[Par-lite] Parshat Toldot - shiur #1
Menachem Leibtag
tsc at bezeqint.net
Wed Nov 23 18:57:26 EST 2011
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THE TANACH STUDY CENTER
[http://www.tanach.org]
In Memory of Rabbi Abraham Leibtag
Shiurim in Chumash & Navi by Menachem
Leibtag
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PARSHAT TOLDOT - ' the chosen
son'
Are Yitzchak are Rivka playing
'favorites'? Indeed, a
cursory reading of Parshat Toldot certainly
leaves that
impression.
Furthermore, why does Yitzchak choose to
bless only one
of his children? Would it have been so
terrible had he
planned to bless both Esav and Yaakov?
In the following shiur, we search for
the deeper meaning
of these events. To enable our discussion,
we must first
consider the distinction between two concepts
that we
encounter in Sefer Breishit - 'bechira'
[choosing] and
'beracha' [blessing].
INTRODUCTION
Our shiurim thus far on Sefer Breishit
have focused on
its theme of "bechira" - i.e. God's
designation of Avraham and
his offspring to become His special nation.
We made special
note of the numerous times that God had
promised Avraham that
his offspring ('zera') would become a great
nation in a
special land ('aretz'). Even though each
promise added a
unique dimension to Avraham's destiny, they
all shared an
element of the same phrase:
"le-ZAR'ACHA natati et ha-ARETZ
ha-zot...
- to your OFFSPRING, I have given this
LAND."
[See 12:7, 13:15,
15:18, 17:8]
However, despite these numerous
blessings suggesting that
this nation will emerge from all of Avraham's
offspring, God
later informs Avraham that specifically
Sarah's son - Yitzchak
- to the exclusion of all other offspring -
has been chosen to
fulfill this destiny:
"For it is [only] through Yitzchak that
there shall be
called for you ZARA [your offspring]." (see
21:12)
Parshat Toldot opens as God Himself
confirms this
blessing of 'bechira' to Yitzchak, when He
forbids him to
leave the land during a famine:
"Reside in this land and I will bless you...
for I will
assign all this LAND to YOU and to YOUR
OFFSPRING." (26:2-5)
What will happen when Yitzchak has
children? Will only
ONE of his children be chosen, as was the
case with Avraham,
or will ALL his offspring be chosen?
Considering that the reason for God's
'bechira'
(selection) of Avraham was for his offspring
to become a
NATION (see 12:1-2), obviously this
'filtering' process of
choosing only ONE son over the others could
not continue
forever. Should only one 'favorite son' be
chosen in each
generation, obviously - a nation could never
develop. Sooner
or later, this 'filtering process' must end,
and an entire
family must be chosen.
Thanks to our 20/20 hindsight, we know
that this process
ends after THREE generations (Avraham,
Yitzchak, and Yaakov).
However, the Avot themselves may have been
unaware of when
this 'bechira' process was to end.
Let's consider this possibility in
regard to Yitzchak.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
A priori, Yitzchak has no reason to
assume that only ONE
son would be chosen and the other rejected.
Unlike Yitzchak
and Yishmael, who had DIFFERENT mothers, both
Yaakov and Esav
are born from the same mother. What more,
they are twins!
Therefore, it is only logical for
Yitzchak to assume that
BOTH Yaakov and Esav will join the 'chosen
family'.
Furthermore, even if there is some
divine reason to
choose only one son, it should be GOD's
choice and NOT
Yitzchak's! After all, God alone had been
involved in this
BECHIRA process heretofore. He had chosen
Avraham and He
alone had chosen Yitzchak over Yishmael.
Without a specific
divine command, why would Yitzchak even
consider making such a
bold decision?
Thus, it would only be logical to assume
that Yitzchak
believed that all of his children were
chosen, and hence both
Yaakov and Esav would be chosen - and their
offspring would
become the nation of Israel.
So why does Yitzchak intend to bless only
ONE of them?
'BRACHA' OR 'BECHIRA'?
To answer this question, we must
differentiate between
TWO basic types of blessings found in Sefer
Breishit. For the
sake of clarity, we will refer to one as
BECHIRA and the other
as BRACHA. Let's explain what each word
refers to:
BECHIRA*
We use the term BECHIRA (selection) to
describe God's
blessing of 'ZERA va-ARETZ' to the Avot, the
privilege of
fathering God's special nation. BECHIRA
implies that only one
son is chosen while the others are rejected.
As we explained,
this process began with God's designation of
Avraham Avinu and
continued with His choice of Yitzchak over
Yishmael. It is
not clear, however, when this bechira process
will end.
'BRACHA'
We will use the term BRACHA to describe
a father's
blessing of personal destiny to his sons.
For example, when
Noach bestows a BRACHA on each of his three
sons (see 9:24-
27), he does not choose one son over the
others to become a
special nation - rather, he blesses (or
curses) each son based
on their individual potential.
The best example of BRACHA (in contrast
to BECHIRA) is
Yaakov Avinu's blessings to his twelve sons
prior to his
death, in Parshat Vayechi (see 49:1-28).
Clearly, Yaakov does
not choose one or several of his children to
become God's
special nation. Rather, he bestows a
blessing of personal
destiny upon each son, according to his
understanding of each
son's individual character and potential (see
49:28).
Thus, according to these definitions -
BRACHA is bestowed
by a father, while BECHIRA is established by
God.
The following diagram illustrates the
primary points of
our discussion thus far:
n=3 BECHIRA [by God]
=======
\ AVRAHAM /
\ | / Yishmael rejected
\ YITZHAK /
\ | / Eisav - rejected
YAAKOV
/ 12 \
/ TRIBES \ [blessings by father]
/ \
BRACHA [by the father]
=======
The above diagram reflects the final
outcome of the
bechira' process - that there were THREE
stages, God original
choice of Avraham Avinu (#1); his subsequent
choice Yitzchak
(#2) - to the exclusion of Yishmael; and his
choice of Yaakov
(#3) over Eisav. Once Yaakov has been
chosen, we reach a
'critical point' - where ALL of his children
are chosen, and
hence the 'bechira' process is complete. At
this point, the
father bestows 'blessings' on his children,
which reflect the
interrelationships among the different tribes
- but all
'within the chosen family'.
Using an analogy from 'algebra', one could
say that in this
diagram n=3, where the variable 'n' refers to
the number of
stages in the "bechira" process. In our
shiur, we will claim
that Yitzchak assumes that n=-2, i.e. that
there were supposed
to be only two stages in this process -
Avraham & Yitzchak;
and hence both of his children would be
chosen, and plans to
bless both.
The following diagram reflects what may
have been Yitzchak's
understanding [n=2]:
n=2 BECHIRA [by God]
=======
\ /
\ AVRAHAM/
\ | / Yishmael rejected
YITZCHAK
/ 2 \
/ TRIBES \ [blessings by father]
/ \
BRACHA [by the father]
=======
YITZCHAK'S BRACHA TO ESAV
With this distinction in mind, we return
to our opening
question regarding the kind of blessing that
Yitzchak intends
to bestow upon Esav. Is it a blessing of
BRACHA or BECHIRA?
Considering that Yitzchak has no
apparent reason to
choose only one son, we should expect that
his intended
blessing to Esav was one of BRACHA (and not
BECHIRA).
To determine if this assumption is
indeed correct, let's
examine the content of the actual blessing
that Yitzchak
bestowed - intended for Esav but deceptively
seized by Yaakov:
"May God give you of the dew of heaven
and the FAT of the land,
and an abundance of GRAIN and WINE.
Other nations shall SERVE you and bow
down to you;
be MASTER over your brother,
and let your mother's sons bow down to
you ..."
(27:28-29)
Note how this blessing focuses on
prosperity and
leadership, and hence would fall under our
category of BRACHA.
It cannot be BECHIRA, as it does NOT contain
the phrase of
'ZERA va-ARETZ'. In fact, this blessing
strongly resembles
the blessings of prosperity and leadership
which Yaakov
himself later bestows upon Yehuda (see 49:8)
and Yosef (see
49:25-26).
But if indeed if this is a blessing of
BRACHA, why does
Yitzchak (intend to) bestow this blessing
only on Esav? Would
it not have made sense had he blessed both
sons?
THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB
As we posited above, Yitzchak expects
that both his
children will be chosen. Realizing that this
nation (that
will ultimately evolve from his two sons)
will require
leadership, Yitzchak must first appoint one
of his sons to
take family leadership; afterward he can
bless the other. But
which son should he choose for this
responsibility?
One could suggest that Yitzchak
concluded that Esav - the
"ish sadeh" [a 'man of the world' (see
25:27)] - was the more
suitable candidate for this job. Let's
explain why:
Yaakov & Esav are over sixty years old -
Esav is married
with children, has a job, and can thus care
for himself (and
for others). Yaakov, on the other hand, is
still single and
'living at home'. It is readily
understandable, then, why
Yitzchak chooses Esav to become the family
provider and
leader.
We can even presume that Yitzchak had a
blessing in store
for Yaakov as well - most probably one that
involves spiritual
leadership. Yaakov - the "ish tam yoshev
ohalim," a man of
the book (see 25:27) - can provide the family
with spiritual
guidance.
[This 'theoretical blessing' to Yaakov
resembles the
ultimate responsibility of shevet Levi (see
Devarim 33:10).]
However, without FIRST establishing a
nation (with the help
of Esav), there would be no one around for
Yaakov to guide.
]
The fact that Yitzchak had called upon
Esav to receive
his blessing FIRST, does not rule out the
possibility that he
may have intended to bless Yaakov afterward.
Note that in
Parshat Vayechi, Yaakov FIRST blesses Yosef -
bestowing upon
him family leadership- before proceeding to
bless all twelve
children.
So what went wrong? Why does Rivka
intervene? Why must
Yaakov 'steal' Esav's BRACHA? Or, to put it
more bluntly, is
Rivka simply standing up for her 'favorite
son' or did she
perceive the situation differently?
To answer this question, we must return
to the beginning
of the Parsha.
RIVKA KNOWS BEST
Apparently, Rivka knows something that
Yitzchak doesn't.
Recall that Rivka suffered from an unusually
difficult
pregnancy and seeks God for an explanation
(see 25:22).
Note how God's answer to HER (and not to
Yitzchak!)
already alludes to the fact that the BECHIRA
process has not
yet ended:
"And God answered HER saying: There are TWO
NATIONS in your
womb, and TWO SEPARATE PEOPLES shall issue
from your body.
One people shall be mightier than the
other, and the older
shall serve the YOUNGER." (25:23)
Rivka here learns that her twins are
destined to become
TWO NATIONS, and as such, only ONE - the
younger one (see
25:23, "ve-rav ya'avod tza'ir") - can be
chosen. Thus, Rivka
knows that YAAKOV is destined to receive the
BECHIRA, and not
Esav. Or using our analogy, she knows that
n=3, or at least
3.
Yitzchak, however, is unaware of this
prophecy. [Note
25:23: "va-yomer Hashem LAH" - to HER, and
not to him!]
It is unclear why Rivka never informs
Yitzchak of this
prophecy. She may assume that Yitzchak also
knows, and only
later realizes that he doesn't (see Ramban
27:4).
Alternatively, the very fact that she was
privy to this
special prophecy may have led her the logical
conclusion that
God wanted specifically ONLY HER to know, and
NOT Yitzchak.
However, whatever the reason may be, each
parent has a
different perception of their children's
destiny as they grow
up. Yitzchak ASSUMES that both Yaakov and
Esav are chosen,
while Rivka KNOWS that it will only be
Yaakov, but cannot
share he secret. The day will come, she may
assume, when she
will ultimately understand why God has given
her this
information
RIVKA'S DILEMMA
After overhearing Yitzchak's intention
to bless Esav
(27:5), Rivka now faces a serious dilemma:
* Does Yitzchak plan to bless Esav with
the BECHIRA (or
that God should grant him the BECHIRA)? If
so, she must act
quickly, as the future of "Am Yisrael" rests
on her shoulders.
* Does Yitzchak think that BOTH children
are chosen? Is he
giving a BRACHA of leadership to Esav? The
result of this
blessing could be no less disastrous!
* Can Rivka just tell Yitzchak that he is
making a mistake?
Is it too late? Will he listen? Would he be
willing now,
after so many years, to change his
perception?
Rivka has limited time to act, yet feels
responsible to
the prophecy she had received and hence
obligated to rectify
the situation. In her eyes, this may have
been the very
reason why God had originally granted her
this information.
Unfortunately, however, Rivka must resort to
trickery to
ensure that Yaakov receives the blessing.
Now that we have explained Rivka's
course of action, we
must explain Yitzchak's, as the plot
thickens.
YITZCHAK'S BLESSINGS
After Yitzchak grants Yaakov (whom he
thought was Esav) a
BRACHA of prosperity and leadership, the real
Esav arrives and
begs his father for another blessing (see
27:34,36).
Yitzchak's initial response is that the
special blessing
intended for Esav (prosperity and power) had
already been
given to Yaakov (27:35,37). Hence, Esav
cannot receive any
other BRACHA, since the BRACHA of
spirituality, originally
intended for Yaakov, would be unsuitable for
Esav. However,
after Esav pleads with his father, Yitzchak
grants Esav a
different BRACHA of prosperity.
"And Isaac his father answered and said:
Behold, of the fat
places of the earth shall be thy dwelling,
and of the dew of
heaven from above; And by your sword you
shall live and
serve your brother; but should you [or him
/see Rashi] fall,
then you shall shake his yoke from off thy
neck." (27:39-
40)
In light of our above interpretation, this
second blessing
is quite understandable. Let's explain why.
Review this blessing "[tal ha-shamayim
u-shmanei ha-
aretz" (27:38-39)], noting how it speaks of
prosperity in a
manner very similar to the first blessing.
This makes sense,
because 'prosperity' can be shared by both
brothers.
However, the second half of the original
blessing - that of
political leadership ("hevei gvir le-achicha
- see 27:29) -
can only be given to one son. Yitzchak
therefore blesses Esav
that - should Yaakov's leadership falter - he
shall take his
place (see 27:40 & Rashi).
At this point of the story, it appears
that Yitzchak
still understands that both sons will be
chosen. When does he
find out the 'truth' that the 'bechira'
process is not over
yet?
CLEARING THE AIR
Even though the Torah never reveals the
details, it would
be safe to assume that Rivka must have
finally explained her
actions to Yitzchak after this incident.
Upon hearing the
details of God's earlier prophecy to Rivka,
Yitzchak finally
realizes that only ONE son, Yaakov, is to be
chosen. [Using
our analogy, he now realizes that n=3.] To
his dismay, he
must now accept the fact that the BECHIRA
process must
continue into yet another generation.
This explains the final blessing that
Yitzchak grants
Yaakov, before he embarks on his journey to
Padan Aram (in
search of a wife). Review this blessing,
noting how it
obviously relates directly to the blessing of
BECHIRA:
"May God grant the BLESSING OF AVRAHAM
[i.e. BECHIRA] to you
and your OFFSPRING, that you may inherit
the LAND which
Elokim has given to Avraham..." (28:4).
Note once again the key phrase - "zera
va-aretz" - of the
BECHIRA blessing! In contrast to the BRACHA
of prosperity and
power discussed earlier, this blessing
involves the familiar
concept of God's special NATION inheriting a
special LAND.
Clearly, Yitzchak now understands that the
'bechira' process
is not over yet.
Note as well that Yitzchak does not
actually grant this
blessing to Yaakov, rather he blesses him
that God should
grant him the 'bechira' - "ve-Kel Sha-kai
yevarech otcha..."
(28:4). As we explained earlier in our
shiur, the 'bechira'
process is God's decision. Yitzchak is now
'rooting' for
Yaakov that God should grant him the BECHIRA,
but that
decision must ultimately be confirmed by God
- and that's
exactly what takes place a few psukim later,
at the beginning
of Parshat Vayetze! (see 28:12-14)
MA'ASEH AVOT, SIMAN LA-BANIM
Despite our 'technical' explanation for
Yitzchak and
Rivka's behavior in this Parsha, a more
fundamental question
remains: Why must the BECHIRA process be so
complex? In other
words, why is it that at the very inception
of our national
history, trickery must be employed for us to
arrive to our
divine destiny?
Or re-phrased in terms of our shiur -
why does God want
Yitzchak to think that n=2, while telling
Rivka that n=3. It
appears that God wanted these events to
unfold in this manner!
Although this is a very difficult
question to answer, one
could suggest that this entire episode may
carry an important
message concerning how the spiritual goals of
our nation
relate to the necessities of entering the
physical world of
prosperity and political leadership.
Indeed, to become a nation, there are
times when the
'aggressive' qualities of an Esav type
individual are needed.
However, there is a popular notion that these
physical
responsibilities should be delegated to the
'ish sadeh', the
son who is expert in the physical realm, but
ONLY in that
realm [the 'chiloni' son]. Similarly, the
spiritual realm
should be delegated to the Yaakov type
individual, the
delicate 'ish tam' who knows only how to
study in the tents of
Torah [the 'dati' son].
Yitzchak's original intention to bless Esav
may reflect this
notion, as Esav will be the provider, 'serve
in the army', and
enter the political realm; while Yaakov will
dedicate his life
immersed in the tents of Torah. Separating
these
responsibilities between two sons may reflect
the notion that
spirituality cannot be found in the physical
world of
establishing a nation.
To negate this notion, despite its
simplicity and logic,
the Torah presents it as Yitzchak's original
plan. However,
the other option (possibly Rivka's original
plan), that Yaakov
- the 'ish tam' - alone can manage both
realms remains equally
unacceptable.
At the time of these 'brachot', Yaakov
himself is not yet
ready to take on the responsibilities of the
'ish sadeh', but
sooner or later it will become incumbent upon
him to do so.
To establish God's special nation, there are
times when it is
necessary for the 'ish tam' to take on the
responsibilities of
the 'ish sadeh'.
To solve this 'dialectic', it was necessary
for Yaakov to
first don the 'hands of Esav', i.e. to
pretend to act like
Esav, but not actually become an Esav. It
remains significant
that the primal character of Am Yisrael is
that of Yaakov, the
'ish tam'.
If this interpretation is correct, then we
can better
appreciate why Yaakov must endure so much
hardship during his
twenty some years in Charan. Before God can
bestow on him the
'bechira' - to become the final stage of this
complex process,
Yaakov must learn to become an "ish sadeh",
while remaining an
"ish tam". Not only will he need to learn
how to deal with
the trickery of Lavan, upon his return to
Eretz Yisrael,
Yaakov must finally confront the 'angel of
Esav', and later
Esav himself, to prove that he is indeed
worthy of that
leadership task. That battle may leave him
'limping',
nonetheless triumphant; as he has learned the
proper balance
between these two character traits.
Even though many situations in our
history will arise
when we must don the 'hands of Esav' - i.e.
when we must act
as an 'ish sadeh' - our dominant trait must
always remain that
of an 'ish tam'. For when God provides Am
Yisrael with
prosperity and political leadership, it is
towards the purpose
that they serve mankind with personal example
and spiritual
guidance.
Throughout our history, even though we
must periodically
'don the hands of Esav', our voice must
always remain 'the
voice of Yaakov' [see 27:22]!
shabbat shalom
menachem
===========
FOR FURTHER IYUN
A. See Ramban (on 27:4), noting how he would
bascially
disagree with the entire approach presented
in the above
shiur. From the very beginning, he
understands that
Yitzchak's intention is to bless Esav with
the BECHIRA.
1. How does Ramban understand why Rivka
doesn't tell Yitzchak
about her nevua? How, if at all, does this
affect his
understanding of the entire parsha?
2. With which basic assumption of the above
shiur does Ramban
disagree?
3. Does Ramban (see 27:28) find any hint to
"zera va-aretz"
in Yitzchak's first bracha to Yaakov/Esav?
4. How does Rashi understand this sugya?
5. Try to relate this issue to the klal of
MA'ASEH AVOT,
SIMAN LA-BANIM. [Iy"H, this will be the
topic of a future
shiur.]
6. See also Radak on 27:4, noting how he
explains that
Yitzchak knew all along that Yaakov would
receive the
'bechira'. Nonetheless, he still wanted to
grant Esav a
'bracha'.
B. Towards the beginning of the Parsha, Esav
sells his
birthright to Yaakov and makes a striking
statement:
"Hinei anochi holeich lamut, ve-lama zeh
li bchora?"
Esav seems very practical. He sees no
reason to have the
'bchora', as he lives only for the present
with no dreams or
goals for the future.
1. Relate this to the above shiur and the
reason why Esav is
rejected.
2. Could it be that this attitude, a lack of
appreciation of
his destiny and purpose, leads to his
ultimate rejection?
3. Can this explain why Yaakov is interested
in buying the
birthright?
4. Does Yitzchak know about this incident?
If so (or even if
not), how may this affect the blessing that
he later intended
to give his children?
C. The blessing of BECHIRA to Yaakov in
28:3-5 contains
several key phrases found in earlier
blessings to Avraham
Avinu. Try to find these parallels.
1. Are most of them from the parsha Brit
Mila? (see Breishit
17:1-10).
If so, can you explain why? [What
additional message did
Avraham receive after Brit Mila?]
2. When did Hashem actually confirm this
blessing? (See 35:9-13!)
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