Parshat Toldot

2 Kislev 5756
Saturday, November 25, 1995

Guest Rabbi:
Rabbi Michael Whitman
Young Israel of New Haven, Connecticut

Several questions: 1. What does Yitzchok really think of Eisav? He clearly knows that Eisav is no tzaddik, when Eisav marries a woman of whom his parents disapprove (26:35). Why is he still willing to give Eisav the brachot? 2. Obviously, Rivkah sees it differently. Why does she not persuade Yitzchok that Yaakov should receive the brachot? Why does she need to resort to the encounter she sets up? 3. It seems that the disguise would never work. Does goat skin really feel like the arms of Eisav? And even if it works, Eisav will return soon and Yaakov's deception will be known. It's almost as if Rivkah wanted Yitzchok to know he had been fooled. 4. When Eisav returns and Yitzchok realizes what has happened, we would expect Yitzchok to be very angry and attempt to nullify the brachot since Yitzchok did not intend for Yaakov to get them. But instead he says, "The brachah will remain his." (27:33) Why?

(This approach is based on the pirush of Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch and the Malbim.) Surely, Yitzchok knew what Eisav was. But he also knew of the brachah of Avraham and he wanted his two sons to share that bracha. Yitzchok envisioned a kind of partnership, like Yissocher and Zevulun would develop years later, with Yaakov in charge of the ruchniut (spiritual) and Eisav caring for the gashmiut (physical needs). Yitzchok considered Eisav the appropriate one for this, precisely because he knew Eisav's nature. But he believed Eisav would live up to this partnership, because Eisav presented to his father a facade of integrity, if not spirituality. He heard Eisav asking "Frum" questions regarding Maaser (tithes), etc.

Rivkah saw that Eisav's "Frumkeit" was just a facade. She realized that not only would a partnership between Yaakov and Eisav not work practically, it was philosophically faulty. In this world there needs to be a combination of ruchniut and gashmiut. Ruchniut must be grounded and played out in gashmiut. And gashmiut must be used for the higher purpose of ruchniut - the two cannot be separated. Yaakov's spiritual nature was more of a reason for him to receive the brachot from Yitzchok, not less. Rivkah probably tried to persuade Yitzchok, but he didn't understand. Yitzchok couldn't imagine that his own son, Eisav, could present a false image. He didn't believe he could be tricked.

And that is what Rivkah needed to demonstrate. Yitzchok was an incomparable tzaddik and chochom but Rivka saw that her vision needed to prevail. So she tells Yaakov to dress up in the clothes of Eisav and to cover himself in a very crude disguise. Yaakov does so, and Yitzchok is fooled.

And when Eisav walks in with the food he has prepared, Yitzchok trembles in fear. But he trembles not only because of the brachah he has just given. Yitzchok trembles with the realization that all along he had been fooled. All along Rivkah had been right. And Yitzchok trembles with the realization that the brachah he has just given is not a mistake, but in fact it is Yaakov to whom the brachah should go, and Yitzchok says, "The brachah will remain his (Yaakov's)."

This approach sets the stage for a powerful lesson to be learned form the behavior of Yitzchok. We can well understand Yitzchok's anger in learning what had happened. He may well have felt humiliated to have been proven wrong about so important a matter. However, Yitzchok's reaction is to recognize the truth whenever and however it comes. For Yitzchok Aveinu, this complete self control is expected. For us, it remains a goal towards which we strive. How often does it happen that someone criticizes us in a non-constructive manner (that may happen quite often!) which does contain some truth. But because we have been made to feel uncomfortable, we feel we must reject everything the speaker is saying. In his Hesped (eulogy) of Rav Moshe Feinstein, ZT"L, Rav
Gershon Weiss, Shlita, relayed how when Rav Moshe would get harassing phone calls, he would listen to the whole disocurse pleasantly, then say goodbye politely. And he often told others that there is a commentary of Tiferes Yisroel on Mishnayot that says that when someone curses you, you should listen calmly, because maybe there is some valid point mixed in with the insults.

All of us should certainly learn a lesson about finding the right way to point out someone's mistake. It's an especially good idea to remember Ron Alexander's observation in the New York Times several years ago about a sign in a delicatessen window on Broadway: "Don't criticize the coffee. You may be old and weak yourself someday."