PARSHAT TOLDOT1

YA’A KOV & ESS AV

Rabbi Ari Kahn

In Parshat Toldot we confront 2 brothers, Ya’akov and Esav. Being that we are
descendants of Ya’akov, we know which brother we are supposed to be “rooting”
for, yet our identification with Ya’akov raises some questions: The Torah tells us
that Yitzchak loved Esav, which is very difficult for us to understand or accept.
Why would Yitzchak love Esav? We are told that G-d Himself hated Esav!

‘I have loved you,’ says the Lord. Yet you say, ‘How have you loved us?’
‘Was not Esav Ya’akov’s brother?’ says the Lord; ‘yet I loved Ya’akov, and I
hated Esav, and laid waste his mountains and gave his heritage to the
jackals of the wilderness. (Malachi 1:2,3)

How could Yitzchak have loved him? When Yitzchak became old, why did he wish
to bless Esav? We would have thought/ preferred that Ya’akov receive the
blessing.
The key to understanding the relationship between Yitzchak and Esav, as well as
that of Esav and Ya’akov, may be found in the beginning of the Parsha.

Rivka was pregnant, and she was experiencing extreme, perhaps unnatural pain.

And G-d said to her, Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall
be separated from your bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than
the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. (25:23)

Rivka alone was informed of the different destinies of her children. Apparently,
Yitzchak was unaware of their duality, and, consequently, of their separate
missions.

And the first came out red all over like a hairy garment; and they called his
name Esav. And after that came his brother out, his hand clenching the
heel of Esav; he (Yitzchak) called his name Ya’akov. (25:25,26)

It is interesting that both parents name the first born, while only the father names
the second. In fact, nowhere in the Torah does Rivka refer to her second son as
Ya’akov. She always calls him “my son”. Perhaps she knows that his identity is not
determined by his relationship with his brother. Perhaps she realizes that he will
receive a different name. 2

And the boys grew; and Esav was a skillful hunter, a man of the field;

1
Many of the ideas discussed in this Parsha and next Parsha were based on ideas which I first heard from Rabbi
Mordicahi Elon, however the formulations and conclusions are my own.
2
Rabbi Mordichai Elon made this observation.
 Ya’akov was pure, living in tents.(25:27)

A priori we would have thought that Judaism would prefer the man of the tent to
the hunter. Why, then, does Yitzchak prefer Esav?
The Torah tells us:

And Yitzchak loved Esav, because he ate of his venison; but Rivka loved
Ya’akov. (25:28)

Yitzchak loved Esav because “tzayid b’fiv”, (lit. the hunting was in his mouth)
while Rivka loved Ya’akov. It is strange that Yitzchak’s love for Esav is conditional,
“taluy b’davar,” while Rivka’s love for Ya’akov is unconditional. Yitzchak’s love is
directly connected to Esav’s hunting—he loved the meat that Esav fed him. A
most perplexing relationship; it would seem that the adventurous Esav caught
Yitzchak’s fancy. Can this be the entire story?

The story of how Ya’akov surreptitiously took the blessings from his father that
were destined for Esav is well-known. This, coupled with the declaration of
Yitzchak’s love for Esav, lead many to assume that Yitzchak loved Esav more than
he loved Ya’akov, and that Yitzchak had felt that the legacy of Abraham would be
manifest in Esav. This is not the case. When Ya’akov goes in to his father’s room
to take the blessing intended for Esav’s, Yitzchak says:

May G-d give you from the dew of the heavens and the fat of the earth, and
the fullness of grain and wine. Nations will be subservient to you and peoples
will bow to you. You will be your brother’s master, and the sons of your
mother will bow to you. Those you curse shall be accursed and those you
bless shall be blessed. (27:28,29)

The blessing is certainly a beautiful one. It speaks of wealth and power. What it
neglects to mention is a spiritual mission or message. When Esav stands before
his father and understands that his brother Ya’akov has taken the blessing
intended for him, Esav says to Yitzchak

‘Bless me as well, father’. He (Yitzchak) said: ‘Your brother came in deception

and he took your blessing’. (27:35)

It would seem that Yitzchak has “run out” of blessings. However, when Ya’akov is
about to leave, Yitzchak summons Ya’akov and blesses him.

May G-d bless you, may you multiply and become a great nation. May he
grant you the blessing of Avraham for you and your descendants to inherit the
land which G-d had given to Avraham. (28:3,4)

Evidently, Yitzchak did have another blessing to give. This “blessing of Abraham”
and the Land of Israel was always intended for Ya’akov. Yitzchak had always
intended to give the blessing of power to Esav and the blessing of spirit to
Ya’akov. However, due to Rivka’s intervention, Ya’akov received both blessings.
Yitzchak apparently felt that his spiritual son needed only spiritual blessings, while
his physical son needed the physical blessing. Rivka’s understanding was quite
different; she felt that the spiritual cannot subsist without the physical. Divine
providence sided with Rivka.

Perhaps Yitzchak pitied Esav, and he felt that if Esav would be a hunter, absorbed
in the physical world, he would be best to prosper by G-d’s hand rather than by
any of his own unsavory tactics. What we can conclude is that the love of Yitzchak
for Esav was, indeed, conditional, and therefore limited.

Ha”zal hint at a deeper understanding of the text: When Ya’akov stands before his
father to receive the blessing, Yitzchak thinks that Esav stands before him,

And he came near, and kissed him, and smelled the scent of his clothes and
blessed him. And he [Yitzchak] said, ‘Behold the scent of my son is like the
scent of a field that is blessed by G-d.’ (27:27)

What is Yitzchak smelling?

R. Yochanan said: There is no harsher scent than the stench of goats that
was on his clothing, yet the text says he “smells the scent of his clothes and
blesses him”! Rather, when the Patriarch Ya’akov entered to his father, Gan
Eden entered with him...And when Esav entered to his father, Gehinom (Hell)
entered with him (Midrash Rabbah 65:22).

The observation of the Midrash is striking: Ya’akov enters in clothing saturated

with blood and sweat, and Yitzchak speaks of G-d. Evidently Yitzchak’s spiritual
identity is somehow related to “the field”: After the Akaida we noted that the text
does not describe the descent of Yitzchak from the mountain. We do not see
Yitzchak in the next number of sections in the Chumash. He is absent from the
description of the death and burial of Sarah. Even when the servant of Avraham
searches for a bride for Yitzchak, the groom is absent. The next time we see
Yitzchak is when

Yitzchak went out to pray in the field toward evening (B’reishit 24:63).

Yitzchak, who was last seen on an altar, ready and willing to be sacrificed to G-d,
now stands in a field and gazes heavenward. Specifically from a field, Yitzchak
searches for G-d. What was Yitzchak trying to accomplish out in the field? The
answer lies in the scent of Gan Eden, which emerges from a time prior to the sin
of Adam, before man is cursed to work the field. If the physical realm can be
elevated, then the sin of Adam can be rectified. When Ya’akov enters and Yitzchak
smells Paradise, Yitzchak believes that his son has succeeded in mending the
world, of returning that scent of Gan Eden prior to man’s fall, to the world. Of
course, when the real Esav enters, the gates of hell are opened, and Yitzchak
sadly realizes how far the world is from perfection. Ya’akov, who sat in the tents,
not Esav who hunted, had the scent of Paradise on him. Perfection will not come
from the man of the fields; it will come from the “ish tam,” the ‘perfect man’,
Ya’akov. It will not be an easy task; his odyssey will take him on a circuitous route
far from the tents which he has called home.

Ya’akov is now forced to leave the tents, to become a man of the field. Just as
Abraham had to grow in a trait against his nature, so too, Ya’akov will have to
leave his natural habitat and become a worldly man - a man of the field. As we
have seen, the greatness of the Patriarchs was in creating new aspects of self,
new avenues toward the worship of G-d.

And Ya’akov came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet
him (30:16)

Eventually, Ya’akov becomes a man of the field, and his wife comes to greet him.
Things have now come full circle; the pure man of the tents has now become a
man of the field. Ya’akov has taken up the responsibility of Esav, in addition to his
own mission. As a result of this meeting with Leah in the field, two children enter
the world--Yissacher and Zevulun. Theses two sons will have a different type of
relationship: They will succeed where Ya’akov and Esav failed.3

Zevulun was involved in business while Yissacher was involved in Torah.

(Midrash Rabba 99:16)

Despite their differences, Yissachar and Zevulun were partners, working together
towards one common goal. Perhaps this was Yitzchak’s dream, that his two sons
work together to mend the world. The dream was not realized by Yitzchak’s
children. Only after Ya’akov leaves the tents does he possess the spiritual power
of both the tents and of the fields. Only Ya’akov’s children are therefore able to
bring their grandfather’s dream to its fruition.

With this in mind, we can turn to another difficult section of the Parsha:

And Ya’akov cooked pottage; and Esav came from the field, and he was
exhausted. And Esav said to Ya’akov, ‘Feed me, I beg you, with that same
red pottage; for I am exhausted’; therefore was his name called Edom. And
Ya’akov said, ‘Sell me this day your birthright.’ And Esav said, ‘Behold, I am
at the point of death; and what profit shall this birthright do to me?’ And
Ya’akov said, ‘Swear to me this day;’ and he swore to him; and he sold his
birthright to Ya’akov. Then Ya’akov gave Esav bread and pottage of lentils;
and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way; thus Esav
despised his birthright.(25:29-34)

This negotiation seems strange; how can Ya’akov be so petty as to demand the
birthright from his hungry brother? The text, however, did not say that Esav was
hungry, but tired--exhausted. This exhaustion indicated to Ya’akov, and to his
mother Rivka, that Yitzchak’s vision would not be realized. Yitzchak believed that
his two sons would join forces, Esav in the field and Ya’akov in the tents - just like
Yissacher and Zevulun- but Rivka knew better. G-d had spoken to her, and she
3
See Sfat Emet Toldot 5651
knew that only her younger son would achieve greatness.

And G-d said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall
be separated from your bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than
the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.’ (25:23)

When Esav comes in from the field tired and asking for food, Ya’akov realizes that
his mother had been correct: His father’s dream would not come true. Esav was
tired of his role, and no longer wished to fulfill his part in the partnership. If
Ya’akov must provide food for Esav, then Esav is undeserving of his birthright.
Ya’akov would adopt both roles.4
Was Yitzchak wrong? In theory, this type of an arrangement could work, though
not between Ya’akov and Esav. Or at least not yet. Yitzchak saw things in an
idealistic, pure manner. He saw the world from his own peculiar vantage point,
perched on top of an altar high upon a holy mountain. Yitzchak’s vision was
forever affected by his awesome experience:

Another interpretation of FROM SEEING is: as a result of that spectacle; for

when our father Avraham bound his son Yitzchak, the ministering angels
wept, as it says, ‘Behold, their valiant ones cry without, the angels of peace
weep bitterly’ (Yishayahu. XXXIII, 7): tears dropped from their eyes into his,
and left their mark upon them, and so when he became old his eyes
dimmed, as it is written, AND IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN YITZCHAK WAS
OLD, Another interpretation of FROM [or, THROUGH] SEEING is: through that
spectacle. For when our father Avraham bound Yitzchak on the altar he
lifted up his eyes heavenward and gazed at the Shechinah. (Midrash
Rabbah - Genesis LXV:10)

The name Yitzchak means “will laugh,” implying the future tense. Yitzchak’s
entire perspective is in the future. He sees only the future, the way that things
should be. Esav’s hatred for Ya’akov apparently escaped him. The vicissitudes of
experience which his son Ya’akov would have to endure while fulfilling both roles
eludes him. But Yitzchak’s vision will be realized one day, at the end of history,
and Esav will indeed join Ya’akov in a joint mission:

R. Abbahu said: We have searched the whole Scriptures and do not find that
Ya’akov ever went to Esau to the mountain of Seir. Is it then possible that
Ya’akov, the truthful, should deceive him? But when would he come to him?
In the Messianic era And the liberators will ascend Mount Zion to judge the
Mountain of Esav, etc. (Obad. I, 21).(Midrash Rabbah - Genesis LXXVIII:14)

Either the descendants of Esav will join us of their own volition or we will have to
seek them out, either a partnership or a judgment:

And the liberators will ascend Mount Zion to judge the Mountain of Esav and
the kingdom shall be the Lord`s (Ovadya 1:21) And the Lord shall be King
over the whole earth; on that day the Lord shall be One and His Name One.
4
Rabbi Mordichai Elon made this observation.
 (Zecharya 14:9)

In any event at the end of days laughter will fill the world; the laughter and joy of
Yitzchak, the joy of a world perfected.

Az Yimaleh si’chok pinu” “Then our mouths will be filled with

laughter”(Psalms 126:2)

Then, but not now, will we experience the laughter.