Chapter 27 verse 1.
When Yizhaq had become old, his eyes were dimmed and he did not see; he summoned his older son, Esau, and said to him: 'my son', and he (Esau) answered: 'here I am.'" (27: 1).
The notion that Yizhaqs eyes "dimmed" is explained by Rashi in three ways.
Wives First, Rashi connects the problem of vision to the wives of Esau mentioned in the last two verses of the previous chapter. The problem was caused by "some of the incense that they burned to worship idols." This could mean that there was a physical problem caused by the smoke itself. Alternatively, we might understand that Yizhaq was reacting in a physical manner to the presence of idol worship: his defective vision was a kind of physical reaction to the spiritual debasement brought about by Esau and his wives.
Such an idea may be suggested in the words, "They were disagreeable to the spirit of Yizhaq and Rivka…" (27: 35). For Rashi, "disagreeable to the spirit" means "to stand against someone's spirit". Esau's wives were a source of anguish to Yizhaq and Rivka: this because they worshipped idols.
According to Rashi, that they worshipped idols is implied by the anger and the anguish felt by Esau's parents when their son (through his wives) brought idolatry into his home. Yizhaq's suffering over this included the dimming of his eyes.
Tears Rashi's second interpretation, recalls the akedah, the sacrifice of Yizhaq.
When Yizhad had been bound on the alter and his father was about to sacrifice him, the heavens opened. The angels saw what was happening and they began to cry. The tears of the angels that fell into Yizhaq's eyes would cause Yizhaq's eyes to dim later in his life.
The test of Mount Moriah changed Yizhaq. He was no longer able to see the world with the kind of clarity that he had had previously. The tears made him sensitive and appreciative in new ways. Yizhaq's eyes could not look at the evil that might have been in his place; the event of the sacrifice had dimmed his perception. Now, Yizhaq was aligned with the angels: their tears had become his tears. Avraham's vision had always understood that the masses of people had erred, terribly; fixing things, re-establishing the world in accordance with Divine will was Avraham's mission. That activist vision was not carried forward by Yizhaq.
Perhaps the most striking illustration of the difference lies in Yizhaq's strange mistake: his desire to bless his son Esau. Yizhak did not perceive Esau's wickedness. He looked at Esau as he looked at the whole world... though the angels' tears.
For Yaakov Avinu The third interpretation Rashi presented points to Yaakov: Yizhak's eyes dimmed so that Yaakov would receive the blessings destined to be his.
The story of Yizhaq being fooled by Rivka; the blessing intended for Esau devolving upon Yaakov; all this, was willed by Providence. Yizhak's eyes dimmed in order to make those events possible. It was not an event of the past but a concern for the future that dimmed Yaakov's eyes: Yaakov, and not to Esau, would be blessed. Yizhaq's ideas about Esau would not prevail.
Our Puzzlement How could Yizhaq have been so wrongheaded? How did Yizhaq manage to misjudge the situation? There is no doubt that for Yizhaq, his father Avraham was a model and a guide for all actions. Avraham had two sons. How Avraham treated his children will help us to understand the position that Yizhaq adopted. Consider the following verse:
"To the children of Avraham's concubines, Avraham gave gifts, then he sent them away from Yizhaq while he was still alive, to the land of the east…" (25: 6).
On the one hand, property that could not be transferred to Yizhaq, property that needed to be divested from the house of Avraham, that was given to the children. Alternatively, the gifts that he received from those who sought his approval, all of these were given away: Avraham did not want to have any benefit from them.
According to the first view, Yizhaq was the sole inheritor of Avraham's wealth and spirit. The children of the other wives received only those things that Avraham didn't want and couldn't give to Yizhaq as an inheritance. Yizhaq wanted to make the same kind of deal for Esau. If Avraham's "other children" each received gifts, Esau too should receive a gift. Yizhaq planned to divest himself of the property (the brachot) that would not be given to Yaakov. Yizhaq wanted Esau to be a repository for the non-essential inheritance.
In Conclusion Rashi taught us three facts. One: Yizhak was other- worldly and remained ever in the spiritual moment of being offered as a sacrifice to G-d. Two: he was aware of the difficulties of Esau and his wives. Three: that Rivka should be able to perpetrate her ruse and insure that Yaakov would get all the blessings coming to him.
If these three facts are all true then the person of Yizhaq and the deception that he would undergo make a certain sense.
A person like Yizhaq, though he knew the truth, could not make the sharp distinctions that Avraham made. As a result, Yizhaq was willing to offer Esau certain blessings that should have gone to Yaakov. Yizhaq was not entirely of this world and could not judge Esau (just as his father had difficulty in judging Yishmael).
Yizhaq knew but did not really know. He smelled the incense but live in a world created by the tears of the angels.
For Rivka, there was no choice but the course that she chose.
Gut shabbos. Chaim Brovender
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