is envisioned in the distant future, as we explained earlier. Now that Isaac was aware that it was Jacob who had stood before him and been blessed, he confirmed that blessing. The word גם refers to the blessings of עולם הזה. Since such a blessing was not something that Jacob could normally count on, seeing it was not appropriate to his fundamental orientation in life, it is described as something merely additional, i.e. גם. Esau did not understand what his father had meant by the word גם. He thought that Isaac meant that "Jacob shall also be blessed," i.e. shall also receive a blessing in addition to the blessing which he, Esau, would of course receive by his father, now that his father realized that he had made a mistake. He felt that Isaac was going to divide the blessings into one which would apply in this life, the recipient of which would be Esau, and one applicable to life in the future, granted to Jacob. When he realized that he would not receive a blessing that would apply to עולם הבא, Esau cried out bitterly, for he would also be denied the blessing pertaining to עולם הזה. He did not realize that both blessings had already been dispensed to Jacob.

At this point (27,36), Esau burst out complaining that this was already the second time Jacob had tricked him, that his very name means that he is a trickster, and he asked whether his father had not reserved a blessing for him exclusively. Esau's first statement is an expression of amazement that Jacob should be allowed to benefit by his trickery! He claimed that his brother's undetected trickery could only have been due to their being twins; this enabled Jacob to misrepresent himself as his twin brother Esau. Esau complained (when he used the word פעמים, twice) that surely Jacob would not be allowed to get away with such a subterfuge a second time. The first time, when Jacob took the birthright, was something that he Esau could not now reverse, and as a result Jacob had established his claim to the blessings in the Hereafter. But surely, Esau said, Jacob should not be allowed to preempt Esau's claim to his share also in this world! Esau had another argument, alluded to by his words: הלא אצלת לי ברכה? He sensed that Isaac had hedged his bets by phrasing the blessing in such a way that whether the son before him was Esau or Jacob, he should receive his specific blessing. Now, that it had become clear that Jacob received the blessing due him for עולם הבא, the blessing for this world should be available for him! How could Isaac not at least give Esau the blessing pertaining to עולם הזה!

Upon hearing all this, Esau said: now that you have told me that this is all part of one single blessing, i.e. ה-ברכה אחת, that the secondary element follows the major element, and I shall be an adjunct to Jacob anyways, why can you not bless me also, i.e. make me part of Jacob's blessing!

There are numerous references to this in our Midrashic literature. Shemot Rabbah 30,11, quoting Job 23,3-4, "would that I could find Him, reach His dwelling place, I would set out my case, משפט, before Him, fill my mouth with arguments," explains this in the following parable. A drunken prison guard rebelled, opened the gates to let the prisoners escape, cursed the picture of the ruler, and demanded to see the king, threatening that he would tell the king to his face what he thought true justice should be. He even went as far as stoning the king's image. He was shown the ruler sitting on a platform, dispensing punishment to a lady of aristocratic bearing, he observed the king handing down a verdict against his provincial governor, etc. At that point the palace guard became frightened and apologised, explaining that his drunken stupor had been the reason for his outrageous conduct, which included not recognising his king when he saw him. Similarly Job 23,4. When Job cursed the day he was born (Job 3,3/4) he in fact cursed the angel in charge of who will be born when and under what mazzal. This angel is called לילה. Later on Job reflected how G–d had punished Miriam for speaking out against Moses (Numbers 12,10); he further observed how G–d had punished Moses not allowing him to enter the Holy Land because he had struck the rock instead of merely speaking to it (Numbers 20,12). He also noted that G–d had blinded Isaac (for having loved the wicked Esau), see Genesis 27,1. He realised moreover that G–d had punished Abraham for having asked: "how do I know that I will inherit?" (Genesis 15,8) G–d had responded by telling Abraham that his descendants would be slaves in a foreign land for four hundred years before being liberated (Genesis 15,13). G–d had also קרב קיסין, struck at Jacob with a piece of wood, causing the latter to limp as a result of the nocturnal encounter with the שרו של עשו, the guardian angel of Esau, to use the words of the Midrash. When Job had reflected on all this, he begged G–d's forgiveness for having spoken out rebelliously, and he excused himself by having been drunk. This is why it says in Job 19,4: “ואף אמנם שגיתי, אתי תלין משוגתי,” If indeed I have erred, my error stays with me overnight." All of this, because he did not realise the power of דין. So far the Midrash.