Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L
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Peace Treaty. Yitzchak's Blessing.
Peace Treaty
So Avimelech made a feast for them and they ate and drank.
They woke up early in the morning and made an oath to one another and Yitzchak escorted them, and they left him in peace.
That day, Yitzchak's servants approached him and told him that they had found water in a well that they had dug.
Yitzchak named this well "Shiva" on account of the oath that he had made (Shevuah means "oath" in Hebrew). To this day, that city is named Be'er Sheva.
Yitzchak's Blessing
Esav was compared to a pig, who pretends to be a kosher animal when it lies down and stretches out it's (split) hooves for all to see. Similarly, Esvav's chiefs pretended to be honorable, all the while robbing. Throughout his life, he kidnapped wives from their husbands and violated them. Finally, at the age of 40, he decided to marry, as that was the age at which his father married.
So at the age of 40, Esav married Yehudit who was the daughter of Be'eri the Chittite as well as Basmath, the daughter of Elon the Chittite.
Esav's wives were idol worshippers, thus causing much anguish and grief to Yizchak and Rivka.
Yitzchak was old, and his eyes were dim to see. Rashi offers two explanations as to why he vision was impaired:
Esav's wifes would burn incense to their idols, and the resultant smoke irritated Yitzchak's eyes.
When Avraham was about to slaughter Yitzchak on the altar, the heavens opened and the ministering angels saw and wept and their tears fell onto Yitzchak's eyes.
At that time, Yitzchak called out to Esav, "My son" to which Esav replied, "Here I am."
According to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korchah, as a person approaches the age at which their parents died, five years before and five years after that age they should become worried.
Sarah, Yitzchak's mother died at the age of 127 and at this time Yitzchak was 123 years old, so he started to become concerned and thus told Esav that he did not know when he would die - would it be at the age his mother died? Or at the age that his father died?
Therefore, Yitzchak told Esav, he is asking him to sharpen his sword and bow and go out hunting for Yitzchak. Yitzchak told him to sharpen his sword so that Esav would slaughter the animal in accordance with Jewish law, and not be fed an neveila (an animal which was killed not in accordance with Jewish law). Yitzchak also specified that the animal Esav hunts must be ownerless and not stolen.
Esav is then to prepare the type of food that Yitzchak likes for him and bring it to him, Yitzchak's soul will then be able to bless Esav before Yitzchak dies.
Rivka overheard all of this, and Esav went out to hunt. If he would be unable to find ownerless game, Esav had in mind that he would bring meat from stolen animals.
Rivka told her son Yaakov what she overheard, about Yitzhak telling Esav to go out hunting and that he will then bless him with G-d's consent. She commands Yaakov to take two choice kids* from the flock and says that she will prepare food from them that Yitzchak likes** and then Yaakov is to bring these to his father Yitzchak to eat so that Yitzchak will bless him before he dies.
*Side note: Rashi clarifies that these were not stolen, but rather were considered Rivka's, as Yitzchak had stipulated in the marriage contract he had written for her that she may take two kids each day. Only one of these kids was used for Yitzchak's meal here. The other was sacrificed as a Paschal offering.
**Side note: According to Rashi, the taste of kid is like the taste of deer.
Yaakov protests that Esav is hairy, while he, Yaakov is not, and if Yitzchak touches him, he will view him as a deceiver and thus bring upon himself a curse rather than a blessing.
Rivka reassures him that his curse would be on her, and he need only listen to her and get the kids. So he did as his mother told him and brought the kids to Rivka and Rivka made good tasting food the way Yitzchak liked it. Rivka then dressed up Yaakov in Esav's clean* clothing.
*Side note: Alternatively, instead of being understood as being "clean" clothing, these were garments that Esav had coveted from Nimrod.
Rashi explains that the reason Rivka had access to Esav's clothing in spite of Esav having many wives, is because Esav was aware of his wive's actions and was suspicious of them.
Rivka put the hides onto Yaakov's hands and neck and gave Yaakov the food she had prepared.
Yaakov approached his father and said "My father!" Yitzchak replied, "Here I am. Who are you my son?"
Yaakov replied "I am Esav your firstborn". Rashi points out that Yaakov technically didn't lie here, in that he was saying "I am the one bringing you your food" and that "Esav (is) your firstborn".
Yaakov continued, saying that he had done what Yitzchak had asked him to do. Rashi comments that Yaakov was alluding here to having done many things that his father had asked him to do.
Yaakov tells his father to please rise and come sit at the table to eat his game so that Yitzchak's soul will bless him.
Yitzchak asks Yaakov how he was able to obtain the game so quickly, and Yaakov replies that G-d, Yaakov's G-d, had prepared it for him.
At the mention of G-d, Yitzchak grew suspicious, as Esav didn't usually mention G-d so frequently. So he tells Yaakov to come closer so that he may feel him and see whether or not he is really his son Esav or not.
So Yaakov gets closer to Yitzchak, and Yitzchak declares that "The voice is the voice of Yaakov*, but the hands are the hands of Esav."
*Side note: Alluding to how Yaakov politely asked his father to "please rise", while Esav had a harsher way of speaking, saying things more like "Let my father arise!"
Yitzchak did not recognize Yaakov, since Yaakov's hands were hairy like Esav's and Yitzchak blessed Yaakov.
Yitzchak then asked him, "Are you really my son Esav?" To which Yaakov replied "I am". Rashi points out that Yaakov was careful not to say "I am Esav" but rather just "I am".
Yitzchak asked Yaakov to serve the food to him so that his soul would bless him. So Yaakov served him the food and Yitzchak ate. Yaakov brought Yitzchak wine, and he drank.
Yitzchak asked Yaakov to come closer and kiss him. Yaakov did so, and upon coming closer, Yaakov smelled Yitzchak's clothing and exclaimed that he smelled a field which G-d has blessed. Rashi explains that while washed skin goats (which is what his clothing was made out of) do not smell pleasant, the smell of the Garden of Eden entered into him and G-d made these clothes smell nice. The sages referred to this field which it smelled like as a field of apples.
