Our Patriarch Avraham earned the distinguished title of Forefather of the Jewish people by consistently displaying his devotion to G-d and mankind. G-d personally blessed Avraham and He conferred this blessing onto his son Yitzchok as well.
The deserving recipient of the Patriarchal blessing received an unbounded and eternal relationship between himself and the Almighty and was invested with the ability to bless others as well.
Yitzchok was blessed with twin boys and intended to bestow his blessing to Aisav his older son.
Unbeknownst to Yitzchok, Aisav, because he did not want to accept the moral, ethical and religious responsibilities that went along with this birthright, had sold it to his brother Yaacov for a mere bowl of soup. This showed what little value Aisav attributed to the birthright.
When Yitzchok was ready to offer the blessing to Aisav he asked him to hunt a deer and prepare delicacies to put him into a happy and elevated mood when conferring the blessing. Although Yitzchok was somewhat aware of Aisav’s shady lifestyle, as his father, he was optimistic that through the blessings Aisav would make a turn around. Before Aisav set out, Yitzchok taught him the laws of kosher slaughtering.
Yaacov and Aisav’s mother, Rivka, who had been raised in a deceitful home, was well aware of Aisav’s decadent lifestyle and knew that he was undeserving of the blessings. She immediately called Yaacov to stand in for Aisav. Yaacov disguised himself as the hairy Aisav and presented delicacies which his mother had prepared for Yitzchok. Yitzchok who was blind, used his sense of touch to verify that it was Aisav. He then ate from the delicacies and gave the Patriarchal blessings to Yaacov.
The Torah tells us that Rivka prepared two goats and some bread for the meal. Our Sages ask, were two goats the normal fare for Yitzchok’s meals? They explain that this event took place on the day that Passover would be observed in the future. Rivka designated one goat for the Pascal offering of which a small portion is eaten for desert. The second goat was designated as the Chagigah holiday offering whose meat served as the main course of the Passover Seder. The bread that she quickly prepared was Matzah.
When reading the account in the Torah, one will notice that Yaacov served the meal to his father accompanied by wine. The wine was for the four cups of wine at this Passover Seder. Our Sages tell us that Yaacov obtained this special wine which was prepared during the seven days of creation from the angel Michael.
After the meal concluded and Yaacov received the blessings, Aisav showed up. Aisav was an expert hunter because he had a jacket that belonged to Adam that retained the scent of the Garden of Eden, and animals were attracted to the jacket and calmly came over to Aisav.
When Yitzchok asked Aisav to hunt, Aisav left his coat at home and set out to hunt in the conventional way, in order to fulfill the Mitzvah of honoring his father to the fullest. This was the one Mitzvah he excelled in.
G-d orchestrated that Aisav should have difficulty trapping in order that Yaacov have enough time to receive the blessings.
Our sages tell us that Aisav could find no animal other than a dog, and that is what he prepared.
When Aisav approached his father the real picture began to unfold. Our Sages teach us that Yitzchok saw and felt the contrast between his sons, for when Yaacov entered he smelled the spiritual aroma of the Garden of Eden, but when Aisav came in, Yitzchok gasped and shuddered for he saw the image of hell.
Although Aisav was defeated he pleaded with his father to afford him some blessing, which Yaacov did. However, Yaacov received the full impact of the blessing and this infuriated Aisav who vowed to kill his brother after the death of his parents.
This hate in Aisav’s blood still brews in his descendants who viciously kill Jews gathered for prayers on Shabbos, and attack us here in the US, in Israel or anywhere in the world.
The potent spiritual and materialistic blessing that our ancestor Yaacov received is still alive within each of his descendants.
Let’s contemplate this: If one deranged person can cause so much destruction and instill so much fear, certainly, we who have the blessings within us, have the power to unleash and spread our goodness, kindness, and moral and ethical standards. We can let our Kedusha – holiness waft through the air and uplift and inspire the entire world for the good and for peace!
