Ask the Rabbi

Intent vs action Yitzchak's blessing Ya'akov?!

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Rabbi Ari Shvat

Kislev 12, 5783
Question
Thank you for the reply. Yes, I understand that Eisav sold the birthright, and after the bracha was given, Eisav informed Yitzchak of that….. the latter seeming both surprised ( as in not aware of) and relieved ( that is, that Yitzchak was relieved that the correct son received the 10 fold bracha and would be the master of the other…..). But until Eisav entered the room and informed Yitzchak of all this, Yitzchak was obviously thinking that he had blessed Eisav….. not merely the firstborn, but EISAV. Yitzchak's intent should be what matters! I have heard your explanation….. that things were different before Matan Torah and/or outside Eretz Yisroel….. but I am not totally satisfied. Before all this, For 60+ years, Yaskov studied in the yeshivos. Are you implying that he studied a DIFFERENT Torah??? Surely not. Please continue to review this with me…… I just would just like to be more convinced. There has got be to another explanation that will satisfy a ( believer and) skeptic like me! Kol haKavod. Thank you!
Answer
God is the One who really blesses, and Yitzchak, just as the Kohanim when they bless us, are simply the vehicle through which God blesses whom He sees fit. Accordingly, Ya'akov was clearly the true and worthy recipient of the Holy Land (which he even legally acquired from Esav!). In addition, Yitzchak himself was clearly suspicious and thought (correctly) that he may be blessing Ya'akov, but it didn't bother him. For once he felt and smelled that Ya'akov can "wear the arms of Esav" and bear the fragrance of the fields of Israel, and that the Holy Land of Israel, the subject of the blessing, will not go to waste in Ya'akov's hands, Yitzchak realized that his wife Rivka was correct. It's easier for one who excels in the spiritual (Ya'akov) to don the physical, rather than for someone physical (Esav) to learn the inner spirituality. Yitzchak himself, the farmer and tzaddik, excelled at both, but thought he had to choose between the physical aspect of Eretz Yisrael (typified by Esav) and the holy one (typified by Ya'akov), until Rivka proved that Ya'akov can also, like Yitzchak, have both. Yes, there are midrashim that Ya'akov "learned in yeshivot", but as most midrashim, are not meant to be taken literally or historically, but rather to teach important lessons to later generations. See my answer on this topic: https://www.yeshiva.co/ask/6591
את המידע הדפסתי באמצעות אתר yeshiva.org.il