Kavanot: פרשת תולדות תשפ״ז

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This week’s parsha includes my favorite pasuk:

But in all seriousness, that difference in their personalities is reflected in the ברכות that their father gives them (or at least, thinks he’s giving them; the recipient of Esav’s ברכה is, of course, Yaakov in disguise). Both start with וְיִתֶּן, “and may G-d give”:

And it seems clear that the difference, wealth and power to Esav and mission and ארץ ישראל to Yaakov, was intentional. Yitzchak knew his kids.

The midrash says that Esav and Yaakov split עולם הזה and עולם הבא even in the womb. This is an aggadic way of saying the same thing:

Yitzchak imagined and hoped for a partnership: Esav gets the money and political leadership; Yaakov gest the family mission of spreading ethical monotheism. Why Rivkah thinks it won’t work and conspires against him is another story. I’m going to look at a grammatical nicety: both start with וְיִתֶּן

The וו at the start doesn’t bother us, since we are used to the וו ההיפוך in Biblical Hebrew, as in the previous pasuk: וַיִּגַּשׁ וַיִּשַּׁק וַיְבָרְכֵהוּ וַיֹּאמֶר. It doesn’t mean “and”; it just indicates the past tense. But that’s not what’s going on here. The וו ההיפוך has a פתח under it: וַ. This pasuk starts with וְיִתֶּן, meaning not “He gave”; that would be וַיִתֶּן. This means “And He will give”. This is the beginning of the blessing. Why start with “and”?

Now, this is not a problem with Yaakov’s ברכה: it means “and”. I cheated and started the quote above a pasuk late, which is the actual start of the ברכה:

But Esav’s? The previous pasuk is a description, not a ברכה:

It’s really not so difficult; וְיִתֶּן לך האלקים מטל השמים ומשמני הארץ really does continue the thought of the previous pasuk: You are an איש שדה; your שדה is a שדה אשר ברכו ה׳; may ה׳ continue to bless you.

But that’s Rashi’s second interpretation. His first is midrashic, taking the וו as an indication of repetitive action:

We will unpack that, based on a sicha by Rav Amital. He starts back in גן עדן:

The curse of the נחש is that it will eat dust. What kind of punishment is this? Dust may not taste good but it is omnipresent; ה׳ is telling the נחש that it will never go hungry, never have to look for food. But having that lack forces us to look to ה׳, to daven, to establish a relationship with הקב״ה that we would not have if everything was easy. Giving your kids a credit card and never talking to them does not make for a healthy parent-child relationship. Telling the snake, “Go eat anything; I don’t want to hear from you” was in truth a terrible punishment.

ארץ ישראל is not like that.

The nature of ארץ ישראל forces us to acknowlege our dependence on ה׳. Even if we don’t feel it elsewhere (לא כארץ מצרים הוא), it is still true of the rest of the world. Yitzchak’s blessing to Esav was not just the fat of the land, but וְיִתֶּן לך האלקים; he should be able to feel that fat as a gift from ה׳. That’s what ויתן ויחזור ויתן means.

And that is the meaning of the פשט as well. וְיִתֶּן לך האלקים מטל השמים is logically connected to ויאמר ראה ריח בני כריח שדה אשר ברכו ה׳. Yitzchak is saying: Esav, bubbeleh, I know you don’t appreciate what הקב״ה gives you; you think your success as an איש ידע ציד is because you are so strong and talented. But really, your success is a reflection of ריח בני כריח שדה אשר ברכו ה׳. And therefore ה׳ should give you and continue to give you מטל השמים ומשמני הארץ.

many people say וְיִתֶּן לך after maariv motzai shabbat, for this reason. we need to remember that the success we have during the week are gifts from ה׳.

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