The Right Bracha, The Wrong Time

 

In this week’s Parsha we learn about how Yitzchak wanted to give the Brochos (which represented the legacy and mission of Am Yisrael) to Esav but Rivkah intervened, and Yaakov tricked his father into giving them to him.

 

What was Yitzchak thinking? Why would he want to give them to Esav, a wicked man?

 

What’s important to understand when reading this story and the rest of Chumash Bereishis is that the Avos and Imahos were not regular people. They lived their lives totally dedicated to Hashem and every move they made was according to ratzon Hashem. So it can’t be that Esav’s antics simply deceived Yitzchak, there must be something deeper at play here.

 

Sifrei Kabbalah explains that Yitzchak saw in Esav great potential. Esav, if he would have lived up to who he could have been, represents the Jew going into the world and revealing Hashem there. Whereas Yaakov is someone who stays in his protected spiritual environment, Esav in his purest form is fulfilling the purpose of creation.

So, Yitzchak wanted to give the brochos to Esav as he is what Judaism is all about, revealing Hashem in the world.

 

The problem is that Yitzchak was living in the world of Moshiach when the world itself will be a G-dly place and there will no need to go through the “spiritual world’ of Yaakov. Nowadays, however, to succeed in the physical world, we must go through and be guided by Yaakov. Esav didn’t understand that and therefore he became the wicked Esav instead of fulfilling his true mission. We should learn from his mistake and realise that we need to first lock ourselves away to learn and daven and only then can we bring that inspiration into the world. That’s why the brochos were ultimately given to Yaakov.

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