פרשת תולדות תש"ב - הבכורה והברכה

And Jacob said: ‘Sell me first thy birth right.’

בכרתך THY BIRTHRIGHT — Because the sacrificial service was then carried out by the first-born sons, Jacob said, “This wicked man is unworthy to sacrifice to the Holy One, blessed be He” (Genesis Rabbah 63:13).

הנה אנכי הולך למות BEHOLD I AM IN PERIL TO DIE — The birthright is something unstable, for not always will the sacrificial duties be performed by the first-born, for the tribe of Levi will assume this. Further Esau said: What is the nature of this Service? Jacob replied, “Many prohibitions and punishments and many acts involving even the punishment of death are associated with it — just as we read in the Mishna, (Sanhedrin 22b): The following priests are liable to death: those who carry out their duties after having drunk too much wine and those who officiate long-haired. He said: If I am going to die through it, why should I desire it.

ויבז עשו THUS ESAU DESPISED—Scripture testifies to his wickedness: that he despised the Service of the Omnipresent!

מכרה כיום, seeing that as of now all your interests are focused on your work so that you are so tired that you cannot even recognise a dish of lentils for what it is, there is no question that you would not have the time or energy to perform the duties involved in the obligations associated with being a firstborn

מכרה כיום, meaning: “immediately!” Sell me your share of the birthright which you are entitled to from our father’s estate which I will give you. After that I will give you to eat as proof of the sale and as confirmation. We find a similar transaction in Genesis 31,46 where Yaakov and Lavan ate in order to confirm their non-aggression pact.

הנה אנכי הולך למות, I am going into the forest day after day to hunt in an area full of bears, lions and other ferocious beasts, and I am risking my life on a daily basis. What point would there be in my waiting until our father dies and I get my share of the birthright? This is the way my father Rabbi Meir interpreted Esau’s words in this verse. This is the meaning of “Esau despised the birthright.” (verse 34).

וימכור את בכורתו, in accordance with the price they had mutually agreed upon. The Torah did not bother to spell out the exact sum.

ויעקב נתן לעשו, he had used the lentils or the dish containing them as the קנין חליפין, a token used to serve as symbol of the transfer of ownership of the object constituting the one being sold. Compare Ruth 4,7 where a shoe is mentioned as serving as such a token.

Now this was the custom in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: a man drew off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour; and this was the attestation in Israel.—

(1) והאדם ידע AND THE MAN KNEW already before the events related above took place — before he sinned and was driven out of the Garden of Eden. So, also, the conception and birth of Cain took place before this. Had it been written, וידע אדם it would imply that after he was driven out children were born to him (Genesis Rabbah 22:2).

The waters wear the stones; The overflowings thereof wash away the dust of the earth; So Thou destroyest the hope of man.

Why did I desire this (or, “why am I [so different]”). She asked experienced mothers whether what she was going through was normal and was told that it was not.

For thou hast taken pledges of thy brother for nought, And stripped the naked of their clothing.

falling person Scripture employs prolepsis, describing what he becomes. Compare, “the condemned [literally: the dead person] will die” [17: 6], “you strip the naked of their clothing” [Job 22: 6], and also “the sons moved strongly” [Genesis 25: 22]. Countless other words, as well, describe what their referents will become. We do not know whether this is the ordinary Hebrew idiom, or whether they are all prophetic utterances (like “he pursued as far as Dan” [Genesis 14: 14], “to Grapecluster Valley” [Numbers 13: 23], and “therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and join with his wife” [Genesis 2: 24]). The commandments of sowing and planting follow the commandments involving a house, because after entering the land, and building a house, one proceeds to sow.

והתברכו בזרעך AND IN THY SEED SHALL BLESS THEMSELVES — A man will say to his son, “May your seed be as the seed of Isaac”. Such is the meaning of this phrase wherever it occurs in the entire Scriptures. The following passage is that from which this meaning may be derived for all such passages: (47:20) “By thee shall all Israel bless their children saying, “May God make thee [as Ephraim and Manasseh]”. So, too, in the case of a curse do we find a similar idea: (Numbers 5:27) “And the woman shall become a curse”, meaning that one who curses his enemy will say “May you be like such and such a woman”. Similar, also, is (Isaiah 65:15) “And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto mine elect”, meaning that one who takes an oath will say “May I be like such-and-such a person if I have really done so-and-so”.

חקותי MY ORDINANCES — matters which our evil inclination and the heathen nations argue against the necessity of prohibiting, such as the eating of swine’s flesh and the wearing of garments made of a mixture of wool and linen — things for which there are no apparent reasons but which are the King’s decrees and enactments imposed on His subjects (Yoma 67b).

because that Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.’

וישמר משמרתי AND KEPT MY CHARGE — This refers to precautionary measures which are intended to make us avoid the infringement of Biblical prohibitions: such are the Rabbinical inhibition of marriage between relatives in the second degree and the Rabbinical regulations regarding not doing certain acts on the Sabbath (cf. Yevamot 21a).

מצותי MY COMMANDMENTS — those matters which, had they not been written in the Torah, we would nevertheless hold that they are fitting matters to be the subject of a commandment, such as robbery and murder (cf. Yoma 67b).

חקותי MY ORDINANCES — matters which our evil inclination and the heathen nations argue against the necessity of prohibiting, such as the eating of swine’s flesh and the wearing of garments made of a mixture of wool and linen — things for which there are no apparent reasons but which are the King’s decrees and enactments imposed on His subjects (Yoma 67b).

ותורתי AND MY LAWS — The plural serves to include with the written Law also the Oral Law which prescribes commands that are an ancient institution given by God to Moses from Sinai (cf. Genesis Rabbah 64:4).

And he kept My charge: The language of Rashi: "To My voice" - when I put him to the test; "My charge" - precautionary decrees, for example, second degree prohibitions of [marriage between relatives] and the rabbinic prohibitions on Shabbat; "My commandments" -those matters which, had they not been written [in the Torah], they would [nevertheless] be fitting to be written, for example, robbery and murder; "My ordinances" - matters which the evil inclination and the idolaters argue against, for example the eating of pig and the wearing of garments made of a mixture of wool and linen (shaatnez) - for which there is no reason but that the King decreed His enactment upon His subjects; "and My laws" - to include [with the written Law also] the Oral Law, [and] the laws [given by God] to Moshe from Sinai. And if so, all [of Rashi's approach here], is built upon the opinion that Avraham observed and kept the Torah before it was given, and so did they say (Bereshit Rabbah 94:3) on the verse, "and Yosef gave them wagons (agalot)" (Genesis 45:21) - "As he separated from [Yaakov, while studying] the section of the beheaded calf (eglah)"; as he was occupied with Torah [study] in the same way as his fathers, and the Torah [however] was not [yet] given until now. And behold, it is written, "My charge, My commandments, My ordinances and My laws" - and there they said that he kept even the precise inferences of the Torah and he would teach it to his children, etc. And one can ask, "If so, how did Yaakov set up a pillar (Genesis 28:18), and marry two sisters - and according to the opinion of the rabbis (Bereshit Rabbah 74:11), four sisters; and Amram marry his aunt (Exodus 6:20); and Moshe, our teacher, set up twelve pillars (Exodus 24:4)? And how is it possible that they should act [as if what is forbidden] in the Torah is permissible, which Avraham, their father, forbade upon himself, and that God [gave] him reward upon the matter, and that is 'that he commanded his children and his household after him to walk in His ways?' And with Yaakov, they expounded (Bereshit Rabbah 79:6), that he kept the Shabbat and established boundaries (within which he would be allowed to walk on Shabbat). And it is possible that this would be with Shabbat, because it is equal to the whole entire Torah (Yerushalmi, Berakhot 1:5), since it testifies to the story of creation. And maybe [the intention of the rabbis is as follows:] "My charge" - second degree prohibitions of [marriage between relatives] for the Children of Noach; and "My commandments" - robbery and murder; "My ordinances" - [the prohibitions of eating] a limb from a living animal and interbreeding animals and grafting trees; "and My laws" - civil laws and the prohibitions of idolatry, as about all of these the Children of Noach are commanded. And he kept and did the will of his Creator and kept even the precise inferences and the stringincies of their commandments, and as they mentioned (Avodah Zarah 14b), "[The tractate of] Idolatry of Avraham, our father, was four hundred chapters," and they expostulated (Bereshit Rabbah 64:6) about, "the hundred fold" (Genesis 26:12), that the fathers were philanthropists of the peoples, to give tithes to the poor or to the priests of God, for example, Shem and Ever, and their students, like the matter of "and he was a priest to the Highest God" (Genesis 14:18). And what appears to me from the opinion of our rabbis is that Avraham learned the entire Torah from holy inspiration, and was occupied it its [study] and in the reasons for its commandments and its secrets, and he kept all of it as one who is not commanded and does. And his observance of it was only in the Land [of Israel]. And Yaakov married two sisters outside of the Land, and also Amram [was outside the land when he married his aunt], since the commandments are 'the law of the God of the land,' even though we are commanded [them] as an obligation on ourselves in every place (Kiddushin 36). And our rabbis already hinted to this secret (Sifrei, Devarim 43) and I will write about this at length (Ramban on Leviticus 18:25 and Ramban on Deuteronomy 11:18) with God's help. And the [prohibition of setting up a] pillar is a commandment that was innovated at a certain time, as they expounded (Sifrei) [on the verse], "in that the Lord, your God, hated it" (Deuteronomy 16:22) - "He hated it after it was beloved in the time of the forefathers." And with Yosef, they expounded (Bereshit Rabbah 92:4), that he kept the Shabbat even in Egypt, because it is equal to all of the commandments, since it is testimony about the creation of the world. And he would do this to teach his sons faith in the creation of the world to expunge from their hearts intentions of idolatry and the opinions of the Egyptians. And this was the intention [of the sages]. And on the level of the simple meaning, we can say that "My charge" is faith in Divinity, that he believed in the unique God and that he kept this charge in his heart and he differed from the idolaters about it and called in the name of the Lord to bring back many to the service [of God]; "My commandments" is like all that He had commanded him, in 'Go forth from your land,' and with the raising of his son [for a sacrifice] and the sending away of 'the maidservant and her son'; "My ordinances" is going in the ways of God, to be 'graceful and merciful' and 'to do righteousness and justice' and 'to command his children and his household' about [these things]; "and My laws" is circumcision on himself and on his children and servants, and all of the commandments of the Children of Noach, as they are the law to them.