ויהי כי זקן יצחק, It came about when Isaac was old, etc. The reason that the Torah prefaces the paragraph by reporting that Isaac's eyesight failed him was to explain that Jacob took the blessings at a time when he was not afraid that his father would recognise him. The reason the paragraph is introduced with the word ויהי, which always introduces a painful episode, is to remind us that the subterfuge Jacob had to employ had many fateful consequences for the history of the Jewish people.

את עשו, Esau. The reason the Torah does not say ויקרא אל עשו, that Isaac called out to Esau, is that the latter was not present. Isaac merely called out Esau's name.

בנו הגדול, his older son. The Torah may have given as the reason that Isaac called first on Esau the fact that he was the firstborn; this would presuppose that Isaac did not know about the sale of the birthright. Alternatively, Isaac may have ignored the fact of the sale of the birthright and have based himself on Esau's being the elder, biologically speaking. The reason that Isaac wanted to give the wicked Esau a blessing was that he hoped to effect a change in Esau's character on account of the blessings he would bestow on him. In view of the statement in Bereshit Rabbah 80,1 that Dinah's rape was a punishment for Jacob who had hidden her from Esau's view at the moment of reconciliation, thus preventing Esau from marrying her, we may assume that had Rebeccah and Jacob not interfered with Isaac's intention Esau might indeed have become a penitent as a result of receiving such a blessing.

ורבקה שומעת, and Rebeccah was listening, etc. The Torah tells us that Rebeccah was a prophetess who always listened to Isaac's words even though she did not speak up in his presence. The. Torah alludes to this by saying ורבקב שומעת בדבר יצחק, "Rebeccah was listening whenever Isaac spoke." Normally we would have expected the Torah to write: ותשמע רבקה, "Rebeccah happened to overhear." The present tense employed here by the Torah here is most unusual. Maybe Isaac spoke to Esau in a whisper and that is why he believed that Jacob was really Esau; Isaac thought that Jacob could not have have heard of Isaac's instructions to Esau. Although Isaac's eyesight had begun to fail him, he called Esau to help him with something confidentially. Both Isaac's call and Esau's response, "I am ready" may be an allusion to the conspirational nature of the conversation.

ורבקה אמרה אל יעקב, And Rebeccah said to Jacob, etc. The reason that the Torah introduces the verse with the conjunctive letter ו is to tell us that Rebeccah agreed with the Holy Spirit which had conveyed this conversation between Isaac and Esau to her.

לאמר, הנה שמעתי. to say, "here I have heard," etc. She wanted to make sure that Jacob realised that she had only just become aware of what had transpired between Isaac and Esau and that she could not be accused of having allowed too much time to elapse to take countermeasures. Jacob had enough time to carry out his mother's instructions.

אחיך לאמר, "your brother, saying." She did not mean that Esau was a true brother of Jacob in character; she used the word "your brother" to indicate that just as Isaac plotted with Esau, she now did the same thing with Jacob.

She also used the word לאמר to protect herself since she had not quoted Isaac's words to Jacob verbatim. She meant that she had told Jacob the gist of Isaac's words to Esau.

ועתה בני שמע בקולי, "and now my son, listen to me and obey my instructions!" "hasten to bring me two young kids at once."

שמע בקולי. "listen to my voice!" Although there is some deception involved in what I will instruct you, you still have to obey me apart from your duty to honour father and mother which is a positive commandment. Rebeccah stressed the fact that she was a prophetess and the Torah commands us to obey the prophets' instructions (Deut. 18,15). We have already explained (in connection with Genesis 16,5) that when a prophet asks you to disobey one of G'd's laws temporarily he is to be obeyed.

עלי קללתך בני, "may your curse be on me my son!" The reason that she added the word "my son," although she had been talking to him all the time was that she referred only to what Jacob had said last. We have a rule in Makkot 11 that the curse of a Torah scholar, even if uttered only conditionally, is effective. Had Rebeccah not added the word "my son," we would have thought that she referred to Jacob's being cursed by Isaac when he found out he had been tricked.

In order to understand Rebeccah's special love for Jacob the following considerations may help. Rebeccah generally was looked upon askance because she had given birth to the wicked Esau. We find in nature that parts of a whole display an affinity for other parts of the same whole. Rebeccah testified that this rule did not apply in her case, that her deeds proved that she had no affinity for Esau. Her womb was indeed blessed, and the good part (Jacob) represented that which was normal, hence her love for Jacob. The Torah teaches us this by repeatedly describing Jacob as Rebeccah's son even in instances where these additional words are otherwise quite superfluous (compare verses 6,8,11,13,15,17,42). All of this is to underline that Jacob's righteousness was a direct outgrowth of his righteous mother. The fact that she had given birth also to an Esau was not a reflection on his mother's personality.

Kabbalists, of course, are aware that there are mystical dimensions which account for the emergence of Esau as a potentially wicked person, whereas it was Rebeccah's union with Isaac which was the cause of any pollutant disturbing her holiness. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai is quoted in the Zohar (Sullam edition Chayey Sarah 251) as explaining that the reason the Torah describes Isaac as loving his wife Rebeccah, something that is natural and does not require special mention, is that the love of the male for the female is rooted in the "left" side of the emanations. in Isaac's case it was the fire of the גבורה, his predominant characteristic which stems from the "left side" of the emanations.. If the holiness of the two was tainted in any way this was due more to Isaac than to Rebeccah. Jacob's physical perfection is compared to that of Adam's before the sin, as we know from Baba Metzia 84. He did not therefore inherit any pollutant from his mother. Students of the Kabbalah will understand all this. [I have elaborated on the author's text to make it more intelligible for the non-kabbalist. Ed.] When we wrote earlier (25,20) that the reason that Esau was wicked was because Rebeccah had a wicked brother called Laban, this did not influence Rebeccah's character.

ותלבש את יעקב בנה הקטן, she dressed Jacob her younger son. This means she adapted these clothes to fit her smaller son though they were tailored to fit the measurements of her bigger son Esau.

אנכי עשו בכרך. "I am Esau your firstborn." Jacob meant that seeing he had purchased the birthright from Esau, he was now the legal Esau. He added: עשיתי כאשר דברת אלי, "I have done in accordance with what you have said to me," meaning that the reason you told Esau to hunt game, etc., was because you assumed that he was your firstborn.

ולא הכירו כי היו ידיו כידי עשו, he did not recognise him since his hands were like those of Esau. Isaac rejected the doubt created by Jacob's voice since a person can change his voice or the listener may mistake a voice for that of someone else, whereas he cannot change the hairs on his hands, a very distinctive mark of identification.

ויברכהו, he blessed him. Before Isaac touched Jacob and established that he was Esau nothing had contradicted his impression that it was Jacob's voice he heard and that therefore he was faced by a swindler. Isaac had begun to think along the lines Jacob had been afraid of, i.e. that the swindler deserved to be cursed. Even though Isaac had not yet thought that far, he did begin to hate the person who he thought was trying to swindle him. The Talmud reports in Baba Metzia 84 that when the righteous are looking at someone with displeasure this brings a curse in its wake. [Rabbi Yochanan's displeaure at Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish's remarks resulted in the latter dying. Ed.] The Torah reports Isaac as blessing Jacob as a result of feeling his hands to teach us that he reversed his erstwhile intentions.

ויאמר אתה זה בני עשו He said: "you are indeed my son Esau" Isaac justified his bestowing the blessing. This verse is not a question. Jacob's reaction was a confirmation that Isaac was correct, of course.

There is another meaning to the words אתה זה. Inasmuch as Isaac had thought up to that moment that the voice indicated that Jacob stood before him, he now pointed at the body of the person before him saying: "you are Esau" seeing the hands had convinced him. When he articulated the blessings he concentrated on the person opposite him without regard to that person's name. This actually made Jacob the true recipient of the blessings, even though Isaac had made mention of Esau. At the time of the actual blessing Isaac concentrated exclusively on the person in front of him.

ויברכהו ויאמר ראה He blessed him saying: "re-ey." This word does not mean "see!" as usual, but is connected to the word ראוי, suitable, worthy. Isaac meant that it was fitting that the fragrance of his son should reflect the fragrance of the fields which themselves enjoyed G'd's blessings.

ויתן לך אלוקים מטל השמים, "May the Lord give you of the dew of the heavens, etc." The resason this verse commences with the conjunctive letter ו is because it continues the theme begun in verse 27, i.e. ויברכהו, "He blessed him." Those blessings had not been detailed because the Torah merely told us that just as the key to blessings had first been entrusted to Abraham and subsequently by Abraham to Isaac, Isaac now handed this key to Jacob. (based on Bereshit Rabbah 39,11). Accordingly the word ויברכהו means that Isaac transferred this key to blessings to Jacob.

It is also possible that Isaac divided the blessings into both spiritual and material ones. The spiritual blessings are referred to by the word ויברכהו, whereas the material blessings are introduced by verse 28. The letter ו then introduces the material blessings as something additional to the spiritual blessings Isaac had already bestowed upon Jacob.

Aternately, the mention of the word האלוקים, the attribute of Justice, is to show that whereas up to then Isaac had invoked only the attribute of Mercy, he now also invoked the attribute of Justice, asking it to agree to the blessing he bestowed on his son.

יעבדוך עמים וגו׳. "Nations will serve you, etc." This might mean that the king would not impose on the people the taxes due him. We find that even when the second Jewish commonwealth was still a satellite of the Persians, their leaders, i.e. their Torah scholars were exempt from taxes as we know from Ezra, 7,24. When verse 40 continues "and you will serve your brother," this refers to a descendant of Esau when the latter had become king.

הוה גביר לאחיך. "Be your brother's superior;" This refers to Esau personally, i.e. that Esau himself will never become Jacob's servant, as opposed to some of his descendants to whom the words וישתחוו לך בני אמך, "your mother's sons will bow down to you" will apply.

Another meaning contained in the blessing may be that as long as Jacob will exercise his dominion over Esau by serving the Lord in holiness, the blessing would remain in effect; were he not to do so, one brother could never become a servant to another brother. Should Jacob (or his descendants) fail to serve the Lord, Esau would assume dominion over him. This is why we find that even a relatively mild dereliction of duty towards G'd by the kingdom of Yehudah led to Edom recovering politically (Kings II 8,22).

אררך ארור ומברכיך ברוך. "Those who curse you will be cursed and those who bless you will be blessed." Those who plan to curse you in the future will already be cursed now so as to make their curse ineffective, whereas those who plan to bless you will already be blessed now so as to make their blessing effective.

The reason the Torah employs the plural when referring to those who will bless, whereas the word "will be blessed" is in the singular, (and similarly when referring to the cursers and the cursed) is to tell us that not all those who curse will be cursed, such as in the case of Achiyah Hashiloni and people like him (Kings I 11,29). The same applies in reverse to people such as Bileam who blessed the Jewish people. He was not blessed as a result because his intention was not honourable.

The reason the Torah adds the conjunctive letter ו before the word ומברכיך is to allude to the type of person who curses and is yet within the category of people deserving blessings since he uses the wording of a curse in order to bestow a blessing. We find an example of this in Moed Katan 9 where the Rabbis couched their blessing for Rabbi Eleazar, son of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, in words which sounded like a curse. We are therefore able to read the verse as if the three words ארריך ארור ומברכיך belonged together.

ויהי כאשר כלה, As soon as he had finished, etc. The reason for the apparently superfluous word ויהי which always introduces something of a painful nature, is that the Torah testifies that Isaac completed his blessing prematurely; instead of giving Jacob the entire blessing he was capable of bestowing as he did for Esau afterwards, he did not do so now. Had Isaac truly completed giving Jacob all the blessings he was capable of bestowing, Esau would have gone out empty-handed.

ויהי אך יצא יצא יעקב, Jacob had barely left his father's presence, etc. The extra words: ויהי, אך, יצא are all meant to draw our attention to the fact that Jacob would not have left yet except that he noticed that Esau was arriving (as pointed out at the end of the verse). This caused Jacob to make a hasty exit. The Torah hints at the embarassment Jacob felt at leaving the presence of his father as if he were a thief beating a hasty retreat. Our sages in Midrash Rabbah pursue a different approach.

ויחרד יצחק. Isaac trembled. Isaac experienced contradictory feelings; he trembled because he had been tricked. At the same time he was aware that he had blessed Jacob by saying that anyone cursing him should himself be cursed. When he understood that the person upon whom he had bestowed the blessing was his son Jacob he blessed him because he realised that the fragrance that emanated from Jacob's clothing indicated his moral superiority over Esau. This prompted Isaac to confirm his blessing. He may also have been afraid to bring a curse upon himself if he were to revoke the blessing.

ויאמר הכי קרא שמו יעקב, He said: "Was he not named Jacob (the crooked one)?" Esau was amazed having believed that Jacob's name referred to only a single act of subterfuge whereas he now found himself fooled by Jacob for a second time. Had Jacob's name been עקבות or something similar, Esau would not have been so surprised.

Esau may also have meant that the name יעקב alluded to frequent use of subterfuge. So far he considered himself as having become Jacob's victim twice.

ויען יצחק, Isaac replied. Actually Isaac still had the chance to bless Esau. Having realised in the meantime that Esau deserved a curse rather than a blessing, that he was in fact an enemy of his brother Jacob, Isaac was afraid to bless Esau because he would thereby neutralise the blessing to Jacob that those who curse him would themselves be cursed. The Torah therefore mentions the expression ויען יצחק twice to tell us that he did not tell Esau the true reason why he could not bless him outright.

ויען יצחק אביו. Isaac his father replied. The words "his father" explain why Isaac decided to give Esau a blessing after all. In the final analysis his fatherly feelings were stirred by Esau's outburst.

ואת אחיך…והיה כאשר תריד ופרקת עלו. "And your brother…but when you will grieve, you will be able to shake off his yoke." There are many explanations on this verse. It is possible to say that all the blessings of Esau are applicable only as long as Esau is content to serve his brother but not when Esau would try and shake off the yoke of serving his brother. The word תריד may also be derived from the root רדה. It would then mean that once Esau was persecuted and subjugated by Jacob he would begin to shake off Jacob's yoke; at a still later stage the prophecy of "the house of Jacob becoming fire and the house of Esau turning to straw" would be fulfilled (compare Ovadiah 1,18). The reason that the word והיה which signifies a happy occurrence is used may lend support to this interpretation. Esau's destruction would cause joy both in heaven and on earth.

Alternately, the meaning could be that even when Esau dominates the rest of the world, his dominion will not extend over Jacob (the Jewish people) except inasmuch as he will not be dominated by Jacob. He himself will not dominate Jacob. There would be a stand-off between Israel and Edom.

יקרבו ימי אבל אבי, "the days of mourning for my father are not far off." Esau referred to the time after his father's funeral when the days of mourning commence. He was afraid to murder Jacob before his father would be buried since the dead are reputed to be aware of what goes on as long as the grave or coffin has not been sealed (Shabbat 152).

עשו בנו הגדול, her elder son Esau. The reason she used the word הגדול "the bigger one," instead of הבכיר, "the older one", was because she was describing Esau's relative prowess compared to the physically smaller Jacob.

מתנחם לך, consoles himself concerning you. The thought of killing you acts as consolation for him regarding what you have done to him. By killing you he means to restore to himself both the birthright and the blessing.

ועתה בני, "and now my son, etc." This has to be understood in the same vein as the statement by our sages that one should be a penitent a day before one's death (Avot 2,10). Rebeccah reminded Jacob that no one is assured of his life for even a single day. As a result one must always be penitent. This is why she chose the expression "now." קום ברח, "arise and flee!" She urged Jacob to flee at once although Esau had indicated he would not murder Jacob until after his father's death. Rebeccah was afraid that Isaac might die at any time, thus enabling Esau to try and carry out his evil intention.

ברח לך אל לבן. "Flee to Laban." Laban would stand up against Esau if the latter were to pursue Jacob in order to kill him.

עד אשר תשוב חמת אחיך. "until such time as your brother's anger subsides." Anger has a habit of cooling with the passage of time. The reason that Rebeccah continued to belabour the same point in verse 45 was that she knew that the mere passage of time would not be enough to bring about the desired cooling off of Esau's anger. Until such time as Esau would not become furious when others mentioned what had happened there was no knowing if it would be safe for Jacob to return home.

ושלחתי ולקחתיך, "I will send and fetch you." She did not want Jacob to risk returning under any circumstances until she would send for him.

גם שניכם יום אחד. "both of you on the same day." Rebeccah said to Jacob: "even assuming that Esau would die in an act of self defense by you or an act of revenge by a relative of yours this would not give me any satisfaction at all." Rebeccah's concern was only for the life of Jacob; she did not care about Esau at all.

קצתי בחיי. "I am fed up with my life." She did not want to reveal the true reason for her state of mind because it is forbidden to tell tales. This is why she gave Isaac a different reason for wanting Jacob sent away. When she had revealed Esau's intention to Jacob this was not tale-bearing but was fulfilment of the commandment in the second half of the verse dealing with tale bearing, "do not stand idly by when the blood of your fellow man is being shed" (Leviticus 19,16).