Parasha: Toldot · Aliyah: Fifth (Hod)

ויהי כי זקן יצחק, It came about when Isaac was old, etc. The reason that the Torah prefaces the paragraph by reporting that Isaac's eyesight failed him was to explain that Jacob took the blessings at a time when he was not afraid that his father would recognise him. The reason the paragraph is introduced with the word ויהי, which always introduces a painful episode, is to remind us that the subterfuge Jacob had to employ had many fateful consequences for the history of the Jewish people.

את עשו, Esau. The reason the Torah does not say ויקרא אל עשו, that Isaac called out to Esau, is that the latter was not present. Isaac merely called out Esau's name.

בנו הגדול, his older son. The Torah may have given as the reason that Isaac called first on Esau the fact that he was the firstborn; this would presuppose that Isaac did not know about the sale of the birthright. Alternatively, Isaac may have ignored the fact of the sale of the birthright and have based himself on Esau's being the elder, biologically speaking. The reason that Isaac wanted to give the wicked Esau a blessing was that he hoped to effect a change in Esau's character on account of the blessings he would bestow on him. In view of the statement in Bereshit Rabbah 80,1 that Dinah's rape was a punishment for Jacob who had hidden her from Esau's view at the moment of reconciliation, thus preventing Esau from marrying her, we may assume that had Rebeccah and Jacob not interfered with Isaac's intention Esau might indeed have become a penitent as a result of receiving such a blessing.

ורבקה שומעת, and Rebeccah was listening, etc. The Torah tells us that Rebeccah was a prophetess who always listened to Isaac's words even though she did not speak up in his presence. The. Torah alludes to this by saying ורבקב שומעת בדבר יצחק, "Rebeccah was listening whenever Isaac spoke." Normally we would have expected the Torah to write: ותשמע רבקה, "Rebeccah happened to overhear." The present tense employed here by the Torah here is most unusual. Maybe Isaac spoke to Esau in a whisper and that is why he believed that Jacob was really Esau; Isaac thought that Jacob could not have have heard of Isaac's instructions to Esau. Although Isaac's eyesight had begun to fail him, he called Esau to help him with something confidentially. Both Isaac's call and Esau's response, "I am ready" may be an allusion to the conspirational nature of the conversation.

ורבקה אמרה אל יעקב, And Rebeccah said to Jacob, etc. The reason that the Torah introduces the verse with the conjunctive letter ו is to tell us that Rebeccah agreed with the Holy Spirit which had conveyed this conversation between Isaac and Esau to her.

לאמר, הנה שמעתי. to say, "here I have heard," etc. She wanted to make sure that Jacob realised that she had only just become aware of what had transpired between Isaac and Esau and that she could not be accused of having allowed too much time to elapse to take countermeasures. Jacob had enough time to carry out his mother's instructions.

אחיך לאמר, "your brother, saying." She did not mean that Esau was a true brother of Jacob in character; she used the word "your brother" to indicate that just as Isaac plotted with Esau, she now did the same thing with Jacob.

She also used the word לאמר to protect herself since she had not quoted Isaac's words to Jacob verbatim. She meant that she had told Jacob the gist of Isaac's words to Esau.

ועתה בני שמע בקולי, "and now my son, listen to me and obey my instructions!" "hasten to bring me two young kids at once."

שמע בקולי. "listen to my voice!" Although there is some deception involved in what I will instruct you, you still have to obey me apart from your duty to honour father and mother which is a positive commandment. Rebeccah stressed the fact that she was a prophetess and the Torah commands us to obey the prophets' instructions (Deut. 18,15). We have already explained (in connection with Genesis 16,5) that when a prophet asks you to disobey one of G'd's laws temporarily he is to be obeyed.

עלי קללתך בני, "may your curse be on me my son!" The reason that she added the word "my son," although she had been talking to him all the time was that she referred only to what Jacob had said last. We have a rule in Makkot 11 that the curse of a Torah scholar, even if uttered only conditionally, is effective. Had Rebeccah not added the word "my son," we would have thought that she referred to Jacob's being cursed by Isaac when he found out he had been tricked.

In order to understand Rebeccah's special love for Jacob the following considerations may help. Rebeccah generally was looked upon askance because she had given birth to the wicked Esau. We find in nature that parts of a whole display an affinity for other parts of the same whole. Rebeccah testified that this rule did not apply in her case, that her deeds proved that she had no affinity for Esau. Her womb was indeed blessed, and the good part (Jacob) represented that which was normal, hence her love for Jacob. The Torah teaches us this by repeatedly describing Jacob as Rebeccah's son even in instances where these additional words are otherwise quite superfluous (compare verses 6,8,11,13,15,17,42). All of this is to underline that Jacob's righteousness was a direct outgrowth of his righteous mother. The fact that she had given birth also to an Esau was not a reflection on his mother's personality.

Kabbalists, of course, are aware that there are mystical dimensions which account for the emergence of Esau as a potentially wicked person, whereas it was Rebeccah's union with Isaac which was the cause of any pollutant disturbing her holiness. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai is quoted in the Zohar (Sullam edition Chayey Sarah 251) as explaining that the reason the Torah describes Isaac as loving his wife Rebeccah, something that is natural and does not require special mention, is that the love of the male for the female is rooted in the "left" side of the emanations. in Isaac's case it was the fire of the גבורה, his predominant characteristic which stems from the "left side" of the emanations.. If the holiness of the two was tainted in any way this was due more to Isaac than to Rebeccah. Jacob's physical perfection is compared to that of Adam's before the sin, as we know from Baba Metzia 84. He did not therefore inherit any pollutant from his mother. Students of the Kabbalah will understand all this. [I have elaborated on the author's text to make it more intelligible for the non-kabbalist. Ed.] When we wrote earlier (25,20) that the reason that Esau was wicked was because Rebeccah had a wicked brother called Laban, this did not influence Rebeccah's character.

ותלבש את יעקב בנה הקטן, she dressed Jacob her younger son. This means she adapted these clothes to fit her smaller son though they were tailored to fit the measurements of her bigger son Esau.

אנכי עשו בכרך. "I am Esau your firstborn." Jacob meant that seeing he had purchased the birthright from Esau, he was now the legal Esau. He added: עשיתי כאשר דברת אלי, "I have done in accordance with what you have said to me," meaning that the reason you told Esau to hunt game, etc., was because you assumed that he was your firstborn.

ולא הכירו כי היו ידיו כידי עשו, he did not recognise him since his hands were like those of Esau. Isaac rejected the doubt created by Jacob's voice since a person can change his voice or the listener may mistake a voice for that of someone else, whereas he cannot change the hairs on his hands, a very distinctive mark of identification.

ויברכהו, he blessed him. Before Isaac touched Jacob and established that he was Esau nothing had contradicted his impression that it was Jacob's voice he heard and that therefore he was faced by a swindler. Isaac had begun to think along the lines Jacob had been afraid of, i.e. that the swindler deserved to be cursed. Even though Isaac had not yet thought that far, he did begin to hate the person who he thought was trying to swindle him. The Talmud reports in Baba Metzia 84 that when the righteous are looking at someone with displeasure this brings a curse in its wake. [Rabbi Yochanan's displeaure at Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish's remarks resulted in the latter dying. Ed.] The Torah reports Isaac as blessing Jacob as a result of feeling his hands to teach us that he reversed his erstwhile intentions.

ויאמר אתה זה בני עשו He said: "you are indeed my son Esau" Isaac justified his bestowing the blessing. This verse is not a question. Jacob's reaction was a confirmation that Isaac was correct, of course.

There is another meaning to the words אתה זה. Inasmuch as Isaac had thought up to that moment that the voice indicated that Jacob stood before him, he now pointed at the body of the person before him saying: "you are Esau" seeing the hands had convinced him. When he articulated the blessings he concentrated on the person opposite him without regard to that person's name. This actually made Jacob the true recipient of the blessings, even though Isaac had made mention of Esau. At the time of the actual blessing Isaac concentrated exclusively on the person in front of him.

ויברכהו ויאמר ראה He blessed him saying: "re-ey." This word does not mean "see!" as usual, but is connected to the word ראוי, suitable, worthy. Isaac meant that it was fitting that the fragrance of his son should reflect the fragrance of the fields which themselves enjoyed G'd's blessings.