A Blessing Stolen

 Parshat Toldot is a parshah that usually leaves me with more questions unanswered than answered. So much is confounding in the way Rivka and Yaakov conspire to seize what would seem to be like Eisav's rightful blessings. The sale of the birthright is all the more perplexing, given the imperative to protect the weak and defenseless, and not manipulate those at a time of distress.

Thus, I would like to share a few questions, that I hope will only multiply as the years go on.

1.       For one, why is it that Eisav's name was given to him my both of his parents, and Yaakov, only by his father?

2.       How was the sale of the birthright transacted, given that one cannot sell that which is heretofore undefined, amorphous and inconcrete? The Talmud states that one can sell the dates from a tree because of the overall certainty that they are forthcoming; presuming I understood correctly, if the birthright constitutes a double portion of the entirety of one's future assets, the demarcations of the transaction at hand could be very blurred, and include anything or everything.

3.       The language in which Yaakov turns to Yitzhak to ask for the bracha is rather interesting. Rivka has overheard Yitzhak telling Eisav to bring him a meal of delicacies so that, in Yitzhak's words, "I can full heartedly bless you (with my nefesh)." Rivka does not convey these exact words to Yaakov, but rather says, "so that he will bless you." Then, when Yaakov, disguised as Eisav, asks for his blessing, he uses the very words with which Yitzhak had instructed Eisav, though these words were clearly unbeknownst to him. He asks Yitzhak to bless him with his nefesh.

Though I have no basis for this reading, it seems that when Yitzhak avows after learning of the deception that indeed Yaakov would be the recipient of the blessings, it could be that he reached that conclusion because of his own textual analysis. In other words, he could see the extent to which Yaakov had the ability to put himself in Eisav's shoes and to diplomatically and willfully advance his interest with the purest intentions in mind that led Yitzhak to aver that the blessing would not be rescinded, but would indeed go to Yaakov – and not Eisav.  

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