Chapter 27.
Yaakov
wrests the
brachos from
Eisav.
Different
subplots
merge into a
poignant
climax; a
story whose
drama melds
irony,
complexity,
sarcasm,
sadness and
ultimate
triumph, yet
in the
process
leaves so
many
questions -
Consider a
few:
Did Yitzchak
understand
Eisav's
character?
Yaakov's?
Wasn't
Yitzchak
aware of the
prophecy
that "the
younger one
shall rule
over the
older"?
Granted
Yaakov had
to listen to
his mother,
but why did
Rivkah do it
this way?
Does a
blessing
count if you
don't know
who the
recipient
is? Why are
the brachos
so important
anyway? Why
did God
engineer it
this way?
Note the
..
..
irony
of an Eisav,
the master
of deception
and guile
being duped
by
Yaakov.
..
sarcasm
of our "lamdan"
Eisav
explaining
the true "pshat"
(meaning)
of Yaakov's
name: ("Is
he not
rightly
called
Yaakov[1]?
He has
deceived me
twice; he
took my
birthright,
and now he
has taken my
blessing." )
..
complexity
of Yaakov
man of truth
engaging in
apparent
duplicity
..
sadness
of a crying,
broken Eisav:
When Eisav
heard his
father's
words, he
wailed a
most loud
and bitter
cry, and he
said to his
father,
"Bless me
too, my
father." ..
Eisav said
to his
father, "Do
you have
only one
blessing, my
father?
Bless me
too, my
father," and
Eisav raised
his voice
and wept.
Echoes of
his cries
reverberate
through
time:
R. Hanina
said:
Whoever
maintains
that the
Holy One,
blessed be
He, is lax
[in
dispensing
justice],
.. He is
merely
longsuffering,
but
[ultimately]
collects His
due.
Yaakov made
Eisav break
out into a
cry but
once, and
where was he
punished for
it? In
Shushan, the
castle, as
it says, And
he cried
with a loud
and bitter
cry, etc.
(Est.
IV, 1).
Two simple
words appear
three times
in our
chapter.
Remarkably,
never before
and never
again do
they appear
in
description
of Yaakov
and Eisav.
The words:
gadol
and katan,
[lit. big
and small]:
1.
Introduction:
Verse 1: And
when
Yitzchok
grew old his
eyesight
faded and he
could not
see. He
called
Eisav,
his big son,
and said to
him, "My
son." [Eisav]
said to him,
"Here I am."
2. Rivkah
implements
her plan:
Verse 15:
Rivkah took
the garments
of
Eisav, her
big son,
[the
garments]
that were
precious [to
him] that
were in her
keeping in
the house,
and put them
on
Yaakov, her
small son.
3. The
aftermath:
Rivkah was
informed
about the
words of
Eisav,
her big son,
and she sent
[a
messenger]
to call
Yaakov, her
small son,
and she said
to him ..
[for Eisav
intends] to
kill you.
The constant
refrain of
gadol
and katan
seems
obvious and
extra. Our
meforshim
get to work:
1. To
Ramban,
the Torah
emphasizes
Rivkah's
difficult
maternal
task. Can
one imagine
a mother
having to
slight her
child, her
first born -
and thus the
maternal
apple of her
eye?
Rivkah's
ability to
transcend
her natural
instinct to
recognize
Yaakov as
the
appropriate
bechora/blessings
recipient is
all the more
remarkable
given the
certainty of
the
resulting
rift. As the
story
concludes,
gadol
and katan
are
accentuated
once again
to indicate
that Rivkah
opts for the
difficult-right
over the
natural-
expedient.
2.
Netziv and
Ohr Hachaim
link
gadol to
Eisav's
stature and
strength.
Because
Eisav was
bigger,
Yaakov must
wear Eisav's
clothing.
Because
Eisav was
stronger,
Yaakov the
physically
weaker had
to escape.
3.
Midrash # 1:
Chanifa,
inappropriate
flattery has
a place.
When a
wicked
person is in
control, one
may (at
times) pay
him undue
adulation.
Apparently,
it beats the
alternative.
Eisav-for
now is on
top of the
world and
thus is
called
gadol.
Why is
Yaakov
called
katan?
Perhaps to
indicate
that
deference
(acting
katan)
to the
powerful is
the
appropriate
way.
4. A
second
Midrashic
approach:
(Bereishis
Rabah,
45:11):
R. Eliezer
ben Shimon
said: This
may be
compared to
a country
that was
seeking g a
bodyguard
for the
king. Now a
certain
woman there
had a son, a
dwarf, whom
she used to
call 'Tallswift'.
Said she:
'My son is
tall and
swift; why
then do you
not appoint
him?' 'If in
your eyes he
is tall and
swift,' they
retorted,
'in ours he
is but a
dwarf.'
In like
manner, his
[Eisav's]
father
called him
great ..his
mother too
called him
great: Said
Hashem to
them: ' If
in your eyes
he is great,
in Mine he
is small,'
as it says,
Behold, I
make thee
small among
the nations
(Obad. I,
2).
What's great
in this
world may
well be
absolutely
insignificant
in the real
world!
Rav Schwab
develops a
final
compelling
notion.
Gadol is
not a
this-worldly
expression
of physical
prowess or
power; it is
a spiritual
indicator.
R. Simeon b.
Gamaliel
said: All my
lifetime I
attended
upon my
father, yet
I did not do
for him a
hundredth
part of the,
service
which Eisav
did for his
father. I
used to
attend upon
my father in
soiled
garments and
go out in
the street
in clean
ones; but
when Eisav
attended on
his father,
he attended
upon him in
royal robes,
'For,' said
he, 'nought
but royal
robes befits
my father's
honour.'
Most homes
(except for
ours) do not
find the
children
donning
special
garments to
take out the
garbage.
Eisav was a
gadol
in the realm
of honoring
parents,
greater in
spiritual
stature than
anyone -
including
Yaakov [who
is katan]!
Yitzchak's
desire for
Eisav's
hunted game
was to
"taste" the
incredible
mitzvah
sanctity
resident in
the food.
Rivkah
understands
this and
quickly gets
to work by
commanding
Yaakov to
engage,
against his
better
judgment, in
an
extraordinary
mitzvah of
kibbud
eim; one
that compels
him to
overcome his
natural
truth
instinct. By
clothing him
in Eisav's
garments,
those that
he would
wear while
serving his
parents,
Rivkah is
implicitly
stating that
Yaakov is
now rising
to Eisav's
standard of
this
mitzvah[2].
Yitzchak
then
"tastes" the
same
holiness in
Yaakov's
food,
causing him
to think
that he is Eisav.
The power of
a sincere
mitzvah, one
done without
agenda can
not be
overstated[3].
As we
encounter
difficult
people in
our orbit,
(probably
far less
agenda
oriented and
more
wholesome
than Eisav)
let us try
to coax
mitzvah and
show them
their
greatness -
one never
knows what
power they
may bring
into the
world!
Good Shabbos
Asher
Brander
[edited
from last
year]
[1]
Which
implies
a
notion
of
underhandedness
[2]
This
notion,
says
Rav
Schwab
also
explains
why
the
Torah
[28:5
-
cf.
Rashi]
curiously
identifies
Rivkah
as
the
being
the
mother
of
Yaakov
and
Eisav
- as
if
to
say
that
in
one
aspect
-
she
retained
a
special
unique
connection
with
her
Eisav.
[3]
See
Yeshayahu,
27:11
for
an
incredible
Rashi
that
states
Edom's
power
till
this
very
day
is
nourished
by
that
mitzvah
and
only
when
it
lapses
will
he
suffer
defeat.
[1]
Cf
Netziv
who
says
that
the
Torah
does
not
emphasize
this
miracle
as
much
as
the
birth
of
Yitzchak
-
for
once
Avraham
is
rejuvenated,
it
was
natural
for
him
to
be
able
to
produce
children
[akin
to
the
stone
of
the
desert
that
produced
(and
kept
on
producing)
water]
[2]
Rashi
is
explaining
the
keri/k'tiv
-
for
the
pronunciation
is
plural
as
there
were
two
marriages,
but
the
k'tiv
reflects
that
it
was
to
one
woman.
[3]
Nafal
hayesod,
nafal
habinyan
- Cf
Gilyon
Hashas
Shabbos
55b
for
a
large
list
of
discrepancies.
[4]
Rashi
presents
a 2nd
reason
-
she
had
remained
celibate
from
the
day
she
separated
from
Avraham
-
connected
to
the
Aramaic
katar
which
means
tied
up.
[5]
Cf.
R.
Yaakov
Kamenetsky
who
explais
that
after
yizchak
marries
Rivkah
and
is
firmly
estalishe
as
the
primary
spiritual
heir
of
Avraham,
then
Avraham
is
willing
to
remarry
Hagar
for
Sarah's
prohibition
only
applies
insofar
as
yishmael
might
claimto
be
the
oprimary
heir
of
Avraham.
This
gfear
is
no
longer
relevant.
[6]
Thus
it
is
etymologically
related
to
havracha
,
i.e.
grafting.
