Illustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
Toldot tells the story of how Yaakov gets his father Yitzhak to give him a בְּרָכָה (berakhah, blessing) that was meant for Esav. The strategy he uses seems to involve deception (pretending to be Esav), which doesn’t sound like a very good thing to do!
In this pasuk, Yaakov explicitly calls himself Esav:
וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב אֶל אָבִיו אָנֹכִי עֵשָׂו בְּכֹרֶךָ עָשִׂיתִי כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתָּ אֵלָי קוּם נָא שְׁבָה וְאׇכְלָה מִצֵּידִי בַּעֲבוּר תְּבָרְכַנִּי נַפְשֶׁךָ׃
Yaakov said to his father, “I am Esav, your first-born; I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat what I hunted, so that you may bless me from your soul.”
Some פַּרְשָׁנִים (parshanim, commentators) wonder: Is it possible that what Yaakov did wasn’t so bad? Consider these pieces of evidence.
1) Rivka tells him to do it: Yaakov doesn’t want to deceive anyone (Bereishit 27:12), but he’s in a bit of a tough position because he also wants to obey his mother.
2) Yitzhak’s reaction: Yitzhak doesn’t seem to be angry with Yaakov, and he doesn’t punish him.
3) The berakhah works: Yaakov gets to keep it.
4) Yaakov and truth: These two get connected later in Tanakh, such as in Sefer Micah (7:20) where it says תִּתֵּן אֱמֶת לְיַעֲקֹב (You give truth to Yaakov).
For these reasons, many parshanim defend Yaakov’s actions. Here are two of these interpretations. See if you can explain the difference between them!
אֵין סָפֵק שֶׁכָּל דְּבָרָיו שֶׁל יַעֲקֹב אֵין בָּהֶם כִּי אִם אֱמֶת...
כְּשֶׁאָמַר "אָנֹכִי עֵשָׂו בְּכֹרֶךָ" רָצָה בּוֹ אָנֹכִי בִּמְקוֹם עֵשָׂו, וּבְכוֹרְךָ כְּלוֹמַר לַבְּכוֹרָה. וּבִשְׁבִיל הַבְּכוֹרָה רָצָה יִצְחָק לְבָרֵךְ אֶת עֵשָׂו, וְעַל כֵּן הָיוּ הַבְּרָכוֹת רְאוּיוֹת לְיַעֲקֹב.
There is no doubt that Yaakov only spoke the truth…
When Yaakov said “I am Esav, your firstborn,” he meant to say, “I am here in place of Esav, as your firstborn for the birthright.” Yitzhak had wanted to bless Esav because of the firstborn birthright. But since Yaakov had bought it, the berakhot really belonged to Yaakov (who could stand in as the firstborn).
כִּי הַנְּבִיאִים...אִם יִצְטָרְכוּ לֵאמֹר דָּבָר שֶׁאֵינֶנּוּ כַּהֹגֶן, לְפִי צֹרֶךְ הַשָּׁעָה, לֹא יַזִּיק.
When it comes to prophets…if they have to say something that isn’t entirely true, if the situation calls for it, no harm is done.
- Did Yaakov lie? What does Rabbeinu Behaye think, and what does Ibn Ezra think?
- How does each one change the way we read the story?
- What would you have done if you were in Yaakov’s shoes?
- Can you think of situations when it’s ok to lie? What if you’re in a tough position, and you don’t want to lie? What other options are there?
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