The mystical dimension of tithes and the mystical dimension of blessings all lead us to the same source. This is all alluded to in the verse telling us that Isaac found מאה שערים, "one hundred gates." The number one hundred is important both allegorically and halachically: Menachot 43 states that everyone is duty bound to recite one hundred ברכות, benedictions, daily. This number is based on the blessings extended by G–d to Isaac here in our פרשה when he reaped one hundred times as much as expected. Rekanati writes about this as follows: Kabbalists have described the "higher" world as consisting of one hundred "gates." Each "gate" is to be perceived as a fountain of blessings. Isaac ינק, suckled, i.e. absorbed from each one of these "gates." When the Tabernacle had one hundred silver sockets (Exodus 35,27), they symbolized these one hundred sources of blessings. Every single אדן, socket, was a בית קבול, receptacle (for heavenly blessing). Thus far the Rekanati.

I plan to explain this matter in greater detail. The mystical dimension of מעשר is the number 10= ,י. There are three aspects to this 1 .י) the letter י itself. 2) The קוצו של י, the point at the top of the letter Yud, this point itself being equivalent to a "small" Yud (i.e. 10). 3). The מלוי של י, the extra letters when you spell the letter as a word, i.e. י-ו-ד. The last two letters (6+4) when combined add up to 10. The עולם האצילות, abstract spiritual world, comprises ten emanations. The number of these emanations is ten because of the functionally highest one, חכמה, which is based on the ineffable, four-lettered name of G–d, י-ה-ו-ה. All this is explained in Pardes Rimonim. Although חכמה is actually the ninth of the emanations [in an ascending order from the lowest, מלכות, Ed.], the addition of an emanation called דעת [which in the diagram of the emanations would appear as immediately below and between the emanations חכמה and בינה Ed.], would complete the number ten.

As far as the emanation כתר is concerned, (usually perceived as the highest and tenth), this has to be perceived as the "crown" of the structure; the קוצו של י would symbolise that כתר, as explained by the Kabbalists. They view this "point" of the letter Yud as the closest we can come to portray the invisible world of the ten emanations, whereas they view the Yud when spelled fully, as a word as symbolic of our visible world, i.e the emanations after they have become functional in our world. Each emanation is perceived as embodying all three aspects of the letter י. The attribute א-ד-נ-י which is the mystical dimension of the "celestial" ארץ, [parallel to the ארץ of our world, Ed.] "receives" these emanations. [When you spell א-ד-נ-י in words i.e. אלף-דלת-נון-יוד, the numerical value is 671 or the same as the Targum of the word שער, i.e 1+ תרע for the word itself. Ed.] When you consider that תרומת מעשר is actually מעשר מן המעשר, one tenth of a tenth, and that the word מעשר means something like מ-שער "from the gate," you have an inkling of the סוד, mystery, of how the blessings are related to מאה שערים.

[I have taken it upon myself to rephrase and condense what the author has to say on this subject. Any reader who will pursue this in the original will appreciate why I felt the need to do so. I am indebted to Rabbi Shemuel Toledano and his book הקדמות ושערים לחכמת הקבלה for his explanation of the relationship of א-ד-נ-י to שער. Ed.]

The author, Rabbi Horowitz, mentions a book called שערי אורה, from which he quotes the following passage about the relationship of the sockets in the Tabernacle to the source of heavenly blessings and the need to pronounce one hundred benedictions daily, as well as the negative fallout when one fails to do so. This is what he writes: "These one hundred sockets of the beams in the Tabernacle are symbolic of the one hundred blessings which they are filled with from the great בריכה, reservoir [here undoubtedly a double entendre connected with source of ברכה, blessing, Ed]. This בריכה is called א-ד-נ-י [i.e. the attribute called א-ד-נ-י is that source Ed.]. Hence a person must utter one hundred benedictions daily in order to attract to himself all these one hundred different blessings. Should but a single one of these blessings be missing this would result in him injuring himself and becoming blemished. This mystical dimension is called , 1-10-100= ,אי"ק, בכ"ר, or 2-20-200. It is the relationship between כהן-לוי-ישראל, which in turn symbolizes the relationship between נפש-רוח-נשמה.

When we appreciate this relationship, we understand that when David said in Psalms 104,1: ברכי נפשי את ה', "Bless the Lord, O my soul," he indicated that ברכה is connected to נפש. This נפש needs to pronounce one hundred benedictions, which correspond to the level of ישראל. Of these hundred, ten i.e. מעשר, penetrate up to the level of רוח, which corresponds to the levels of the Levites. Of these remaining ten per cent, one, i.e. 1% of the original total penetrates to the level of נשמה, corresponding to the level כהן. As a result, if the ordinary soul, נפש, does not pronounce the one hundred daily benedictions every day, then the higher soul נשמה, will not benefit from even a single blessing, seeing that the next lower level, רוח, did not receive its share of blessings which it should have received as a result of the Israelites pronouncing the one hundred blessings. The Priests and Levites are viewed as recipients of blessings bestowed by the Israelites. This is the deeper meaning of the whole legislation of the respective tithes for the Priests and Levites. Israel and the Levites respectively fulfilling their obligations will trigger G–d's blessings to filter down to the nation from Heaven. The meaning of אי"ק, בכ"ר is now clear. When there is no ק i.e. 100, there cannot be a י i.e. 10; when there is no י i.e. 10, there cannot be an א i.e. 1. The one hundred benedictions are like the one hundred silver sockets in the Tabernacle which serve as receptacles for G–d's bounty. Thus far the Shaarey Orah.

I shall now proceed to explain the subject of blessing and Priest, Levite and Israelite respectively. It is accepted that the attributes represented by כהן, לוי, ישראל respectively, are the attributes חסד, גבורה, תפארת. These in turn are the mystical dimensions of our patriarchs. Abraham symbolizes חסד; Isaac symbolizes גבורה; Jacob symbolizes אמת, which we have repeatedly explained as corresponding to תפארת. Jacob is described as איש תם, a man of perfection, התם ומתמם, "someone who is perfect and kind to the blameless," a יושב אהלים, "dweller of tents," i.e. the median between the tent of Abraham and the tent of Isaac, embodying within himself the respective outstanding characteristics of both his father and grandfather. I have already explained at length in פרשת חיי שרה how all the patriarchs served as a force furthering G–d's objective to make this world perfect. True, the world had been created by the attribute of חסד, as we know from עולם חסד יבנה, in Psalms 89,3. It had always been G–d's intention to eventually base the world on the attribute of דין, Justice, so that man could experience a system of לתת לאיש כדרכיו וכפרי מעלליו, "to repay each man in accordance with his ways and with the fruit of his deeds" (Jeremiah 32,19). Isaac represented this latter ideal, and he was the first human being to whom G–d could successfully apply that yardstick. Since the world as a whole could not measure up to such a demanding standard, Jacob combined within his person a blend of both attributes to serve as a role model for future generations of mankind. There is a slight tilt towards the attribute of חסד, Justice and Mercy are not evenly balanced.

We therefore see that the patriarchs by their very lifestyles reveal the mystical aspects of Creation through their lifestyles as reported in the Torah. Bereshit Rabbah 1,10, commenting on why the Torah commences with the letter ב instead of the letter א, mentions several reasons. The Torah wishes to indicate that there are two worlds, the עולם הזה, and the עולם הבא. The letter ב symbolises ברכה, blessing. The letter א would have been inappropriate, because it is the first letter of the word ארור, cursed. Had the Torah started with א, many would have thought that this was proof that the whole enterprise of Creation was doomed to failure, i.e. cursed. As a result of such considerations, G–d decided to create the universe by using the letter ב first, hoping that the universe would endure. We see that both the Creation and (the lives of) the patriarchs express the concept of ברכה, blessing. It is fitting then that the source of, or better key to, blessings should have been placed in the hands of the patriarchs. G–d first told Abraham about this in Genesis 12,2 when He literally commanded him to become a source of blessing by telling him that he had become the repository of blessings. Isaac inherited this gift from his father as we see from Genesis 25,11 where G–d passed on Abraham's blessing to Isaac after Abraham's death. The competition between Esau and Jacob was about which of the two would be the heir to this power to bless with which G–d had invested Abraham and subsequently Isaac. Jacob became the heir to this power to bless, and he in turn bequeathed it to his children. Abraham did not personally bequeath these blessings to his son Isaac but waited for G–d Himself to do so. The reason for this will be explained when we deal with the blessing that Isaac bestowed on Jacob. We will also quote the comments of Bereshit Rabbah on that subject.

At any rate, the patriarchs were those who helped perfect the world which had been created by G–d, invoking ברכה, blessing, which in turn is the mystical dimension of כהן, לוי, ישראל, or מעשר, תרומה, and תרומת מעשר.

We have already explained that the mystical dimension of מעשר is expressed by the three dimensions of the letter י, which expanded into three gifts to the Jewish people, i.e. תורה, ארץ ישראל and עולם הבא. The concept Torah can be summed up by the letter י, i.e. the Ten Commandments which contain allusions to all the 613 commandments of the Torah. The total number of letters in the Ten Commandments is 613. The Ten Commandments are sacred; the tenth of the commandments (when counting from the last one backwards) is the statement: אנכי ה' אלוקיך. Being the tenth, it is even more sacred than the others seeing that it is the ראש, the head. It embraces all the others seeing it stipulates the existence of G–d and His relationship to us. The second gift is ארץ ישראל; the Mishnah Keilim 1,6 describes ten successive stages of sanctity of holy areas, explaining that ארץ ישראל as such is at the bottom of the list of these holy areas. The next higher degree of sanctity is found in walled cities (dating back to the time Joshua conquered the land) within ארץ ישראל, followed by sites within the city wall of Jerusalem, followed by the Temple Mount and so forth, until the Holy of Holies within the Sanctuary, the Holy Temple. The third gift to the Jewish people is the gift of עולם הבא, the world to come, which we know was created with the letter י -as distinct from the present world- which was created with the letter ה. The ארץ ישראל in our world is perceived as "opposite" a similar area in the "higher" world referred to by Isaiah 60,21: ועמך כולם צדיקים, לעולם יירשו ארץ, "Your people (Israel) all are righteous; they will inherit an eternal land." This "eternal" land is the mystical dimension of the ten directives with which G–d created the universe. We know that one single directive was the nucleus of all the other directives, just as the first of the Ten Commandments is the nucleus of all the other commandments. It can therefore be described as קדש קדשים, the holiest of the holy.

All these three gifts are directly related to the patriarchs. The gift of Torah commenced during the lifetime of Abraham, as we know from Sanhedrin 97, in which the 6000 years designated for the history of man in this world are divided into 2000 years of Tohu, followed by 2000 years of Torah. This latter period began when the Torah reports both Abraham and Sarah as having converted people to belief in monotheism in Genesis 12,5: ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן. The gift of ארץ ישראל began to be real when Isaac was forbidden to leave that country even during periods of famine, and G–d explained that this was because this land was given to him and his descendants (Genesis 26,2-3).

This explains the whole matter of Isaac digging up the wells which Abraham had dug and which the Philistines had stopped up again after Abraham had left the district. The whole episode is puzzling, as the Torah had previously reported Isaac as experiencing a supernatural amount of blessing (26,12). Why should this be followed by hostility on the part of his neighbors? Another difficulty is why the Torah supplies a reason for the names Isaac gave the wells only for the first and third well, whereas the Torah does not mention why the second well was named Sitnah, harassment (26,21). Another difficulty is the word עתה in 26,22. It would have sufficed for Isaac to name that well רחובות by saying כי הרחיב ה' לנו ופרינו בארץ.

The Torah, however, wishes to allude to the ארץ ישראל in the higher regions now that Isaac had been sanctified by permanent attachment to the ארץ ישראל on earth.

We deal here with an allusion to the three Temples that will be home to G–d on the soil of this land. Isaac had been an unblemished total offering on the site of the future altar in the Holy Temple. This is why the names of the wells allude to that event. Nachmanides explained it in these words: "The Torah elaborates on this matter of the wells, although, when reading the plain meaning of these verses, they do not appear to be particularly relevant, nor to confer much honor on Isaac. All we are told is that Isaac did the same in his time as his father Abraham had done at the time he had lived in the land of the Philistines. There is, however, a mystical dimension to all this. The Torah reveals here some historic events of the future. The words באר מים חיים in 26,19 refer to the Holy Temple which Isaac's descendants will erect. We know from Jeremiah 17,13 that G–d is described as מקור מים חיים, "the Fount of living waters." Isaac called the first well Essek, an allusion to the first Temple, over which the Gentile nations engaged us in many disputes. They attacked Jerusalem and the Temple repeatedly until eventually it was destroyed. The second well, called Sitnah a name reflecting even greater harassment than the first, refers to the second Temple. During that period that very name שטנה appears in the early years of the reign of Ahasverus. We find Ezra 4,6 describing that period: "They wrote Sitnah against the inhabitants of Yehudah and Jerusalem." This hostility against the Jewish state and the Temple continued throughout practically all the time that it stood. Eventually, our foes destroyed the Temple and we were consigned to a bitter exile. The third well, רחובות, is an allusion to the third Temple which will be built in the future, and which will not be subject to strife and hostility from our neighbors. At that time G–d will expand the borders of our country as He has promised in Deut. 19,8. Concerning this Temple it is written in Ezekiel 41,7: ורחבה ונסבה למעלה למעלה, "and a widening; it will keep winding and encompassing upwards." The last words in Genesis 26,22 will then be fulfilled, ופרינו בארץ, "we shall then be fruitful in the land." This means that all of the nations will serve G–d, as per Tzefaniah 3,9. Thus far Nachmanides on our verses.

The destruction of the second Temple is a result of the destruction of the first Temple: we are told in Yuma 21, that the second Temple lacked five major manifestations of the שכינה, and that this is the reason why in Chagai 1,8 וארצה ואכבד, "I shall look upon it and be glorified," the word ואכבד is spelled with the last letter ה – that should have been there – missing. Clearly, Israel had never recovered from the hatred of its neighbors, even when a second Temple was built under the patronage of the Persians. The new element of intensified harassment expressed by the word Sitnah did not last very long; during the entire period of the second Temple, however, the hatred of the kind expressed by the word התעקשו, i.e. the level of animosity experienced by Isaac when he dug the first well continued all the time. The Torah does not mention the reason for the name of the well called Sitnah, because it did not represent a new element in our relations with the Gentile nations. The reason the Torah adds the word עתה, is simply to alert us to the fact that the timing of the building of that third Temple is in our hands. This is similar to the answer given to the questioner in Sanhedrin 98 who wanted to know when the Messiah would come. He was told to look at Psalms 95,7 היום, אם בקולו תשמעו, "This very day, if only you heed His voice."

I shall now explain the meaning of the words: עד כי גדול מאד "until he was very great," in 26,13. Bereshit Rabbah 64,7 on that verse states that when people wanted to describe excessive wealth they used to describe it in terms of the silver and gold possessed by Avimelech. After Isaac had become rich, they described excessive wealth in terms of the dung of Isaac's mules. This seems a curious comparison. How can we assume that Avimelech's wealth did not even amount to the value of the dung of Isaac's mules? Another difficulty is the Midrash's comment on the words מצא את הימים, in Genesis 36,14. These yeymim are described by Bereshit Rabbah 82,15 as half-donkey and half-horse. Anah who crossbred horse and donkey to produce mules is severely criticized for interfering with G–d's plan of maintaining the purity of the species. How can we assume that Isaac a) kept or raised such animals, b) was the first one to crossbreed, seeing that the Torah reports this as something new much later and in Jacob's lifetime?

The scoffers of that generation maintained that Sarah had been impregnated by Avimelech and that Isaac was the issue. They claimed that, had Abraham been Isaac's father, it would have been impossible for Isaac to have fathered a son such as Esau who pursued married women to commit adultery with them under the noses of their husbands. Isaac's extraordinary success as well as the fact that he was sanctified on Mount Moriah and not allowed to leave the holy soil of ארץ ישראל, all served to show that he was indeed a true son of Abraham. Of Esau the Torah reports in Genesis 36 6: וילך עשו אל ארץ, "Esau went to a land." He had to leave ארץ ישראל because that land "vomits" people who behave in a grossly incestuous manner. Isaac was the model of refinement in every respect. The reason G–d blessed him in such an extraordinary fashion was to demonstrate the fact to one and all that sexually pure conduct unlocks all the bounty of the land of Israel to those who dwell in it.

How did G–d prove that point? Whereas in the days of Anah a mule had to be the product of crossbreeding, Isaac became the owner of mules which were not the result of crossbreeding but a heavenly gift. Even the scoffers who lived around him became aware of this. This is why Isaac became "great" in their eyes. They realised that if G–d performs such miracles with the livestock of a צדיק, how much greater would be the miracles He would perform with the צדיק himself! When the people said that the dung of Isaac's mules was worth more than the silver and gold of Avimelech, they meant that the fact that Isaac possessed mules which were not the result of crossbreeding proved more about his status as a holy man than the thousand silver pieces Avimelech had given to Sarah to demonstrate that her virtue had not been compromised while she was in Avimelech's palace (Genesis 20,16). Why does the Midrash quote the Philistines as also referring to Avimelech's gold? The Torah does not report Avimelech giving gold to either Sarah or Abraham! We need not understand the word כסף, silver, in the Torah as silver literally, but as an expression of the value of the gift in terms of silver coins. We now have demonstrated how the gift of the land of Israel is specifically connected with Isaac.

Now to the third gift עולם הבא, the World to Come, acquired only through one's having to suffer afflictions and deprivations. That world is identical with what our sages call the ארץ ישראל של מעלה, concerning which it is said in Jeremiah 17,12: כסא כבוד מרום מראשון מקדשנו, "O Throne of Glory exalted from old, our sacred shrine!" Jacob did not sire any spiritually inferior children and it is therefore his features that are reputedly engraved on the Throne of Glory. He was the immediate source of a whole nation of 600,000 holy souls who formed the mystical dimension of the holy Torah, for these souls are the spiritual dimension of Torah inasmuch as the Torah contains 600,000 letters. I have explained this in detail elsewhere. These souls in turn are "hewn" out of the Throne of Glory and form a cluster around it representing the perfect nation descended from Jacob. [That which happened historically in our world is reflected conceptually and spiritually in the "higher" world Ed] This is why Sanhedrin 90 teaches that every Israelite has a share in that עולם הבא.

The afflictions which are to be endured by the recipients of these three gifts of G–d are what are known as יסורים של אהבה, afflictions which demonstrate G–d's love for the person who undergoes them. Their purpose is to thoroughly refine such a person spiritually so that when the holy gift is received it will not reject the recipient [much as a transplanted physical organ may be rejected by the body that it has been implanted in. Ed.] This is why we are told in Shabbat 89 that in the future Israel will say concerning Isaac "he is our father!" This seems very strange at first glance, for Isaac personifies strictness, the מדת הדין. I have explained at length in my commentary on פרשת וירא that it was the very fact that Isaac could be judged by this standard that enabled G–d to apply the attribute of Mercy to people of lesser stature.

Our sages see allusions in the letters of the name יצחק: The letter י alludes to the ten tests Abraham had passed; the letter צ to Sarah having given birth to Isaac at the age of ninety. In the letter ח they see an allusion to Isaac's circumcision when eight days old, whereas in the letter ק they see a reference to the fact that his father Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born. If these allusions are to be taken seriously, why was Isaac not called קצח"י seeing that Abraham and Sarah had attained their one hundredth and ninetieth birthdays respectively before Isaac was circumcised? And furthermore, did not Abraham live for another thirty seven years before submitting to the tenth and final test the עקדה?

The very re-arrangement of the letters to become יצחק are a confirmation of what we have said, that Isaac's being able to be measured by the yardstick of strict justice enabled G–d to apply a more lenient yardstick to lesser individuals. The name יצחק, of course, is a reminder of joy and happiness. The other name which represents the root of מדת הדין is also the reason that an Esau could emerge from someone like Isaac. We have repeatedly explained that the סטרא אחרא, the "left" side of the diagram of emanations, contains the emanation גבורה, the very emanation in which Satan, Samael is rooted. The שרו של עשו, the spiritual representative of Esau in the Celestial Regions, is Samael, the perennial accuser of mankind. When the potential of Samael is converted into an actual, we have the evil urge, Satan or [in its most destructive guise] the angel of death.

The attribute of Justice is not to be confused with עקא, distress, rather it means that man is to be treated according to his just deserts, be it reward or punishment. The only reason it is a source of distress to be judged by is the fact that we are all unable to measure up to its yardstick. It is thus quite normal that both Jacob and Esau were offspring of Isaac. One of them was destined for oblivion, the other for eternal life. Both are alluded to in the name קצחי. The קץ, "end," part of the name alludes to Esau, the סטרא אחרא to which the Zohar has linked it when commenting on קץ כל בשר בא לפני, "I have decided to put an end to all flesh" (Genesis 6,13). Samael is also referred to as קץ הימים, the end of all days, seeing he puts an end to our "days." The same word is also used to describe חשך, darkness. We read in Job 28,3: קץ שם לחשך, ולכל תכלית הוא חוקר, "He (G–d) sets bounds to darkness, to every limit man probes." Jacob, on the other hand, represents life, i.e. חי as in חי רב פעלים איש, (Samuel II 28,20). The Talmud Taanit 5 makes a point of telling us that יעקב אבינו לא מת, that our patriarch Jacob did not die. We derive all this information from the name קצחי.

Rebeccah concluded that there was no point in living a life that was measured by the yardstick of the undiluted מדת הדין, seeing that hardly anyone could survive if he were to be measured by that attribute alone. This is why she said: קצ-תי בחיי, i.e. what good is my life under such circumstances! (Genesis 27,46) Unless some relief is found for the rest of the world's population this is the end of meaningful life. She referred to the tribe of חת, a Canaanite tribe whose daughters Esau had married. Seeing that the Canaanites were cursed already and that Esau himself was an outgrowth of the סטרא אחרא, she considered the combination as lethal, bound to lead to the oblivion of their offspring. Because of such considerations, the name that should by rights have been קצחי was changed to יצחק, to introduce the element of joy into their lives. The immediate cause for this was Isaac giving tithes which resulted in G–d blessing his efforts, as related in 26,12. It is strange that when Malachi 3,10 describes the blessing that results from tithing, he uses the expression of ארובות השמים, "the windows of heaven." Since the Torah uses the same expression at the onset of the deluge in Genesis 7,11, we wonder why the prophet would use an expression to symbolize blessing when that same expression had symbolized a curse on mankind in its prior usage in the Bible.

We have learned from Rashi on Genesis 18,16 that whenever the expression וישקף, וישקיפו is used, it has a negative connotation, the only exception being the prayer offered by the Jewish farmer in Deut. 26,15 when he pleads for G–d's blessing in recognition of the fact that he has given all his tithes. It seems clear that having given tithes is something which will turn a curse into a blessing. Malachi makes the exact same point; this is why he chose a wording normally associated with negative fall-out. It is a glimpse of the future when the מלאך, the "evil" angel will say Amen, when even the pig will be purified, when the perennial accuser, just as on the Day of Atonement, will be turned into an advocate on behalf of the Jewish people.

All of these ideas are alluded to in the blessing that Jacob took from Esau. Since Isaac personified the מדת הדין here on earth, he loved Esau who צד ציד, i.e. hunted people, acted as Satan does. Esau's other name אדום alludes to something red, i.e. blood. Isaac, on the other hand, represented the redness of the wine which is still preserved inside the grapes. There was an affinity between Isaac and Esau which is symbolized by wine and blood respectively. Jacob prepared delicacies for his father in Heaven at the advice of his mother who symbolized כנסת ישראל, the concept of the Jewish people. Jacob realized that all of his father's desire was concentrated on the delicacies he had prepared. He therefore prepared them with a mixture of sweet water and rooted himself in holiness in the mystical dimension of the birthright [having acquired this from Esau]. By doing this, he forced the wicked Esau out of occupying a higher spiritual plateau than that of himself, and he caused Esau to separate himself from Jacob and to go to his own country and his own people. He would forthwith not be able to act as accuser, but would be turned into a perennial slave, just as the slave in Exodus 21,6 who has his ear pierced as evidence that he belongs to his master permanently. Isaac explained all this to Esau when he said to him: הן גביר שמתיו לך, "Here I have made him senior to you." At that point, Isaac's former name קצחי was changed to יצחק.

He explained to Esau that through the power of the afflictions endured as a result of the attribute of Justice, G–d becomes able to employ the attribute of Mercy. So much on the mystical dimension of the three gifts the Jewish people receive only by means of יסורים. These experiences are already alluded to by Sarah when she exclaimed צחק עשה לי אלוקים, "G–d (in His capacity of the attribute of Justice) has made a joy for me (with the birth of יצחק)" (Genesis 21,6).

The reason Sarah did not include the letter י in her exclamation when Isaac was born is simply that she did not live to see, nor was meant to apparently, the binding of her son and the supreme test her husband would have to undergo. Being aware of the other factors alluded to in Isaac's name, she could exclaim “צחק.” When Sarah continued by saying: כל השומע יצחק לי, she prophesied about what was to happen. This is one method of explaining the relevance of the three gifts and the tribulations involved in receiving them.

As stated, the three letters in צחק allude to the respective ages of Sarah (90) and Abraham (100) when Isaac was born; the letter ח in the middle alludes to the number (8), the day on which Isaac was circumcised. When we write the word in מלואים, i.e. צדיק-חת-קוף, we have an allusion to the three gifts i.e תורה-ארץ ישראל-עולם הבא. Abraham and Sarah were צדיקים. He converted the men, she the women.

The fact that her age is alluded to first in the name צחק is to indicate that she was not merely an appendix to her husband. We have a similar situation when the Torah reports that Moses first relayed G–d's words to the women at Mount Sinai. We read in Exodus 19,3: "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob (women), and tell the children of Israel." The reason that the women were addressed first, and of course expressed their willingness to accept Torah first, was to prevent anyone thinking they had done so only to please their husbands rather than to please G–d. Sarah similarly proselytized independently from her husband. Since Genesis 12,5 is the beginning of the gift of Torah, it is appropriate to mention the part a woman played first. The word צדיק spelled as words, צדיק-דלת-יוד-קוף, contains an allusion to the giving of the Torah as we know from ה' חפץ למען צדקו יגדיל תורה ויאדיר.

The letter ח in the name יצחק alludes to Isaac being circumcised on the eighth day of his life. When that letter is spelled as a word, i. e. חת, it alludes to the gift of the land of Israel, the very first piece of land which Abraham purchased from the sons of חת. We have already explained that the mystical dimension of יצחק includes the fact that the gift of the land of Israel is closely connected with the observance of the commandment of circumcision. The Torah specifically linked the gift of the land to the descendants of Abraham and Isaac with the commandment of circumcision in chapter 17, and even spelled out the penalty for all those who failed to observe this commandment. Rabbi Yudan in Bereshit Rabbah 46,9 even emphasized that entry into the Holy Land under Joshua could not have taken place without mass circumcision immediately following the crossing of the river Jordan, as we read in the book of Joshua chapter 5. The allusion to the gift of the land of Israel thus is found both in the regular spelling of the letter ח in the name יצחק, as well as when we spell that letter "fully" i.e. as a word.

The letter ק in the word יצחק is an allusion to the gift of עולם הבא. That gift is perceived as the reward for performing G–d's commandments in this world. Torah observance became a practical consideration only at the time Abraham and Sarah began converting (12,5). Only then did the 2000 year period described by our sages as Tohu, come to an end. Whereas this process of revealing the "Torah" began with Abraham, it was concluded only at the time the Jewish people, the descendants of Jacob who had not sired any פסולת, stood at the bottom of Mount Sinai. Of the Torah's commandments it is said in Eiruvin 22: היום לעשותם ומחר לקבל שכרם, "the commandments are to be performed today, (in this world) and their reward will be received tomorrow" (in the World to Come). The letter, (number) ק alludes to the age of Abraham at the time Isaac was born when he began to contemplate all aspects of the Torah. When that letter is spelled as a word, i.e. קוף, its numerical value equals 186 or מקום. The word מקום is another name of G–d seeing that it is made up of the letters in the Ineffable Name being squared, thus: 10 ,י-ה-ו-ה times 10, +5 times 5, +6 times 6, +five times 5=186. The "upper" earth [in the Celestial Regions] is holy "soil," i.e. the מקום is holy, and when Isaiah 60,21 says: ועמך כלם צדיקים לעולם ירשו ארץ, "your people who are all holy, they will inherit an eternal earth," the reference is to the עולם הבא. That is the region where G–d directs blessings which continue indefinitely. This is the mystical dimension in which the one hundred blessings are rooted, the hundred gates in the spiritual world which we discussed on pages 159-160. When you look at the numerical value of the name יעקב, which equals 182, and add 4 for his four wives with whom he sired all the children who were loyal to Torah precepts, you have the number 186, the same as the letter קוף, or the name for G–d when His celestial dimension מקום is described. The Torah describes יעקב as part of G–d in Deut. 32,9:. כי חלק ה' עמו, יעקב חבל נחלתו.

I have already mentioned that possession of the land of Israel commenced with the acquisition of the cave of Machpelah from the sons of Chet. So when Rebeccah said: קצתי בחיי מפני בנות חת, we have an allusion to the letter ח also in Rebeccah's words. When you combine the numerical value in the name יעקב with the number 8, you get 190 or the word קץ, end. That word represents Samael – the spiritual representative of Esau – as we have already pointed out. The reason the letter ק is written small is that Esau represents a diminution of the Divine image of G–d, something more קוף – like, ape-like. That part of the human being, – his resemblance to the ape,– is the קליפה, the inferior outer shell. Israel never recaptured its former glory after the destruction of the first Temple; we have mentioned repeatedly that during the time of the second Temple five major manifestations of G–d's Presence remained absent. The first Temple stood for a period of 410 years, the numerical value of the word קצתי. You can also read this as קץ ת"י, that after 410 (years) the spiritual life Rebeccah envisaged would come to an end. The Baal Haturim has a wonderful explanation when he writes that the small letter ק refers to the destruction of the second Temple which stood one hundred cubits tall (a building erected by King Herod). Although Herod built a physically great structure, it was only a "small" ק. I believe that Rebeccah was concerned that Jacob (value 182), who already had received the blessing of his father, should become the recipient of the one hundred blessings we have discussed. If he were to marry a daughter of the sons of Chet (value 8), he would add that number to his own and the result would be 190=קץ. If that were to happen, she said, then קצתי בחיי, "my spiritual life would be at an end." If however, he were to take the (4) daughters of Laban, his marriage bed would be pure, and the numerical value of that union would symbolize 186= קוף = מקום, i.e. the name of G–d.

When our sages in Menachot 43 state that a person has to pronounce one hundred benedictions daily, they base this on Deut. 10,12: מה ה' אלוקיך שואל ממך "What does the Lord your G–d ask of you?" They suggest that the word מה should be read as מאה. I have already mentioned elsewhere that when the sages suggest an emendation in the written text of the Torah there must be a very compelling reason to do so. In this particular case I do not feel any need for this since the word מה and the word מאה are essentially the same.

When you spell the Ineffable four-lettered Name as words, i.e. יוד-הא-ואו-הא, you get a total of 45, or מה. This is the same numerical value as אדם. When you spell the word מאה in a similar fashion, the result – קוף, amounts to the equivalent of the Ineffable Name. The Hebrew equivalent for the words "they are the same" is מה הן, which also equals 100 = מאה.

Since the blessing Jacob received from his father had been of a material nature, such as "the dew of the heavens, the fat parts of the earth, etc." [seeing Isaac thought he was blessing Esau], he could not really receive Isaac's spiritual blessings until he had successfully confronted Esau, i.e. had experienced the fear of Esau approaching him with four hundred armed men. Jacob's very desire to belong to the choicest of the בני עליה, the spiritually most refined human beings, necessitated that he undergo a thorough process of refinement. His stay at Laban, i.e. physical and mental hardship for over twenty years were all part of the preparation for receiving the ultimate spiritual blessings. After Jacob had successfully confronted the spiritual power of Esau in his nocturnal encounter in Genesis 32,25 ויאבק איש עמו (compare Bereshit Rabbah 77,3), he finally obtained the consent of his adversary that he was entitled to the blessings he had received from his father. This is why Esau said in 33,9: "you may keep what is yours." Esau's spiritual counterpart had already acknowledged this during the struggle when he had bestowed a blessing on Jacob in 32,30: ויברך אותו שם, "He blessed him there." At that time Jacob was also informed about the forthcoming change of his name to ישראל. The Esau on earth, had previously called him Jacob as a slur when he had felt himself betrayed in 27,36.

We need to appreciate that the name יעקב is in fact ישראל. The name יעקב alludes to an exalted position on earth, i.e. in this world; it reflects observance of Torah in this world, not expecting to be rewarded in this world, but being content היום, לעשותו, מחל לקבל שכרם, as we have explained earlier. The name ישראל is the direct outcome of יעקב having been what he was here on earth. Our sages have taught us that שכר מצוה מצוה, that the reward of performing a commandment is the מצוה itself (Avot 4,2). This means that the spiritual element of the מצוה one performs on earth becomes the glue with which one attaches oneself to G–d in the Hereafter. When David refers to the great reward in store as a result of observing the commandments, i.e. בשמרם עקב רב (Psalms 19,12), he points to the seemingly insignificant commandments people are in the habit of ignoring. The word Eikev means סוף, end. The word סוף also means תכלית, the ultimate purpose of life as defined by Solomon in Kohelet 12,13 in the words: סוף דבר את האלוקים ירא ואת מצותיו שמור כי זה כל האדם. "To sum up: Fear the Lord, observe His commandments, for this is what man is all about." This סוף which Solomon speaks about in Kohelet is the latter part of Jacob's name עקב, heel, itself the tail-end of a person. This יעקב was alluded to earlier in the Torah when G–d said to Isaacs, “I shall multiply your seed like the stars of the heaven" (26,4). G–d goes on to say that inheritance of the land of Israel will be due to Abraham having listened to G–d's voice and having observed His commandments, עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי. The word עקב refers to that part of יעקב's name.

The verse (26,5) we have just quoted contains ten words corresponding to the Ten Commandments. When you examine the wording of the Ten Commandments you will find that it contains 172 words, the same as the numerical value of the word עקב, as pointed out by Baal HaTurim. You may ask: If this is so why was יעקב not called עקב? The answer is already alluded to when we read about Jacob's birth, when he is described as holding on to עקב עשו, the heel of Esau (25,26). The last three letters in Jacob's name are an indication that the sanctity, holiness expressed by the letter י in his name will prevail in the world only at the end of history, at the עקב, or סוף. The heel of Esau, however, the one that Jacob held on to, is symbolic of the serpent which hisses: it is the end of life, signifies darkness and death, as we have explained earlier. When the enmity that exists between the serpent and man is described in the Torah in Genesis 3,15: הוא ישופך ראש ואתה תשופנו עקב, "He (man) will strike at your head, and you (the snake) will strike at his heel," the Zohar writes on this verse that the word ראש refers to the first letter in the name יעקב, an allusion to the Ten Commandments. If Jacob observes the Ten Commandments, then he can successfully strike at the ראש, the head of the serpent and all that the serpent represents; but והיה כאשר תריד (Genesis 27,40) "when you will backslide in your service of G–d," then you (the snake) will strike at עקב, the part of the name יעקב when detached from the י and all that this letter stands for." If Jacob had not had the letter י in his name his name would have been associated only with elements derived from the סטרא אחרא, the negative side of the diagram of the emanations. When the Torah reports that וידו אוחזת, that "his hand was holding on to," the letters in the word for "his hand,” i.e. ידו, are the same as the letter יוד. The potential contained in the name יעקב, enabled Jacob to become ישראל, a name that was accorded to Jacob only after his successful refinement through harassment at the hands of Esau. The name ישראל is the pinnacle that the spiritually most refined people can achieve. It indicates that he had been able to contend with Heavenly forces and to prevail (Genesis 32,29). Onkelos translates this verse: "You have fought before G–d with man and have succeeded."

Let us now explore the mystical dimension of the name יעקב. In Genesis 27,35 Isaac says to Esau: בא אחיך במרמה, "Your brother came with wisdom to take the blessings." This means that Jacob came to outwit Esau. Isaac referred to Jacob having outwitted what Esau stands for, i.e. Satan, the pollutant of the original serpent, seeing Esau is also Edom, the classic symbol of all that is polluted and cursed. This original serpent had been described in the Torah as ערום, sly (Genesis 3,1). This being so, Jacob had to resort to a wily strategy to outwit such an opponent. He had to counter with ערמה, slyness, in order to defeat the serpent or its representative at its own game. We find something similar when Rashi explains (Numbers 31,8) that the reason the Torah stresses that Bileam was killed by the sword was because the sword was his stock-in-trade. He should have stuck to his trade. Isaac had told Esau that he would live by his sword (27,40), whereas the traditional weapon of Israel is the mouth, i.e. prayer. Since Bileam perverted his function by using Israel's weapon, the mouth, Israel used his own traditional weapon against him. In order to best him absolutely, he had to be killed by the weapon that he had once considered himself a champion of. The Zohar goes as far as to say that the only way it was possible to kill Bileam was by the sword. Onkelos explains the meaning of יודע ציד in 25,27 as being "Esau was shrewd." The Tziyoni derives from that word נחשירכן (the word Onkelos uses to explain יודע ציד), that the mystical dimension of the serpent is contained in the ירך, reproductive organ, thigh, and that Esau had the likeness of a serpent tatooed on his thigh. This was the reason that Samael, or the spiritual representative of Esau, tried to injure that organ of Jacob's during the nocturnal confrontation. The reason he did not succeed was that Jacob did not contain any residual pollution of the serpent. Bileam alluded to this when he said in Numbers 23,23: כי לא נחש ביעקב, that Jacob was not infected by the serpent. Esau is rooted in the cursed serpent. Jacob and his descendants ירך יעקב, are of blessed origin. Jacob had to come with עקבה, trickery, the craft of the serpent, and he wrested the blessing from the clutches of the unworthy. We know from Proverbs 8,12 that חכמה and ערמה are used interchangeably, i.e. אני חכמה, שכנתי ערמה, "I, wisdom, am neighbor to ערמה.” Later on, when he had established a hold in the Celestial Regions, the source of all blessings, he is referred to as ישראל, since he had ascended to these "higher" regions. The level of ישראל in those regions is very high, seeing that Israel surpassed the level of the angels during his ascent. He occupies a position there that is not even accessible to the angels. He proceeds to rise higher and higher until he even surpasses the region of the ministering angels, the most highly placed angels. It is this that Onkelos referred to when he described Israel as "you are a great lion before G–d and men."

This is alluded to in Numbers 23,23: כי לא נחש ביעקב קסם בישראל, כעת יאמר ליעקב ולישראל מה פעל השם. "For there is no augury in Jacob, no divining in Israel; Jacob is told at once, yea Israel, what G–d has accomplished." [the traditional translation of this verse bears no semblance to the author's interpretation, and is presented only to demonstrate how far the author departs from the plain meaning, פשט. Rashi brings a similar explanation. Ed.] As a first step in his rise to lofty spiritual regions, Jacob got rid of נחש and its powerful influence. Once he had attained the stature of ישראל, not even a vestige of such an influence i.e. קסם remained The word Kessem is the same as קיסם, a sliver, splinter, something very small and insignificant. Israel continues to ascend higher and higher until a time comes when the ministering angels say to Jacob turned Israel who has penetrated and surpassed their ranks: "What did G–d do?"

The name ישראל is not viewed as something "new," seeing it had been in G–d's mind before He even started creating the universe. The name had only not been revealed on earth. It was revealed on earth in connection with Jacob's spiritual ascension at פניאל. In our Midrashic literature all the patriarchs are now and again described as ישראל. This is a way of describing their spiritual achievements.

Having this in mind, we can understand an enigmatic Midrash Rabbah Genesis 63,3 on this פרשה: "These are the descendants of Isaac the son of Abraham, Abraham begat Isaac. Abraham was called Abraham; Isaac was called Abraham for the Torah says "these are the descendants of Abraham, Abraham." Jacob's name was called Israel because the Torah says in Genesis 32,29: "He said to him: 'Your name will no longer be called Jacob but Israel.' Isaac was called Israel, as the Torah says in Exodus 1,1 'And these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob.' Abraham is called Israel." Rabbi Natan added that there is a profound meaning in: ומושב בני ישראל אשר ישבו במצרים ובארץ כנען ובארץ גשן שלושים שנה וארבע מאות שנה. "The period that the children of Israel lived in Egypt, Goshen and Canaan respectively prior to the Exodus was 430 years."

Why did the Midrash have to mention that Abraham's name was Abraham? Why did the Midrash have to mention that Jacob was called Israel? Both of these facts are recorded in the Torah explicitly! Another difficulty is that since the patriarchs are viewed as a group, why are Jacob and Isaac not also called Abraham? Neither, for that matter, do we find Abraham called Isaac? Why does the Midrash quote the verse from the beginning of the book of Exodus instead of quoting from Parshat Vayigash in which the descent of all the family of Jacob to Egypt is recorded? We find the identical wording to that in Exodus in Genesis 46,8. From that verse it is easier to conclude that Isaac was called Israel than from the verse in Exodus 1,1, since the stress in that latter verse is on the words את יעקב באו, they had come with Jacob. Rabbi Natan's statement emphasizing its profound meaning is puzzling. What profundity is there in his statement?

I have already commented in חיי שרה on the meaning of the different ways the patriarchs' blessings are described in the Torah, i.e. the words בכל-מכל-כל as used with the respective blessings for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I mentioned that one קליפה was removed from around Abraham, i.e. Ishmael. He was still burdened with the קליפה represented by his grandson Esau, however. Another קליפה was removed from around Isaac, i.e. Esau. The whole subject of קליפות as applied to the patriarchs must be viewed as the removal of the husk before the fruit in all its beauty can be revealed and become fully accessible. It is in the nature of things that the husk precedes the kernel. One can hardly perceive of a fruit not surrounded by a husk or peel. It is the early part of the fruit, the flower or blossom. Jacob represented the fully ripened fruit. There is a spiritual dimension to all this, namely that even the husk is originally attached to the same holy source as the eventual fruit itself. The same applies to the parallel situation of their respective counterparts in the Celestial Regions. Despite the expansion of impure negative influences in this world, even the קליפה will eventually return to the source of its holy origin. The catalyst that will bring this about are the צדיקים, the righteous people, who will subdue the evil urge displaying true heroism as described in Avot 4,1: "Who is the true hero? He who can conquer his urges." I have pointed out on several occasions that the evil urge is not to be killed, but to be subjugated, to be channeled into positive constructive activities. One example of such subjugation is if a normally jealous person applies his streak of jealousy to Torah scholars who have mastered more Torah than he has. By using this trait to redouble his efforts to achieve mastery over Torah disciplines, he proves himself to be a hero.

When the sons of Chet addressed Abraham by saying: "You are a prince of G–d in our midst" (Genesis 23,7), what they meant was that the personality of Abraham had made a deep impression on their תוכיות, internality. They felt that their own spiritual roots had become purified through having an Abraham in their proximity. They were convinced that this augured well for their future and eventual salvation, and they thanked Abraham. When our Bereshit Rabbah 43,5 explains the words עמק שוה in Genesis 14,17, by saying that all the nations agreed (השוו) to crown Abraham there as their king, this describes Abraham as being freed, set apart from the קליפות. Abraham personally represents the spiritual level of ישראל; he achieved a higher level than all the other patriarchs. The statement that his name was ישראל indicates his spiritual level as being on a very high plateau enabling him to penetrate to the most rarefied Celestial Regions. The name אברהם, on the other hand, describes his being the (spiritual) father of a multitude of nations, כי אב המון גוים נתתיך, something that was acknowledged when the sons of Chet said שמענו אדני, נשיא אלוקים אתה in 23,6. He had also been called Abram, for it was still at that time that Ishmael issued from him. We see that the dimension of אב המון already began to take practical form while Abraham was still Abram. This dimension was reinforced with the birth of Isaac, who in turn produced an Esau who incorporates all the קליפות.

The proof that Esau comprises all the קליפות is evident from the fact that our present exile is called the exile of אדום, one of Esau's names. This is in spite of there being in existence other great kingdoms such as the kingdom of the Arabs [Ottomans at the time of the author], the descendants of Ishmael and still others. All of these kingdoms are subsumed under the heading "EDOM." Nachmanides comments on these matters at length in his commentary on Parshat Balak. This explains the need for the Midrash saying that אברם נקרא אברהם.

Isaac was also called אברהם, since Esau, Abraham's grandson and the other half of his קליפה, i.e. all the קליפות extant in the world, are traced to him, as we have explained. We may therefore also regard Isaac as אב המון גוים. That name would not be appropriate for Jacob, however, seeing he was no progenitor of המון גוים, Gentile nations. The reason that neither Abraham nor Jacob were called Isaac is that there would have been no point in it.

The reason Jacob had to be called Israel is to teach us that he had a dual task. First he had to remove the influence of evil. We should not think that tricking Esau was unethical; on the contrary, it was part of the process of neutralizing spiritually negative influences. Next, as Israel, his task was to help positive spiritual forces to assert themselves, and for him personally to achieve ever closer affinity to G–d. The name Jacob was never discarded, not even after he was given the name Israel. The reason for this is that even the name ישראל contains elements of the name יעקב. We have demonstrated that the עקב part equals the number 172, the number of words in the Ten Commandments, whereas the letter י before is the link to them. We have also pointed out that Jacob's function as יעקב is the principle of היום לעשותם, whereas the function of ישראל is the מחר לקבל שכרם, receiving the reward for the מצות in the Celestial Spheres as alluded to in the name ישראל. The name יעקב contains numerous allusions to a variety of moral imperatives, some of which we have already mentioned. When Isaac said to Jacob, in his blessing: הוה גביר לאחיך, "be your brother's superior" (27,29), this was a command to subjugate the אדומי, the evil urge represented by Esau. Jacob was to do this in his capacity of יעקב. This is analogous to the Mishnah in Avot 4,1 we quoted earlier.

This אדמוני will eventually emerge purified and holy, a reference to the David who is also known as אדמוני. We read in Samuel I 16,12 that David is described as אדמוני עם יפה עינים וטוב ראי, "ruddy cheeked, bright-eyed and handsome." The first person to be described as אדמוני was Esau; it is therefore hardly a compliment to David to be similarly described. The essential difference is that whereas Esau was עין רע, represented all that is negative associated with the eye, David was the reverse, and is therefore described as יפה עינים. In David's case the positive aspects of eyes are meant: the prophet therefore describes him as טוב ראי. Solomon, who says in Kohelet 10,8: פורץ גדר ישכנו נחש, that "he who breaches the fence will be bitten by a snake,” may have referred to David's forbear Peretz, whom the Torah had described as "bursting out" (Genesis 38,29). The נחש referred to is the power of Esau. King Saul repaired the fence partially when he defeated נחש king of Ammon who went to war against Israel as reported in Samuel I 11,1. David also accomplished a great deal in this area during his reign. In the future, as the Messiah, however, he will take revenge on the forces of Esau in the manner of a serpent, as we know from Isaiah 14,29: כי משרש נחש יצא צפע, "For from the root of a snake there sprouts an asp."

We are told in the Zohar Parshat Vayishlach (Sullam edition page 16), that Jacob and Joseph jointly donated 70 years of their lives to David. The Zohar writes as follows: David, [though extant in concept] had not been allocated any life on earth at all. When Adam saw this he donated 70 years of his life to David. This is why he did not live to be the 1000 years he was entitled to, but died at 930. The first 1000 years of human life may be understood as a combination of the lives of Adam and David. Rabbi Shimon continued to expound on Psalms 21,5: חיים שאל ממך, נתתה לו ארך ימים עולם ועד. "He asked You for life; You granted it; a long life everlasting." The first part of the verse applies to king David who, when his soul was created and placed in גן עדן, saw that no lifespan on earth had been allocated to him. As soon as Adam was created, he concluded that Adam's life was the answer to his prayer. Rabbi Shimon added that each one of the patriarchs also donated a portion of their designated lifespans to David. Abraham contributed, so did Jacob, and so did Joseph. Isaac did not give up any part of his life on earth in favor of David. The reason is because David "was from his side," בא מצדו.

Abraham donated five years of his life; he died at 175 instead of at 180 as he was meant to. Jacob, who was meant to live the same number of years as Abraham, i.e. 175, died at 147; he donated 28 years of his designated lifespan to David. This gives us 33 years that Abraham and Jacob contributed to David's lifespan. Joseph was meant to live to the same age as his father, i.e. 147. However, he died at 110. The 37 years missing in his lifespan were given to David. Thus the patriarchs and Joseph together contributed 70 years to the lifespan of David. The reason that Isaac did not contribute was that Isaac was חשך [a term for the left side of the diagram of the emanations containing דין, something discussed by the author on numerous occasions, Ed.], the same side that David stems from. Anyone who originates in that region is not entitled to light, i.e. life, at all. This is the reason that originally no lifespan had been allocated to David's soul. The other patriarchs who had been granted life, provided "light" i.e. life for David's soul.

You may ask how it is that Joseph is included in the list of patriarchs, and even contributed more than the other patriarchs combined? The answer is that Joseph was the moral equal of all the other patriarchs combined, seeing that all our literature describes him as יוסף הצדיק, Joseph the righteous. In that capacity he "illuminated the moon," the symbol of all that is feminine, more than any of the others. This is why he could contribute more years of life to David than all the others. The allusion to this in our scriptures is found in Genesis 1,17: ויתן אותם אלוקים ברקיע השמים להאיר על הארץ , "G–d positioned them in the sky of the firmament to give light on earth." Thus far the Zohar.

We see from the above that both Jacob and Joseph repaired damage caused by the אדמוני, since both hated Esau. What our sages said about Adam giving 70 years of his life to David is also true. The whole point of granting life to David was to repair the damage done to G–d's universe by Adam, without which a Messianic age and all its benefits to mankind would not be needed. Adam's צלם אלוקים, divine image, needed to be restored first and foremost through the constructive lives of the patriarchs. We explained all this in our commentary on Parshat Chayey Sarah. The 70 years Adam donated to David were "illuminated," assumed a positive meaning through Jacob and Joseph having donated 70 years of their already meaningful lives. We have explained earlier that the "beauty" of Jacob was of the same quality as the beauty of Adam [before his sin, of course. Ed.]. Genesis 39,6 describes Joseph as: ויהי יוסף יפה תואר, he had handsome features for he evidently inherited these from his father, seeing Joseph is viewed as his father's replica. We have seen from Samuel I 16,12 that David's features are described in similar terms. Once the Messiah will arrive on earth, Adam will be rehabilitated completely, will be אד"ם, the first letters respectively of the incarnations in אדם דוד משיח.

Our sages (Baba Kama 16) say that if someone fails to bow down when reciting the benediction מודים during the עמידה prayer his spine will turn into a snake at the end of 70 years. [the version in our edition of the Talmud is "7 years." Ed.] The "bowing" referred to is the bending of one's knee; since knee-bending involves the ירך, thigh, pelvis and reproductive organs, (the body's part most vulnerable to Satan, i.e. the snake), we have a clear link between the two. [The Talmud in Sotah describes the snake as maintaining an upright posture, a sign of arrogance. Man and the snake are the only two creatures that were created to walk upright. This is the common denominator between man and the snake. When man abuses this privilege by asserting himself not only vis-a-vis other creatures but even vis-a-vis G–d, he will wind up as a snake, i.e. lose that ability, just as the snake has lost its ability to maintain an upright posture. Ed.] Failure to bow during the prayer of thanksgiving to G–d is the opposite of what David used to do. He used every opportunity to praise and give thanks to G–d. As an expression of his sentiments he composed the book of Psalms. A person who lives for seventy years (average) and fails to express his gratitude to G–d in the proper fashion will have his spine [symbolic of his life] turned into a snake [forfeit resurrection]. Jacob is the mystical dimension of the spinal cord.

The significance of the number seventy is the number of Jacob's offspring that went down to Egypt which corresponded to the seventy spiritual representatives of the Gentile nations in the Heavenly Regions. The reason that the seventy souls went to Egypt and into exile was to enable them to be refined there in what our sages have called "the crucible of Egypt." The Kabbalists tell us that of the seventy שרים, representatives at the Celestial Court we have mentioned, thirty five are perceived as lining up on the "right" side of the diagram of the ספירות, emanations, whereas the other thirty five are found on the "left" side. Israel has a סנהדרין, Supreme Court, of seventy judges corresponding to those שרים of the Gentile nations. All of these judges are from the root of קדושה. This is why the Torah warns us not to turn either right or left from what these judges (elders) tell us (Deut. 17,11). Rashi and other commentators interpret this to mean that even if the Sanhedrin tells you that "right" is "left," and that "left" is "right," we must abide by their ruling (Jerusalem Talmud Horayot 1,5). A Jewish Court of Law composed of expert scholars who have received the ordination called סמיכה, is called אלו-הים. It is the nature of this ordination that there is a continuous chain of authority going back all the way to G–d Himself via the scholars in each generation, including Moses who was ordained by G–d Himself. The very word used to describe this ordination, סמוכים, "adjoining, next to one another,” hints at the nature of the ordination, that it is valid only because it represents an unbroken chain of tradition. This idea is expressed in the Torah in Deut. 4,4 ואתם הדבקים בה' אלוקיכם חיים כלכם היום, "You who have cleaved to the Lord your G–d, are all alive this day." The 70 שרים of the Gentile nations are called אלהים אחרים, "deities of the others," because they look up to them as their gods. This idea is alluded to when the angel, (Esau's celestial counterpart), justifies Jacob being called Israel by saying כי שרית עם אלה-ים, you have fought with the 70 deities of the Gentile nations.

These 70 שרים also symbolize the need for the כתנות עור, the leather garments (given to Adam by G–d after the sin) in our world, in exchange for the כתנות אור, the garments woven of "light," that Adam wore before the sin. That letter א in those original garments worn only by the members of the Celestial High Court is symbolised in our world by the 71st member of the Sanhedrin the president, the most renowned expert of his day. The allusion to this in scripture is Song of Songs 5,11: ראשו כתם, His head is finest gold. The Sanhedrin in our world, called אל-הים with the expert (the 71st judge) added, amounts to the same numerical value as 86+1 [87= פז] This is what the angel alluded to when he said to Jacob-Israel: כי שרית עם אלה-ים. The word פז is a combination of the numerical values of two of G–d's names, both of which between them were involved in the how and why of the Creation. We have stated on other occasions that the first 42 letters of the Torah, up to and including the letter ב in the word ובהו, make up the attribute of G–d involved in the creative process. [The Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna elaborates on this name in his commentary on Isaiah. Ed.] We have also explained that the whole purpose of the Creation was אדם העליון, the concept of man in his most elevated form; we have also demonstrated that only ישראל is described as אדם in the Torah. The numerical value of אדם is 45. 45+42 equals 87= פז. An indication that Israel is this פז, fine gold, is found in the fact that Israel counts according to the lunar calendar. The moon is called לבנה, its numerical value is 87. This means Israel equals 87.

The name יעקב itself actually contains the elements of the mystique of Israel. In the other patriarchs the qualities represented by the name ישראל remained hidden, but during the lifetime of Jacob they were revealed. This was because he was the first of the patriarchs to transmit his heritage to all his children thereby founding a whole and perfect nation. Consider the following about the name ישראל: All the patriarchs, matriarchs as well as the (12) tribes are alluded to in that name. The first three letters of that name, i.e. ישר, are the first letters respectively of רבקה, יצחק, שרה. They are also the respective first letters of רחל, יעקב, שבטים. The last two letters in the name ישראל are used only once and represent the first letters in the names אברהם and לאה. The reason for this somewhat unusual use of the ראשי תיבות is the verse in Hoseah 14,10: ישרים דרכי ה', that the ways of the Lord are straightforward. Seeing that the word ישר is in the plural, (the ending ים), the letters in the word ישר may be used twice. There is also a reason why the last two letters in the word ישראל were only used once in that allusion.

Bileam says in Numbers 23,10: תמות נפשי מות ישרים ותהי אחריתי כמוהו, "May my Hereafter be like that of Israel." Here too we have the plural of ישר, ישרים. The אחרית referred to by Bileam are the last two letter in the word ישראל. Bileam hopes for a future beyond the grave equaling that of the patriarchs, matriarchs, and the 12 tribes of Israel together. Throughout Scripture we find several times the verse: ברוך ה' אל-ה ישראל; the מספר קטן [a system of numerical values in which the digit 0 is ignored Ed.] of the word א-ל-ה-י, i.e. 1+3+5+1 =10. The מספר קטן of the word ישראל, also amounts to ten, i.e. 1+3+2+1+3=10. This is the allusion to the statement of our sages that the Presence of G–d does not come to rest on fewer than ten Jews.

We have already shown that the number 10 figures greatly in matters related to tithes. When you combine the respective first letters of the ten emanations, i.e. כחב, גגת, נהימ, the total equals the numerical value of 541= ישראל. [This is based on Luzzato's diagram of the emanations in which חסד and דין are called גדולה and גבורה respectively. Ed.] The spiritual plateau of ישראל can only be attained after thorough refinement of one's personality through afflictions which originate in the power of the קטרוג, accusations represented by our קליפות. These קליפות are destroyed only when said afflictions are welcomed by the persons experiencing same, by the awareness of those people that the afflictions are a positive experience. Anyone who is really a strong character succeeds not only in destroying said קליפות, but in subjugating them in such a way that henceforth they become a constructive force, become totally purified, after which these personalities ascend ever higher spiritually.

All three patriarchs were refined through the experience of some degree of exile. Jacob together with his sons, of course, descended into exile in Egypt, where they were in real exile, having had to leave their homeland. Jacob actually should have been brought to Egypt in chains, as our sages state in Shabbat 89b. The 400-year exile started with the birth of Isaac, though Isaac did not actually leave the Holy Land. He is however, always referred to as being גר, a stranger, in that land. Even though the patriarchs were not physically enslaved, the status of being sojourners sufficed to consider them as being in exile. Even Abraham, who was looked up to as a prince among the local population, and who had been "crowned" king in the עמק השוה, as we have mentioned earlier, suffered thirty years of mental exile during the years between the ברית בין הבתרים and the birth of Isaac. Jacob was especially pursued by the קליפה, for Samael had managed to injure Jacob's ירך, thigh, hip joint. As a result, Jacob was in need of greater refinement than his father or grandfather, which manifested itself in a more serious form of exile. Although Esau was a son of Isaac, and honored his father, [which indicated Isaac's affinity to that קליפה of his, Ed.], the fact that Esau lived a life designed to lead to physical as well as spiritual death (as we know from his own admission in Genesis 25,32 when he sold the birthright, and again when he wished for his father to die prematurely, Genesis 27,41) meant that Isaac had rid himself of that קליפה and therefore only needed a minimal amount of exile experience. Abraham died before Esau had become wicked, and thus had no affinity to Esau's קליפה. Abraham also expelled Ishmael from his home when G–d commanded him to pay heed to what his wife Sarah had told him, namely to expel the servant woman and her son. As a result of his keeping away from both these קליפות Abraham did not have to experience actual exile. He did not even have to feel as a stranger. All that was needed to refine him was the anxiety experienced between the promise of the birth of an heir and the fulfillment of that promise, which meant the onset of the 400 years of his descendants being regarded as strangers or of their being actual slaves.

G–d subjected Abraham to this worry in order that he could be cleansed and refined from the influences of the קליפות. Once this was accomplished, Abraham ascended to the spiritual level represented by the term ישראל. According to the Kabbalists, the root of the קליפות in the usual pattern of emanations does not reach higher than the emanation חסד (or גדולה according to Luzzato). This is what Rabbi Natan in the Midrash had in mind when referring to the "profound matter".

In order to properly understand this one needs to study the third chapter of the treatise מהות והנהגה in Pardes Rimonim. In that chapter the author, Rabbi Moshe Cordovera, explains that every single emanation is comprised of ten emanations. He arrives at the conclusion that, though the root of the קליפות does not extend higher than the emanation חסד, it, i.e. the emanation גבורה-דין may yet exist even as part of the emanation כתר, which is perceived of as completely רחמים. His main point is that the emanation דין is a potential ingredient in that emanation כתר, and is activated only through action by the קליפות. We must therefore suppose that in addition to the concept שורש, root, there is also such a thing as שורש שרשים, the root of roots. [Perhaps we can best illustrate this by the difference between conscious and subconscious thoughts. שורש would equal conscious thought, whereas שורש שרשים would equal subconscious thought. Ed.] The refinement that Abraham lacked was only in the area of שורש שרשים, and that is the "profound matter" Rabbi Natan had in mind. The 30 years of the 430 years that are described in Exodus 12,40 commenced with the "covenant between the pieces," when Abraham began to experience a "mental exile." This is when he qualified for the title ישראל.

Isaac had to suffer a more intense type of "exile" experience since he needed more refinement from the קליפות than his father Abraham. As a result, when the actual exile in a foreign land began, at the beginning of the book of Exodus, his name had to be included as part of the 400-year experience. Isaac's participation in that experience elevated him to the status of ישראל.

Jacob and family experienced exile in all its forms and became so refined that a whole nation of 600,000 pure souls emerged. We have stated several times that these 600,000 souls correspond to the letters in the Torah, that Torah essentially represents Israel and that the Torah comprises the 70 "faces" in the Celestial Regions. Since Israel is called אדם, it was created in order to service and preserve the terrestrial part of the universe, to observe the Torah (Targum Yonathan on Genesis 2,16). Israel unfortunately aborted its mission by sinning during the episode of the golden calf. This is reflected in Psalms 82,7: אכן כאדם תמותון, alas, you shall die as man; (instead of living indefinitely just like the angels). David began to repair the damage caused by that aberration, but did not complete the repair. Only when the Messiah comes will the remainder of that damage be repaired.

Concerning the attitude of the Romans to these matters, we find an interesting paragraph in Avodah Zarah 11b: Rabbi Yehudah said in the name of Shmuel that there is still another festival that the Romans used to celebrate once in 70 years. They brought a healthy man (Esau's effigy), placed him on top of a lame man (Jacob's effigy), dressed him up in the garments of original man (leather garments), placed the scalp of Rabbi Yishmael on his head, and hung around his neck four pieces of fine gold. They covered the streets around that area with fine gold and proclaimed in front of him: 'The prediction about when the Messiah will come that the brother of our lord the impostor made is false. The "Master" was a fake, charlatan; he thought he would be senior to Esau. He who enjoys himself at this festivity will have real enjoyment. He who does not enjoy himself now will never see joy since this festivity will not occur again for another seventy years. What good did it do the swindler to have swindled, and what good did it do the forger to have forged?' They concluded as follows: Woe to this one once the other one will arise! Rav Ashi added: "These people brought about their fall by their own words. If they had said "the brother of our master has swindled," they might have got away with it; by saying: "the Master swindled," they only described their own master (Esau) as a swindler."

Rashi explains this paragraph as referring to the prediction by Jacob about the time of the Messiah's arrival, a prediction which did not come true. Rabbeinu Tam challenges this interpretation. He cannot imagine that the Romans should have referred to Jacob as "Master." He therefore concludes that the Romans used the appellation "Master" to mean Isaac, for it was he who handed out the blessing. If we accept the interpretation of Rabbeinu Tam, the word "forger" would apply to Isaac, which is not very satisfactory. Actually, were it not for Rashi's commentary, it would be simple to explain that the Romans considered both Isaac and Jacob swindlers, because Isaac had undertaken to bless Esau, and when he found out that he had been tricked he did not revoke the blessing but confirmed Jacob as its rightful recipient.

When the Romans are quoted as saying in the middle of this story "he who sees now has seen, whereas he who has not seen will not see for another seventy years," that part referred to Jacob, for he had eyesight and was therefore guilty of deliberate trickery. Isaac whose eyesight had already failed him, was in a different category, seeing he himself was the victim of trickery.

There is another puzzling aspect to this story. Why did the Romans have to repeat "what good was the swindle to the swindler, and 2) what good did the forgery do the forger?"

I believe this whole story can be interpreted in light of Genesis 25,22 where the as yet unborn twins Esau and Jacob are described as already wrangling inside their mother's womb. Rashi explains this as a struggle for possession of two worlds. This seems very puzzling; who would have thought that Esau was even interested in securing his place in the Hereafter? We must appreciate that the רשעים of earlier times, though wicked, were quite learned, but employed their knowledge to advance evil causes. Their entire purpose was to uproot Israel from its spiritual roots, from its share in the "higher" world. If successful, they themselves would enter the domain of קדושה, sanctity, and they would no longer be merely קליפות. They would find themselves in the sanctuary of the king, i.e. G–d. There is strong scriptural evidence that this is a correct interpretation of Psalms 83,13: 3 נירשה לנו את נאות יעקב, "Let us inherit the meadows of Jacob." [Actually the verse mentions the meadows of אל-הים, which the author seems to equate with the meadows of people that are supposedly G–d's people. Ed.] This verse is the subject of a lengthy commentary in Manot Ha-Levi, whose author explains in his introduction that the quarrel between Jacob and Esau was also about who would inherit the Hereafter. Jacob succeeded in uprooting Esau from the Hereafter but he wanted to receive his share in this world also. Though at first glance this appears unseemly, yet Jacob's interest in this world was not for egotistical reasons, for he was interested in the wealth of this world only so that it would be easier for him to serve G–d without a hindrance such as the need to work for his daily bread. The blessings bestowed upon him by his father Isaac may be interpreted in either of two ways. They may be understood as applying in this world or in the world to come, as I shall explain. Using this approach we can understand the Midrash which I have quoted concerning why the Torah was created with the letter ב, namely to teach us that there are two worlds. Immediately afterwards the Midrash states that the reason the Torah, i.e. Creation, started with the letter ב is, that that letter stands for ברכה, blessing, whereas the letter א symbolizes ארירה, "curse." These two statements are not in conflict with each other. On the contrary, they are complementary. One statement refers to blessings in the Hereafter, the other concerns itself with blessings in this world.

The Midrash explains that though the letter א would have been appropriate as a symbol of the creation of the Hereafter, the world in which the unity (אחדות) of G–d is manifest, the fact that the letter also symbolizes ארירה, curse, is the reason why G–d chose to commence with the letter ב which represents blessing. It teaches that in עולם הבא there is no such thing as a curse. It is written in Psalms לא יגורך רע, "Evil cannot dwell with You," that in the Heavens there is no evil or curse. The עולם הבא under discussion is rooted in the emanation בינה, a region higher than that of חסד, which is the uppermost that the קליפות can draw on.

Secondly, the second version in that Midrash describes the present world, a world which is capable of being infected with impurity, a world in which the קליפות are rampant. It was necessary to exempt the act of Creation from exposure to curses and expose it to blessings instead, so that the heretics would not be able to claim that their actions had all been predetermined by the built-in presence of evil, and that therefore they could not be blamed for their evil thoughts or actions. The truth is that anyone who wants to purify, to repair, the imperfect state of this world, is assured of a Heavenly assist. This is the meaning of ברוך הבא בשם ה' "Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord" (Psalms 118,26). To indicate both these guiding principles of Creation, the Torah may have commenced with both the first two words commencing with the letter ב, i.e. בראשית ברא.

The patriarchs and David are described as holding the "sanctities" in their hands; this may allude to the 70 years that David lived during which he repaired some of the damage wrought by Adam. He and the Messiah between them will complete that work of rehabilitating the universe. There are many mystical aspects to this number of seventy years. We have discussed the significance of the tithes, i.e מעשר תרומה, as well as תרומת מעשר, and how they are related to the source of blessings. Due to our numerous sins, unfortunately, the scalp of the High Priest Rabbi Yishmael [who was scalped at the request of the daughter of Hadrianus Caesar who wanted to preserve the beauty of his skin, see the liturgical poem אלה אזכרה in the Mussaf prayer on the Day of Atonement. Ed.], is weighted down with gold, and the representative of Esau is paraded on top of Jacob adding insult to our injury. The very fact that this festival was celebrated by the Romans only once in 70 years may symbolize the seventy שרים of the gentile nations and their having achieved ascendancy over Israel (as predicted by Isaac in the event that Jacob/Israel would not live up to its spiritual task). They may have wanted to indicate that it was they who would inherit נאות אל-הים mentioned in Psalms 5,5.

When these Romans referred to the "Master," and it seemed to mean Jacob, they referred to him sarcastically, seeing that Isaac had designated him as such in the blessings, i.e. הוה גביר לאחיך. They did not mean to challenge the validity of Isaac's blessing; they felt that Jacob/Israel had already outlived the period during which it was valid. Now that Israel's fortunes had declined, they felt sure that their turn had come. The kingdom of Edom had, after all, undergone a period during which eight Jewish kings reigned and the Edomites themselves did not even have a king. [Edom had lost its independence, as Rashi elaborates on 36,31 at the end of Parshat Vayishlach.] The Romans believed that Isaac's warning had been fulfilled when the first Temple was destroyed and the Jewish people endured 70 years of exile. Even after the rebuilding of the Temple five major manifestations of G–d's Presence in their land were never regained. Because of this the Romans were sure that the star of Israel was in permanent decline. They viewed the 70 years of exile as the reversal of the seventy years that David and Solomon ruled over greater Israel in all its glory.[I do not quite understand that figure. According to our best known sources that period was at least 73 years. Maybe David's reign is counted only after the capture of Jerusalem. Ed.]

When the Romans said "who has seen, has seen," they stated that the period of glory Isaac predicted for the Jewish people was definitely at an end. This was not an invitation for people to come and enjoy themselves now because the opportunity would not soon recur. What they were saying was that the reason that this event took place only at every 70 years is that the number 70 and all the spiritual significance had now become theirs and that the prediction made by Jacob concerning the arrival of the Messiah would really see the Edomites/Romans as beneficiaries.

When they repeated themselves by referring to both the "swindler and the forger," this was simply a recognition of the fact that Isaac's blessings pertained to both this world and the Hereafter, and that they would inherit both this world and the World to Come. Their opening remarks referred to the World to Come, whereas their closing remarks referred to this present world. They considered Israel like a sheep among seventy wolves, and denied the possibility of Israel regaining physical or spiritual ascendancy because Jacob had been guilty of trickery.

When they said: "The brother of the master was a swindler," they deliberately referred to him as "brother" instead of saying "Jacob the swindler." Their intent was to make Jacob's trickery appear to have been greater than it was. They referred, for instance, to the time Jacob introduced himself to Rachel as the brother of her father, (the swindler), something which Rashi justifies as Jacob telling Rachel not to worry, that he, Jacob, would be able to cope with devious Laban (Genesis 29,12). Whereas the Romans could see Jacob's trickery as justified in the case of Laban, since Laban had been the first one to use trickery, this could not be said in the case of their Master Esau, who had never tried to cheat Jacob. Jacob cheated Esau out of his birthright as well as out of his blessing; because of this they emphasized that Jacob was both a swindler and a forger.

Rabbi Ashi used their exact wording to indicate that the Romans tripped themselves up by admitting that Esau had actually begun the whole cycle of trickery: he was the product of the serpent's pollution, he had inherited the slyness of the serpent; he even had a birthmark on his thigh showing the contours of a snake (as I have already stated). Esau had indulged in tricking his own father already long before Jacob bought the birthright. Our sages report him as having asked Isaac how one tithes salt, straw, etc., all in order to make his father believe that he was extremely pious (cf. Midrash Tanchuma on Genesis 25 27)

Even when Esau wanted some of Jacob's soup, נזיר, prior to the transaction involving the sale of the birthright, it was Esau who practiced extreme deception as Rashi explains (25,29). Rashi says that the dish consisted of red lentils. How did Rashi know this? Or, at least, who told Rashi this? Rashi was not in the habit of making such a statement without quoting his source!

What bothered Rashi was that Esau had been described as "the red one" already at birth (25,25). If that description was justified based on his hair or color of his skin, then why did the Torah have to tell us in 25,30 that the reason that Esau was called "the red one," was because he demanded to be given of the red dish? Besides, if a person asks for bread and he receives it, will anyone henceforth call him "bread?" There must have been something more than meets the eye in why the Torah tells us that this encounter between Jacob and Esau led to Esau being called "the red one." This is why Rashi writes that the dish consisted of red lentils, something eaten as a sign of mourning, i.e. that on that day Abraham died and was buried. Esau, the man of the field, did not mourn, but pursued his usual nefarious activities. Our sages say that he committed no fewer than five transgressions on that very day (Baba Batra 16). Since he was somewhat ashamed, he acted as if he had not been aware that the day was a day of mourning for his grandfather, and he deliberately misrepresented the dish that Jacob had prepared, calling it "this red, red stuff." Since everybody who heard Esau realised that he had shammed ignorance of the precise nature of both the dish and the reason it had been prepared on that day, he was henceforth called "the red one," as a description of his falseness. When Rav Ashi said that the Romans' own mouth "tripped them up," he referred to their statement: "the master is the swindler."

Eventually the Romans would have to admit that they falsified history, just as in the case of the מלאך רע יענה אמן, the "evil" angel having had to acknowledge that Jacob was right by blessing him.

Now to the dual meaning of Isaac's blessings, the spiritual and material aspects contained in them. First we must deal with a number of doubts that must have been entertained by the participants in the drama. When Isaac wanted to bless Esau, he must have asked himself why his own father had never bestowed the blessing on him. He should have concluded that it must have been because Abraham foresaw that Isaac would produce a son such as Esau, and he did not want to be associated with indirectly blessing Esau. How then could Isaac bless Esau directly and thereby deny Jacob the blessing? Surely Isaac could not have been spiritually blind enough not to appreciate the uprightness of his son Jacob, even though he loved Esau better?

How can we understand the fact that G–d arranged for these sacred blessings to be handed out by means of deceit?

A third problem is how we are to understand Rebeccah who said to her son Jacob: "May your curse be on my head, my son!" Could she imagine that Jacob would make peace with the idea that his mother would be cursed through something he did?

Another problem is the statement by Jacob to his father: "I am Esau your first born." This sounds like an outright lie. Although Rashi re-arranges the words as: "I am the one who brings you the food, yet Esau is your firstborn," this makes the statement more difficult. Jacob need not have mentioned the word "Esau" at all. He should simply have said: "I am your firstborn," seeing that he had purchased the birthright from Esau some forty-eight years earlier, even though he had never told Isaac about this. Isaac would have understood that it was Esau who stood before him, and Jacob would not have been guilty of an outright lie. Isaac would simply have deceived himself. Another difficulty is why Jacob had to say (27,19) "as you have told me to," (referring to Isaac's instructions to Esau to hunt venison and prepare delicious food for his father). Rashi again corrects the text suggesting it must be understood as: "I have done several things which you have told me to." If Rashi were correct, Jacob should have said: עשיתי אשר דברת אלי, not כאשר דברת אלי. We must therefore interpret that Jacob referred to the speed with which he had prepared these dishes for his father. He said: "I have done as (if) you had commanded me." (If that had been the case, I would certainly have carried out your command promptly.)

A further difficulty is the word ויברכהו, "He blessed him," in 27,27. Since the nature of that blessing is not spelled out, we are entitled to speculate about it.

What did Isaac mean in 27,33, when, after having found out that he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau, he said גם ברוך יהיה, "he shall also remain blessed?" What is the meaning of the word גם, also? Rashi quotes a Midrash Tanchuma saying that Isaac was concerned about having blessed the younger son before he had blessed the older brother. When he heard that Jacob had taken the birthright from Esau, he said: "he also shall remain blessed." This is very puzzling seeing that the Torah only reports Esau as telling his father about the sale of the birthright three verses after Isaac had said: "he shall also remain blessed." We need to understand the verses in the Torah as being in the nature of כלל ופרט, a general rule followed by specifics. First the Torah describes Isaac's terror about the whole sequence of events, and only afterwards does the Torah go into details. The general reaction of Isaac concludes with the words: "he also shall remain blessed." After that the Torah describes the sequence of events in detail, Isaac telling Esau that he had blessed Jacob before the latter's arrival. When Esau heard this, he reacted, etc. Isaac explained that Jacob had used subterfuge and that he had become terrified as a result of what happened. Esau then exclaimed that this was already the second time Jacob had tricked him, mentioning the incident with the birthright. When Isaac heard about that, he said: "he shall also remain blessed," realising that Jacob had deserved the blessing seeing he was the legal firstborn. After that Esau asked whether his father did not reserve a blessing for him also, and Isaac replied with verses 37-40.

Once we interpret the sequence in this manner we can understand why the Torah in verse 37 said twice about Esau ויאמר, "he said." Following each revelation of the sequence of events by Isaac, Esau's reply is prefaced in the Torah by the word: ויאמר. Clearly, between these two times ויאמר, Isaac must have said something such as the text of the blessing he had given Jacob. According to the Midrash Tanchuma Isaac must have communicated his fear to Esau between these words ויאמר. This would also account for the word גם which we questioned. It simply means that just as Jacob has become the owner of the birthright, so he shall also remain the owner of the blessing. If you explained the verses according to their normal sequence (פשוטם) you could not interpret them in this way.

Another problem is the meaning of the word במרמה, if meant in the sense of חכמה, as Rashi says. If Isaac wanted to use the word in that sense, why did he not say: בא אחיך בחכמה, instead of using the word מרמה? Our sages in Pessachim 3 explained that the Torah distorted eight letters in Genesis 7,8 in order not to have to use gross language such as the word בהמה טמאה. Why do we not find the same here? The Torah could have used the word חכמה in order to avoid the negative connotation of מרמה, deceit?

Still another problem concerns the dispute of Esau with his father which seems unresolved.

A further problem is the relevance of the fragrance that is reported as having entered the house when Jacob arrived (27,27). When Rashi tells us that this was the fragrance of גן עדן, it is not clear why this mattered at this stage. Surely Jacob qualified for גן עדן on the basis of his lifestyle, apart from any other consideration.

A further problem is that Isaac, as a result of Esau's complaint, appended a condition to the blessing he had given Jacob. What effect can the condition והיה כאשר תריד וכ' in 27,40 have on a blessing pronounced in 27,28?

In order to answer all these problems allow me two introductory remarks: 1) The blessings are capable of two interpretations. One interpretation, i.e. the פשט, views all the blessings in terms of material benefits in this world. G–d will grant sufficient dew in the summer to enable the fruit to grow in the fields. He will allow Jacob to feed on the fat part of the earth etc. 2) The other interpretation of the blessings sees in their wording allusions to the real blessings of the Torah which pertain to a "higher" world, i.e. the world in which blessings are of enduring value. The Midrash describes טל השמים as an allusion to the written Torah, משמני הארץ as a reference to Mishnah; דגן alludes to Talmud, whereas תירוש alludes to the Aggadic material in the Talmud. According to this interpretation both the words השמים and הארץ refer to their respective counterparts in the Celestial Regions. It appears that Bereshit Rabbah 67,2 refers to this when quoting Isaac as telling Esau ואוכל מכל, "I ate from it all" (Genesis 27,33). We find there that Rabbi Yehudah understands the word as meaning "all that has been created during the six days of creation," whereas Rabbi Nechemiah understands the expression as meaning "all that is stored up for future consumption in the World to Come." Both these Rabbis have correctly interpreted the blessings, each one emphasizing a different aspect. Even though the delicacies served Isaac were certainly made of foods available here on earth, of items created during the six days of Creation, they exuded a taste of something super-natural, something of the World to Come.

The second introduction needed to understand the whole issue is the fact that Esau and Jacob were twins inside Rebeccah's womb, and that she was the mother of both of them. This means that she was like the crucible within which Jacob was refined, whereas Esau at the same time absorbed all the residual polluted material of the original serpent that had still cleaved to Rebeccah in her capacity as Laban's sister. Esau inherited all the falseness of Laban. This left Jacob like pure, refined silver. That is what our sages had in mind when they referred to Jacob's beauty as equaling that of Adam (before his sin). The fact that Esau had absorbed all the negative residual elements within Rebeccah had enabled Jacob to become the pious person he was. Rebeccah loved Jacob; Isaac loved Esau more. The deeper reason for this is, as we have already explained, that there was some affinity between Isaac, whose root was the emanation of דין, the same emanation as the one the serpent=Satan=Esau was rooted in. Rebeccah, on the other hand, loved Jacob, seeing that her appearance was just like that of her mother-in-law Sarah, as we have explained. When Sarah is described in Genesis 20,3 as בעולת בעל, the Talmud Ketuvot 61 describes this as meaning that her husband was in a state of ascension at the time. The Torah compliments Sarah by testifying that together with her husband she ascended to higher spiritual regions. Rebeccah experienced something similar. We know that Isaac was described as עולה תמימה, an unblemished total offering [ עולה in the sense of something that ascends Ed.], at the time he was bound on the altar at Moriah. Our Rabbis say that nonetheless Isaac was like a קרבן עולה ויורד, in the matter of the עקדה, meaning that at different times he was at different spiritual levels. While he was bound on the altar, for instance, he was on a higher spiritual level than when he descended from the altar, aware that he was not to be sacrificed after all, seeing that G–d had appointed an alternative offering in his stead, namely the ram that was caught in the thicket by its horns (Genesis 22,13). Jacob was called an איש תם, the word תם referring to his spiritual ascension. Esau, on the other hand, though from a holy source as we explained when we described his head as being cradled by Isaac , was of the caliber that was liable to descend rather than to ascend spiritually.

Esau is characterized as "descending;" this is alluded to in Ovadiah 1,4, where the prophet says to Edom: "Even if you place your nest among the stars, I shall bring you down from there." When Rebeccah said; "your curse upon me, my son," she referred to what had already occurred in her womb before the twins were born, i.e. that everything that is accursed was already concentrated in Esau. He, Jacob, did not have to worry, seeing he was already blessed.

Even though Isaac obviously was unaware of the extent of Esau's wickedness, or else he would not have displayed such love for him, he could not have been unaware of Jacob's spiritual superiority. He realised that Jacob was more qualified for the blessing of the Hereafter, whereas Esau’s blessing would be concentrated on matters pertaining to this world. In order to be able to infuse spirituality into a material blessing, Isaac wanted to participate in a spiritual repast so that he could confer upon Esau some sanctity to be applied in this world. Once Esau would sanctify his life in this world, the portals of the Hereafter would be open to him. The means that Isaac employed were simple. He sanctified חולין, elevated something secular to a level of sanctity. This is what the מעדנים, "delicacies" were all about. Rebeccah, who was well aware of the full extent of Esau's wickedness, wanted that Jacob should "eat at both tables," i.e. enjoy both the blessings of this world and the blessings associated with the world to come.

Isaac said to Esau: "Take your gear, your quiver and your bow," i.e. tools of this world (27,3). Concerning the world of the future, it is written in Isaiah 2,4: וכתתו חרבותם לאתים, "They will beat their swords into plowshares," that such lethal tools will be eliminated. Isaac instructed Esau to commence his hunt in sanctity (performing a command of his father). He hinted that the delicacies he had in mind were of the kind that would be served to the righteous in the world to come (Baba Batra 75).

When Rebeccah overheard all this, she said to Jacob: לך נא אל הצאן וקח לי משם שני גדיי עזים, "Please go to the flocks and take for me from there two young goats." Why did she say: קח לי? It would have been more appropriate for her to say: קח לאביך, "take for your father." After all the goats were intended for Isaac! The unusual phrasing of the request prompts Rashi who quotes Bereshit Rabbah, to say that the word לי is equivalent to שלי, mine, that when Rebeccah married Isaac he allocated to her two goats a day as her personal property. She meant that these goats are לשמי, [just as Isaac feels entitled to two goats, so I am entitled to two goats as a prelude to a spiritually inspired blessing; Ed.] seeing that she (Rebeccah) was on the spiritual level of בעל, [husband, i.e. someone of substance Ed.], on a par with Isaac, and "I love you." [Rebeccah loved Jacob]

When Rebeccah said that she would make delicacies out of these goats, she referred to a physical meal rooted in a spiritual domain. The words כאשר אהב, "the way he loves," refer to the spiritual element, since a man of Isaac's level certainly did not simply indulge a physical craving. He was too aware of the fact that "man does not live by bread alone but on all that G–d decrees," a reference to the spiritual roots ensuring our existence on earth (Deut. 8,3). When Rebeccah had told Jacob about Isaac's instructions to Esau (27,7), she omitted to mention that Isaac had added the words "the way I love," as a description of the מטעמים. Esau, in 27,31, also does not refer to the fact that his father had described the food to be served him as something he loved.

When Jacob describes Esau his brother as a hairy man, whereas he himself was smooth-skinned, he referred to the Esau of this world, and he alluded to Esau's power in the "higher" world by mentioning that he was איש שעיר. He referred to Esau as the קטרוג, the perennial accuser of man. Bereshit Rabbah 65,15 understands the word Sa-ir as identical with the one mentioned in Leviticus 17,7: ולא יזבחו עוד לשעירים, "so that they will no longer offer sacrifices to the demons." The word Chalak, is equated by that Midrash with the word Chelek, as in כי חלק ה' עמו, יעקב חלק נחלתו, "G–d's share is His people, Jacob is His inheritance" (Deut. 32,9). We know from Succah 52a that Satan is more prone to attack a Torah scholar than anyone else.

Rebeccah told her son that any curse would be on her, that she had already made a clear separation between him and Esau. She had allocated all the serpent's residual pollutant to Esau and all the curses associated with that. Since Jacob therefore did not have to worry about a קטרוג, for his mother had already shouldered this burden he should listen to her and proceed.

As to the external mechanics needed to prevent detection, Rebeccah provided the skins of these goats and put them on Jacob's hands and arms. She also had Esau's clothes that she dressed Jacob in. It is interesting that the Torah describes Rebeccah as personally garbing Jacob in those skins, that Jacob did not do so himself (27,15-16). Why did Jacob allow his mother to perform a personal service such as this for him, instead of Jacob performing a personal service for his mother, part of the commandment to honor one's mother?

There is a mystical element concealed in all this. Jacob and Esau were twins. There were two reasons for this. We have already explained that one purpose was for Esau to be able to absorb the excess pollutant from Jacob, i.e. as if one half of the baby to be born contained all the negative influences. As a result, Jacob would eventually also inherit Esau's share, the present world. Esau in fact absorbed the negative part of Jacob, whereas Jacob became the recipient of the positive part of Esau. The Torah alludes to this mystery in 28,5, where Rebeccah is described as "mother of Jacob and Esau." Rashi comments that he does not understand what new dimension the Torah conveys in the verse. I believe that the Torah teaches us that Rebeccah, in her capacity as mother of both of these twins, allocated to each one certain genes in keeping with her prerogative as a mother. This is why the Torah could describe her earlier as "personally dressing Jacob," though clearly we must understand this merely as a figure of speech, and Jacob no doubt physically dressed himself. Rebeccah had exercised her prerogative to make one twin appear like the other. Once this had been accomplished, Jacob was certainly in line for receiving blessings that were meant to be effective in this world. Jacob's principal garments, of course, were those described as בגדי עשו החמודות, "Esau's valuable clothes," also mentioned in 27,16 as having remained under Rebeccah's care. These were reportedly the skins worn by Adam, a reminder of his having rehabilitated himself after his sin. G–d had made these for him in the terrestrial גן עדן, which is situated "opposite" its celestial counterpart.

This brings us to the significance of the fragrance that Isaac is said to have smelled in 27,27. The ריח של גן עדן, the fragrance of Paradise that our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 65,22 describe Isaac as having experienced, was exuded by these garments which originated in גן עדן.

When Jacob realized that he had already become the beneficiary of being Esau's twin, as we explained earlier, he felt entitled to describe himself as "I am your firstborn Esau, I have done as you have commanded me." We can understand this still better when considering a statement by the Zohar Parshat Vayetze (Sullam edition page 3), which states that after Queen Esther was appointed queen, and ותלבש מלכות, wore the royal robes, she assumed control both of Ahasverus and of his entire kingdom. Though they shared the same bedroom she never had marital relations with the king. She behaved like Joseph of whom the Torah says that he left his בגדו in the hands of Mrs. Potiphar (Genesis 39, 13). The word בגד suggests something that is deceptive like the בוגד, traitor. It is also an outer garment, concealing the true person underneath. Had the Torah used the term לבוש, it would not have a doubtful meaning. The king, who is described as having loved Esther more than any other woman (Esther 2,17), really consorted only with a demon who assumed the guise of Esther's outer garments. Whoever appreciates the mystical significance of התלבשות, will understand what I have in mind.

The Torah reports Isaac as blessing Jacob immediately after Isaac smelled the fragrance of Paradise, i.e. ויברכהו. He did not investigate further, for in the event that it was indeed the real Esau, he was entitled to the blessings valid in this world, whereas in the event it was Jacob who stood before him, Isaac intended these blessings to apply in the Hereafter. This is in accordance with what I wrote at the beginning, that these blessings must be understood on two different levels. The word ויברכהו was the umbrella term for these blessings. Only afterwards did Isaac want to know who really stood in front of him. When the Torah describes Jacob as bringing wine from which Isaac drank (27,25), this is a reference to the "wine preserved in its grapes since the days of creation,” which will be served to the righteous in the Hereafter, as we have explained on several occasions.

How are we to understand the verse: ראה ריח בני, "Look! the odor of my son?" Since when is the sense of sight relevant to the sense of smell?

We can explain this by means of a statement in Baba Batra 75a, where Rabbi Yonatan says that when Leviathan is hungry his mouth emits so much heat that all the oceans of the world dry up, since we read in Job 41,23: "He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron." If he would not place his head within גן עדן, no creature could stand the stench of Leviathan. This is also proved from Job 41,23: "He makes the sea boil like an ointment pot." When the said Leviathan is thirsty, his wake in the ocean is like a luminous path, and he makes the Deep seem white-haired (Job 41,24). Rabbi Acha said that the Deep does not revert to its former state for seventy years, since we read in Job 41,24: "He makes the Deep seem like a שיבה,” and that word is never used for someone under seventy years of age. Rabbah, quoting Rabbi Yochanan, said that in the World To Come G–d will prepare a feast for the righteous at which the "meat" of Leviathan will be served for it is written in Job 40,30: יכרו עליו חברים, and the word כירה always means a repast, as we read in Kings II 6,23: "He prepared a lavish feast (כרה) for them and they ate and drank." The word חברים refers to Torah scholars as we know from Song of Songs 8,13: "She who sits in the gardens and חברים listen to your voice; let Me hear it." The leftover of that meal will be divided up by traders in the market-places of Jerusalem since it is written (Job 40,30) "he will be divided up among the Canaanites," and Canaanites are merchants as we know from Hosea 12,8: "A Canaanite trader who uses false weights to oppress the one who thinks the trader is his friend." You may also prove this point from Isaiah 23,8: "whose traders are nobles, whose traders (כנעניה) were the most respected ones on earth."

Rabbah said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan that in the future G–d will make a hut for the righteous out of the hide of Leviathan as we know from Job 40,31: התמלא בשכות עורו, ובצלצל דגים ראשו.” [The traditional translation of this verse is too different from this aggadah to be relevant. Ed.] If the person is deserving, G–d will make a סוכה, hut, for him; if not, a shade-giving heave-to without walls. If he is still less deserving, G–d will make him some kind of jewelry as we know from Proverbs 1,9: "and graceful ornaments around your neck." If he is still less deserving, G–d will make him an amulet, seeing that we have a verse in Job 40,29: "And you will tie it around your maidens." G–d will scatter the remainder on the walls of Jerusalem, and its glitter will sparkle from one end of the earth to the other, as we read in Isaiah 60,3: "And nations will walk by your light; kings by your shining radiance." Thus far the Talmud in Baba Batra 75.

From all the above it is clear that the skin of Leviathan is a very great light indeed. I have found a statement in the commentary of Tziyoni on this portion, based on a Midrash that the skins used to make the כתנות עור for Adam and Eve were taken from the female of the original Leviathan, whom G–d reportedly slew, salting and preserving its "meat" for the righteous in the future (Baba Batra 74). This seems very plausible; G–d surely did not create that skin without assigning a purpose to it.

If we accept that Midrash as being factual, we can much better understand the statement that in Rabbi Meir's version of the Torah the word Or in Kotnot Or was spelled with the letter א, light. It would have been difficult to imagine that the spelling in Rabbi Meir's ספר תורה was really so radically different. What Rabbi Meir meant by his statement was that the skin of the Leviathan which formed the clothing of Adam illuminated the earth all over.

It is this kind of illumination which Isaac noticed when he smelled the fragrance of Paradise as exuded by these garments. When Isaac began the specifics of the blessing with the words: ויתן לך אלוקים מטל השמים, "May the Lord give you from the dew of the Heaven, etc.," the dual nature of the blessing began. Essentially, Jacob was oriented towards עולם הבא. Now that he was dressed in the garments of Esau that had originated in גן עדן, he was also fit to receive the blessing that was to govern his life on this earth, and to "eat from both tables" as our sages phrase this. We therefore see that this was the attire which Isaac had in mind when he said to Esau: "your brother came in מרמה," wearing deceptive clothing, which gave him access to the blessings of this world.

This is why Isaac said: "I ate from everything,” meaning all that had been created during the six days of Creation, including all that is envisioned in the distant future, as we explained earlier. Now that Isaac was aware that it was Jacob who had stood before him and been blessed, he confirmed that blessing. The word גם refers to the blessings of עולם הזה. Since such a blessing was not something that Jacob could normally count on, seeing it was not appropriate to his fundamental orientation in life, it is described as something merely additional, i.e. גם. Esau did not understand what his father had meant by the word גם. He thought that Isaac meant that "Jacob shall also be blessed," i.e. shall also receive a blessing in addition to the blessing which he, Esau, would of course receive by his father, now that his father realized that he had made a mistake. He felt that Isaac was going to divide the blessings into one which would apply in this life, the recipient of which would be Esau, and one applicable to life in the future, granted to Jacob. When he realized that he would not receive a blessing that would apply to עולם הבא, Esau cried out bitterly, for he would also be denied the blessing pertaining to עולם הזה. He did not realize that both blessings had already been dispensed to Jacob.

Then Isaac explained to Esau that what he had meant by the word גם was that Jacob would enjoy blessings in this world also. Isaac's reply was perfectly reasonable. Rashi, who comments that the word במרמה means בחכמה, means that the fact that Jacob obtained both blessings was an act of חכמה on his part, since in order to secure the blessings of this world he had to dress in Esau's garments.

At this point (27,36), Esau burst out complaining that this was already the second time Jacob had tricked him, that his very name means that he is a trickster, and he asked whether his father had not reserved a blessing for him exclusively. Esau's first statement is an expression of amazement that Jacob should be allowed to benefit by his trickery! He claimed that his brother's undetected trickery could only have been due to their being twins; this enabled Jacob to misrepresent himself as his twin brother Esau. Esau complained (when he used the word פעמים, twice) that surely Jacob would not be allowed to get away with such a subterfuge a second time. The first time, when Jacob took the birthright, was something that he Esau could not now reverse, and as a result Jacob had established his claim to the blessings in the Hereafter. But surely, Esau said, Jacob should not be allowed to preempt Esau's claim to his share also in this world! Esau had another argument, alluded to by his words: הלא אצלת לי ברכה? He sensed that Isaac had hedged his bets by phrasing the blessing in such a way that whether the son before him was Esau or Jacob, he should receive his specific blessing. Now, that it had become clear that Jacob received the blessing due him for עולם הבא, the blessing for this world should be available for him! How could Isaac not at least give Esau the blessing pertaining to עולם הזה!

Isaac explained that the way the blessing had been worded had already made Jacob senior to Esau, and Esau also subservient to him in this world. That part of the blessing could not apply to the world to come, since there everyone is free and there is no such thing as someone being subservient to someone else. Although, originally, when he had not had an idea who was before him, he had phrased the blessing in such a way that it could apply to either son, (the Torah says simply ויברכהו), this had been only before he had drunk from the יין המשומר, the wine preserved in its original grapes; after having drunk from it and when he had smelled the fragrance of Paradise and the source of all blessings had opened up for him, and once Jacob received a blessing from that source, all the secondary blessings automatically were included in the general blessing. We have the same principle in Halachah. When one pronounces a benediction over bread, the major element in the meal to be consumed, all the other components the meal consists of are already included in that first benediction (Berachot 6, Mishnah 7). This is what Isaac meant by emphasizing דגן ותירוש סמכתיו, "I have assured him of grain and wine," i.e. I have granted him all the essentials in this world. Isaac said that though my principal thought had been that Jacob would receive spiritually oriented blessings, the blessings contained in the plain meaning of such words as דגן ותירוש are also included as by-products.

Upon hearing all this, Esau said: now that you have told me that this is all part of one single blessing, i.e. ה-ברכה אחת, that the secondary element follows the major element, and I shall be an adjunct to Jacob anyways, why can you not bless me also, i.e. make me part of Jacob's blessing!

Thereupon Isaac said to Esau: משמני הארץ יהיה מושבך ומטל השמים מעל. "Your dwelling place will be of the earth's most fertile with the dew of the skies above." Isaac confirmed what Esau had requested. This meant that Esau would absorb some of Jacob's spiritual essence. The terms הר ציון and הר עשו respectively, reflect this relationship of Jacob and Esau. Though both are הר, something elevated, the former is mistress of the latter. In verse 40 Isaac told Esau that in the event Jacob did not live up to the assumptions his blessings were based on, there would be a role reversal; Esau would then be able to shake off this yoke of being only an appendix to Jacob. However, once the pollutant of the serpent's residue in Israel would come to an end, Israel would emerge purified, and the vision of the prophet (Ovadiah 1,21) ועלו מושיעים בהר ציון לשפוט את הר עשו והיתה לה' המלוכה "For liberators will march up to Mount Zion and wreak judgment on Mount Esau; and the dominion shall be the Lord's would become fulfilled.."