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Thought for the Day: Why Yitzchak Needed to be Fooled into Giving the Brachos to Yaakov that He Intended for Esav

I think the following incident sums up all that needs to be said about the Reform Jewish Religion. A boy -- we'll call him Bruce -- was giving his Bar Mitzvah speech. "My Torah portion," said Bruce, "describes how are ancestor Jacob cunningly swindled his own brother, Esau, out of his blessings. I am so embarrassed to be his descendant." The rabbi put his arm around the bar mitzvah boy and said, "Bruce... I know you and I know your family. You are certainly not a descendant of Jacob, you are a descendant of Esau." (Yes, true story.)

What follows is once again some of my gleanings from R' Cziment's amazing chumash shiur.

But, let's ask ourselves... why did Yaakov have to fool Yitzchak with the whole charade? In fact, the targum Onkelos reveals to us that Rivka set the whole thing up because she had received a prophetic directive that this was the appropriate course of action. The question, therefore, is better stated as: Why did Yitzchak need to be fooled to give the brachos to Yaakov? In fact, the Zohar says that HaShem specifically wanted Yitzchak to think he was giving the brachos to Esav!

Let's take a step back. Why, in fact, did Yitzchak Avinu want to give the brachos to Esav instead of Yaakov? In short, it was because Yaakov didn't need the brachos! He was sitting an learning. Yitzchak Avinu, however, was very concerned that Esav was -- to use modern parlance -- at risk. The brachos, which all for material wealth and success -- but only when Esav would go in the ways of the Torah -- were meant to encourage Esav and strengthen his attachment to the Torah.

Great plan. What was wrong with it? Esav was not "at risk". Esav was gone. Esav had firmly, resolutely, and irrevocably left the ways of Torah. Esav was no longer in the line of succession of our holy founding fathers and mothers; Esav and his descendants would not be part of Klal Yisrael. However, there were those from Yaakov who would need the brachos that Yitzchak wanted to give to Esav. Rivka therefore arranged, and Yaakov played out the charade that led to Yaakov receiving the brachos from Yitzchak to encourage and strengthen the attachment to Torah for those of Yaakov's descendants who needed it.

Why didn't HaShem just reveal that to Yitzchak and let him give the brachos straight to Yaakov? There is much to say on that, but I'll just tell you my thoughts as a father. The brachos needed to be given to Yaakov with the intensity and depth of feeling of a father who sees his son in mortal danger. Yitchak knew who Esav was, but as a father he could not believe that he was completely lost. By believing that the son standing in front of him was that son at risk who was now coming to his father for help; for help he could only get from his exalted father -- whom he honestly loved and respected. Those brachos were given with a different intensity of depth of feeling than would have been possible to give to "the good son".

All of us who are Torah observant today who came from families that were not so strong have only come back because of the deep feeling and love with with Yitzchak gave those brachos to Yaakov.

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