Musar para sa Genesis 27:33

Our forefather Avraham, on the other hand, merited both old age as well as beneficial days. Thus the plain meaning of the Midrash is that Avraham enjoyed a desirable lot even in this world. In fact, the Sages tell us in Baba Basra (16b) that there were three people to whom the Holy One Blessed is He gave a taste of the World to Come while they were yet in this world. They were: Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. As it is written, “With everything” (Bereishis 24:1), “From everything” (ibid. 27:33), “Everything” (ibid. 33:11). However, I have heard a deeper explanation of the Midrash in the name of my illustrious mentor, Rabbi Yudel, ztz”l, president of the court and dean of the yeshiva of the holy community of Kauli. It is based upon a passage in the Zohar (Parashas Vayechi 221b) commenting on the verse, “And the days approached for Yisrael to die” (Bereishis 47:29). The Zohar asks: “On how many days does a person die (i.e. why is “days” in the plural)? Does the soul not exit in a single moment?” Explains the Zohar: When a person passes from this world all his days come for a reckoning before the Holy One Blessed is He. Not one is omitted. If a person behaved righteously and feared Hashem continually, if he clung to Him lovingly every day and was whole in his commitment to Torah, fear of Heaven, mitzvos and good deeds, then all his days will be crowned and garbed with splendor and majesty.

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.

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.