Kaisipang Hudyo sa Genesis 27:36: Akeidat Yitzchak, Derashot HaRan & Guide for the Perplexed

We must therefore accept two premises: 1) Jacob did not really aim at the birthright. 2) Neither of the two brothers was concerned with inheriting Isaac's material wealth. Even the honor connected with the birthright was of no real concern to either Esau or Jacob. Both were deeply desirous of acquiring things of genuine value, goodness, things which can only be secured by means of heavenly blessing. In this respect we must view the birthright as profoundly related to the Divine blessings and Isaac's power to direct such blessings. Isaac was not reconciled to the fact that Jacob had obtained the blessing by deceit until Esau cried out, "He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing" (Genesis 27,36). Only then did Isaac say to Esau, "I have made him an overlord over you." When Esau questioned his father saying, "Have you only one blessing, Father?" Isaac quite calmly allowed the blessing to remain with Jacob, and bestowed upon him in addition the blessing of Abraham to make him the principal heir of the Abrahamitic tradition (Genesis 28, 1-5). What had been in Isaac's mind originally, and what transpired to make him change his mind? The greatest difficulty in all this is the fact that heaven obviously went along with all the changes made by the human participants in these events. Evidence of this is the fact that G-d calls Israel "My firstborn son" (Exodus 4,22-23) when Moses first confronts Pharaoh. Since one cannot deny then that heaven stamped Jacob's performance with its seal of approval, we must find answers to the questions raised. The following parable may help explain. In one of the islands, there lived a nation whose king had traditionally always been chosen by the people for his qualities of leadership. Though the nation always chose a descendant of the former king, the people managed through this device to invariably secure a suitable ruler. This was because there was no automatic succession to the throne. It happened that one particular king was so outstanding, and his accomplishments on behalf of his nation so great, that the council of state voted that henceforth the firstborn son of that king and the firstborn son of the son after him should automatically succeed their respective fathers. This law was not made subject to periodic review and therefore became unchallengeable. In due course, one of the later kings had two sons, the elder being boorish, selfcentred, i.e. totally unfit to rule. His younger brother however, possessed all the qualities needed to make him a suitable ruler. The law makers' hands were tied, however, since they were bound by the act of gratitude to an earlier king which had been enshrined in law. After much debate, the elders decided that their only course of action lay in persuading the older of the two brothers to renounce his claim to the succession voluntarily. For that purpose, they prepared a great banquet of the type the older son enjoyed; they used the occasion to point out to the king's older son that the burdens of office would interfere greatly with his present lifestyle etc. In this fashion, they succeeded in getting the older son to renounce his claim to the throne. The application of this parable to our story is self evident. Compare five points of similarity between the parable and our story: 1) The original law to establish leadership position based on merit. 2) The change in the law, establishing precedence based on birth. 3) The incidence of some prospective rulers being obviously unfit. 4) Advice on how to neutralize the harmful effects of the law to base the succession on claims supported by birthright. 5) Return to the original manner of selecting a ruler.

It is then related that Jacob gave the bread and the pottage to Esau, who reveled in the filling of his belly and shamed the birthright. Even after he had gone he did not regret his folly and his wickedness and say: "What have I done!" This is the intent of (Genesis 25:34): "And he ate, and he drank, and he arose, and he went away, and he shamed…" That is, even after he went away. Indeed, we never find him regretting the act at all, except in conjunction with his complaint over losing the blessing, as it is written (Ibid 27:36): "He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing." It is only when he has a mundane complaint that he spills out everything along with it. In addition to this, he realized then that the tie between Isaac and his children was an extremely valuable commodity, "for His blessed ones shall inherit the land" (Psalms 37:22). It is for this reason that he worried about the birthright. Add to this the fact that at the time he was more than sixty years old, whereas his shaming of the birthright had taken place when he was a callow youth of fifteen, for which reason he made light of it and sold it for a mess of lentils (or received full payment for it, though this is not stated explicitly, according to those who subscribe to this view).

IN Hebrew, the verb bo signifies “to come” as applied to a living being, i.e., its arrival at a certain place, or approach to a certain person, as “Thy brother came (ba) with subtilty” (Gen. 27:35). It next denotes (with regard to a living being) “to enter” a certain place, e.g., “And when Joseph came (va-yabo) into the house” (Gen. 43:26); “When ye come (ta-boü) into the land” (Exod. 12:25). The term was also employed metaphorically in the sense of “to come” applied to a certain event, that is, to something incorporeal, as “When thy sayings come to pass (yabo)” (Judg. 13:17); “Of that which will come (yaboü) over thee” (Isa. 47:13). Nay, it is even applied to privatives, e.g., “Yet evil came (va-yabo)” (Job 3:26); “And darkness came (va-yabo)” Now, since the word has been applied to incorporeal things, it has also been used in reference to God-to the fulfilment of His word, or to the manifestation of His Presence (the Shechinah). In this figurative sense it is said, “Lo, I come (ba) unto thee in a thick cloud” (Exod. 19:9); “For the Lord the God of Israel cometh (ba) through it” (Ezek. 44:2). In these and all similar passages, the coming of the Shechinah is meant, but the words, “And the Lord my God shall come (u-ba)” (Zech. 14:5) are identical with “His word will come,” that is to say, the promises which He made through the Prophets will be fulfilled; therefore Scripture adds “all the holy ones that are with thee,” that is to say, “The word of the Lord my God will be performed, which has been spoken by all the holy ones who are with thee, who address the Israelites.”