“And Esau said: I have much [rav].” This implies muchbut not “everything.” While Jacob said for God has been gracious to me and I have everything [kol]. This is because the wicked, even if they have all the silver and gold in the world, nevertheless it appears to them that they are still lacking, and they have much but not all their needs. Therefore Esau said I have much but not “everything” because they are still lacking — one who has one hundred desires two hundred. The righteous are the opposite of this, for even if they have little in their possession, they are content with it and happy with their portion, and it appears as if they have everything. As it is written, Also when God gave a person wealth and possessions and enabled them to enjoy them (Ecclesiastes 5:18) — this is God’s gift. And afterward it states, When God will give any man wealth and possessions, and will enable him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work — this is a gift of God. And it is difficult to understand why it first mentions that God gave in the past tense, and afterward says that God will give which implies the future.

Rather, it is because the first verse speaks of a righteous person, who does not discriminate between much and little, for even with the small amount in his possession, it appears to him as if God has already given him everything. Such a person has control over his wealth to do with it as he wishes, and God has given him authority, etc. However, the second verse speaks of an evil person, for whom the entire world is never enough to satisfy him, as he is always seeking that God should give him more wealth and possessions in the future. He also seeks illusory honor that comes through abundant wealth. This is unlike the good person before God who escapes and flees from honor — therefore honor is not mentioned in the first case, but is mentioned later regarding those who chase after abundant wealth. Even though in truth he lacks nothing that his soul desires and has enough for his needs, he nevertheless constantly craves that God should give him more. This person certainly will not be given authority by God to eat from it, because his money controls him in whatever direction it wishes to pull him. He has no control over his wealth and is stingy with what is his, and he has a minister appointed over it who will not allow him to touch his money to take from it and spend it on charity or his needs. Therefore it says regarding Esau I have much, while regarding Jacob I have everything. And he [Jacob] used the language of has granted me graciously because the righteous never attribute [their success] to their good deeds, and consider everything given to them as God’s constant kindness, giving to them as an act of grace. But the wicked, for the most part, consider themselves righteous and think that everything is given to them as an obligation.

And in Midrash Tanchuma (Leviticus 10:7), Rabbi Yitzchak said: The wicked have no goodness in this world, as it is said, And there will be no good for the wicked (Ecclesiastes 8:13). They challenged this: But it is written when the king’s heart was good [ketov] with wine! He replied to them: It does not say “good” [tov] but rather like good [ketov] — appearing good but not truly good. However, regarding Israel it is written (1 Kings 8:66), And they went to their tents joyful and good of heart for all the goodness. This aligns with our point that the wicked, despite all the great goodness they receive, it appears to them as good but is not truly good, as if they are still lacking. But regarding the righteous it is written for all the goodness, because they always feel that they have everything. Therefore Jacob said because God has been gracious to me and because I have everything. Some say that here Esau acknowledged Jacob’s blessings saying I have plenty [rav] — meaning “I acknowledge that you are my master [rav] and I am the servant, and if so, what can you give me? For whatever a servant acquires belongs to his master.”

“Like seeing the face of God” — Just as one who sees the face of God three times a year, as it is written and they shall not appear before Me empty-handed (Exodus 23:15), as one must bring sight offerings, similarly I do not wish to see your face empty-handed, therefore I request that you accept my gift. For I acknowledge that the blessings are not truly mine, as you are master over your brothers, and every ruler and official is called “elohim” [god/judge], as it is written See, I have made you as a god to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:1). Therefore, he compared seeing his face to seeing the face of God. And therefore, please take my blessing that was brought to you — he wasn’t referring to the gift when he said this, but rather to the blessings that his father had blessed him with. [He was saying] “Please take it for yourself because it is yours, and it was brought to you, for when my father blessed me, his intention was actually about you.” And if you would ask, “If the blessings aren’t mine, then from where did I get all this wealth?” To this he answered, For God has been gracious to me — meaning that He gave it to me as an act of grace, like one who shows favor to the poor, not as an obligation stemming from the blessings. And behold, the Eternal One of Israel does not lie — even though openly he said I have seen your face as one sees the face of God nevertheless in his heart the intention was: “Just as I was terrified at night when I saw the face of God [your angel], so too am I terrified seeing your face.”

“And Jacob arrived safely [shalem].” Our Rabbis taught (Bereishit Rabbah 79:5) that he was complete [shalem] in his body, in his wealth, and in his Torah knowledge. There is a hint to this matter in the word shalem, which is an acronym for She’er [flesh], Limud [learning], Mazon [sustenance/wealth]. For “she’er” refers to his body, because when Jacob remained alone for his jug, he departed from a state of completeness, as if he was lacking in his wealth — for one who is overly concerned with money always appears to have an insufficient amount. But afterward, when he said I have everything, he rectified this matter and acknowledged that he was complete and not lacking, having everything — this refers to being complete in his wealth. And [he was] complete in his Torah knowledge, because when it says Jacob’s hip socket was dislocated, it hinted that he had no “hand and name” [authority/mastery] in the secrets of the Torah, as explained above. Through his rectification when saying I have everything, he became complete also in his Torah knowledge, for these matters are interdependent, as explained above in the verse Jacob remained alone. And [he was] complete in his body, [recovered] from the injury to his hip, for when he arrived at the city of Shechem, he was healed.

And he bought the parcel of land. Since he wanted to build an altar there, he did not want to offer sacrifices to God for free, similar to what David did at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:24). The verse tells us that he bought it for 100 kesitah, corresponding to the altar in the eternal Temple which was 100 cubits high, in order to atone for all sin that stems from the sin of Adam, who was created [spanning] from one end of the heavens to the other, but was diminished in his sin and reduced to 100 cubits. Therefore, the Temple was 100 cubits high, for it was from there that man was formed, from the place about which it is said An altar of earth you shall make for Me (Exodus 20:21). This is because the earth was also a cause of the sin, as explained above in Parshat Bereishit regarding the verse And the earth brought forth… fruit tree (Genesis 1:12). Therefore, the verse tells us that he bought this place for an altar for 100 kesitah.

Regarding what is written “And he called it El Elohe Israel” — Our Rabbis said (Megillah 18) that the Holy One, Blessed be He, called Jacob “El” [God]. The reason for this is because Jacob said and all that You give me, I will surely tithe to You. Therefore, the Holy One, Blessed be He, also gave him a tithe from the 310 worlds that are stored away for each righteous person in the World to Come. He gave him their tithe in this world, which amounts to 31, therefore He called him “El” [which has the numerical value of 31]. Furthermore, daughters take a tenth of the assets, and in this world we are compared to females because it is all suffering, but in the World to Come they will be like males who do not give birth, and then they will inherit all 310 worlds. For this reason, this world is written with the letter “hei” corresponding to the “hei” in the word “ishah” [woman], and the World to Come is written with a “yud” corresponding to the “yud” in the word “ish” [man], and this is easy to understand.