Parshat Toldot 5778-A little touch of Malbim

In a famous speech given to the Torah Umesorah organization in 1962, Rabbi Aharon Kotler zal(Lituania/USA-founder of the Lakewood Yeshiva) explained the importance of teaching chumash with the full input of Chazal and the classical meforshim. This will very often give a whole new twist to the famous stories in Torah and none more so than the Malbim’s explanation as to why Yitzchak saw fit to bless Esau with the berachot and not Yaakov. What can be the rationale for such a decision and why did Rivkah go to such lengths to make sure this did not happen?

The Malbim (19th century, E.Europe) explains that Yitzchak was very concerned that Esau should not leave the fold of monotheism, as established by Avraham. In order to ensure that he remain connected, Yitzchak decided that Esau should be in charge of the monetary affairs of both himself and his brother. Yaakov would come to Esau for his regular allowance. It is clear that Yitzchak knew exactly what Esau was like, as the Torah comments at the end of ch.26 that Esau’s marriages had not found favor in his eyes or in the opinion of Rivkah, his wife.

לד  וַיְהִי עֵשָׂו, בֶּן-אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה, וַיִּקַּח אִשָּׁה אֶת-יְהוּדִית, בַּת-בְּאֵרִי הַחִתִּי--וְאֶת-בָּשְׂמַת, בַּת-אֵילֹן הַחִתִּי.

34 And when Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

לה  וַתִּהְיֶיןָ, מֹרַת רוּחַ, לְיִצְחָק, וּלְרִבְקָה.  {ס}

35 And they were a bitterness of spirit unto Isaac and to Rebekah. {S}

There were no illusions here and we cannot argue that Yitzchak had become old and almost blind and was therefore unaware of Esau’s character and behavior. This is clearly not so.

The Malbim continues by explaining that Yitzchak devised a kind of ‘Yisachar/Zevulun’ relationship here, which would ensure that the two brothers would always be in constant contact and hopefully Yaakov would be a good influence on his wayward brother. Esau would also be rewarded for supporting his brother’s spiritual efforts and a good solution seems to have been found.

Rivkah however saw things differently. She understood that Esau represents such a detrimental influence (according to Chazal he committed all the cardinal sins on one day) that Yaakov must be distanced from his brother. The historical reality of this judgement is profound. We know from a cursory study of Jewish history that if we had to rely on the non Jewish world to support us in our spiritual endeavors, we would have disappeared a long time ago. So Rivkah devises a plan to show Yitchak how easily duped he was about Esau and his behavior. When Yaakov pretends to be Esau, it is a message to Yitzchak that Esau is not what he seems and he should not be fooled by his displays of ‘Kibud Av’ or his questions on matters of Torah law, which are hiding a whole world of corruption and deceit. Interestingly we can add here that Yaakov, by doing this charade is not compromising his quality of ‘emmet/truth’ as he is doing this to show how easily fooled his father had been by Esau.

With this approach, the Malbim has got to the heart of the dispute between Rivkah and Yitzchak and has also answered how this whole event is not in any way compromising Yaakov’s standards of truth for which  he becomes famous(‘titein emmet leYaakov..).The reality of Esau as representing the non Jewish world, is something we now understand, and that Rivkeh was clearly correct in her assessment.

Just to add a thought in the name of Rav Yaakov Breisch zal, a posek who lived in Switzerland around the time of WW2. After the war, on Shabbat Shuva 1945, he spoke about the ‘trembling of Yitzchak’, as we find it happening in two places. He trembles at the Akeda, when he is on the alter of sacrifice , and he trembles here, when Esau comes in, bearing the gifts in order to receive the berachot.

However the trembling in our parsha is described as:

לג  וַיֶּחֱרַד יִצְחָק חֲרָדָה, גְּדֹלָה עַד-מְאֹד, וַיֹּאמֶר מִי-אֵפוֹא הוּא הַצָּד-צַיִד וַיָּבֵא לִי וָאֹכַל מִכֹּל בְּטֶרֶם תָּבוֹא, וָאֲבָרְכֵהוּ; גַּם-בָּרוּךְ, יִהְיֶה.

33 And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said: 'Who then is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.'

“He trembled exceedingly’. Rav Breisch comments that we have lost millions on the ‘alter of sacrifice’ in the Holocaust. However, how many souls will we continue to lose when Esau comes to us bearing gifts (fraternity, equality etc) and certainly today the assimilation rates are getting higher and higher(last Pew report  puts the level in the USA at over 70%). On this account Yitzchak’s trembling was even more pronounced and the message for us in our interactions with the non-Jewish world is clear. While we are part of the ‘bigger picture’ around us, we must never forget our Jewish identity and practices, so as not to disappear through assimilation. This is a lesson which continues the theme of the Malbim above and is certainly worthy of our consideration in the world in which we live today.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Ian Shaffer        Cherry Hill N.J/SCW