The most commonly discussed event from
this week’s parsha is how Yaakov ‘stole’ the brachos from Esav. Avraham passed
on the blessings he got from Hashem to Yitzchak. Now, with two sons to choose
from,[1] Yitzchak
had to decide which son would receive the different brachos. In the end, he
decided to give Esav certain brachos that had to do with physical prosperity
and success in battle, however, Rivka felt that these brachos should go to Yaakov.
She hatched a scheme; taking advantage
of a blind Yitzchak, she disguised Yaakov as Esav by dressing him in some of
Esav’s clothes (which made Yaakov appear hairier than he was, similar to Esav).
She supplied him with food to take to Yitzchak, and after a few tests, Yitzchak,
convinced that this was indeed Esav, bestowed the brachos upon Yaakov. Even
after discovering he’d been tricked, Yitzchak realized that Yaakov should
receive these brachos, and reaffirmed his giving them to him (See 27:33).[2]
There is no mistaking the fact that Yaakov did in fact trick Yitzchak into
giving him the brachos; and according to Chazal, he was very hesitant to do so.
However, his mother’s insistence and wisdom convinced him to go through with
it. But why did it have to go like this?
Chazal teach us that there are three
middos of Hashem which are represented in each of the Avos. Avraham represents
Chessed (Kindness), Yitzchak represents Din (Justice), and Yaakov represents
Emes (Truth). Yaakov inherently represented truth, he despised trickery and
lies, and yet, in order to receive the blessings of Avraham, when you would
expect him to not want to sully such a special gift of Hashem with lies, he
goes against his principles and fools Yitzchak into giving him the brachos!
It gets more confusing. According to
Rashi, quoting a medrash, the reason why Yitzchak became blind was only in
order so Yaakov could take the brachos (See 27:1). So we see that Hashem set it
up specifically that Yaakov should take the brachos through trickery; but if Hashem
really wanted Yaakov to get the brachos, why would He do it this way? Why was
the only way for Yaakov to take the brachos by pretending to be someone else?
Reb
Yaakov Kaminetzky explains that each of the Avos had to undergo a different
nisayon in order for them to achieve their spiritual potential. The nisyonos of
Avraham are well-documented; he underwent ten nisyonos, culminating in Akeidas Yitzchak.
By observing the nisyonos of Avraham, we begin to see a pattern. Each nisayon,
whether it was abandoning his elderly father to go to Eretz Yisrael, throwing
his young son and his mother out of the house, or sacrificing his only son on
an altar, all affected other innocent parties negatively. By each nisayon,
there was a certain amount of collateral damage involved. Avraham was the
greatest baal chessed who ever lived, why did Hashem give him all these
challenges which caused him to pain others?
Avraham built his avodas Hashem around
doing chessed. That’s why he represents kindness, he based his service of Hashem
around being kind. However, when it comes to serving Hashem, there are times
when kindness is inappropriate, or when your avodas Hashem forces you to
indirectly and/or inadvertently cause pain to others. You may have to leave
your family in order to set off on your greatest path to spirituality; there
may be a time, like the Akeidah, where you have to go against every instinct
and lesson you’ve ever learned and ever taught others because Hashem commanded
you to do so.
This is how Hashem tested Avraham. He
knew that Avraham could be an eved Hashem through chessed, but what about in other
ways? Could Avraham be a true eved Hashem even when it went against his natural
tendencies to be kind, or did he imitate Hashem in being kind because it was easy
for him? After the Ten Nisyonos, Hashem was convinced that he could.
Stealing the brachos was Yaakov’s
nisayon. Hashem knew that Yaakov could serve Him through Truth and Honesty, but
what about with trickery and lies? There are times when we must lie to do a
good deed, there are even halachos about when it is permissible to lie; the
nisayon was if Yaakov could accept this aspect of serving Hashem, or if lying
would turn him off the path. Was the reason he followed Hashem because his
natural inclination was to be truthful, like Hashem, or was he truly l’shem
shamayim, ready to serve Hashem in every scenario.
When Rivka first brings up the plan to Yaakov,
he seems to hesitate. But if you look at the pesukim, his only concern was in
getting caught; he was afraid that since he wasn’t hairy like Esav, Yitzchak would
discover him. But in terms of having to lie, he was ready without hesitation to
do what he knew was his nisayon, his test of character, just like Avraham.[3] Perhaps
this was how Yitzchak ultimately realized that Yaakov was worthy of the
brachos. He knew Yaakov was the embodiment of truth, and when he realized
Yaakov lied in order to accomplish the will of Hashem, he knew that he was the
true heir of Avraham and worthy of the brachos bestowed upon him.
Shabbat Shalom!
[1] Avraham
also had two sons, except that only one of them was descended from his primary wife,
and one of the greatest tzadikot who ever lived, Sarah. Both Yaakov and Esav
were descended from Rivka, so both of them were eligible to receive Avraham’s
brachos.
[2] There
is a lot to discuss about this story, including what was Yitzchak’s original
thought process, why he changed his mind, and how Rivka knew she was right, but
that is for another time.
[3] Reb
Yaakov also discusses what Yitzchak’s nisayon was, but that goes beyond the
scope of this dvar Torah. For those interested, see Emes L’Yaakov (New Edition)
p.154.
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