And may God give you of
the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance of corn and
wine. Genesis 27:28
And Isaac his father
answered and said to him: “behold of the fatness of the earth shall be your dwelling
and of the dew of heaven above. Ibid. 27:39
At
first glance, it would seem that the blessing Isaac gave to Esau (27:39) is
very similar to that which he gave to Jacob (27:28).
Rabbi
Aharon Soloveichik noted that Jacob was blessed with heaven and earth,
while for Esau the two are kept separate (and the dew of heaven above). Jacob’s
blessing is that the heavenly and earthly shall be combined, while for Esau
they remain separate realms. Indeed, the approach of Torah, given to Jacob’s descendants
is that the heavenly shall influence the earthly.
Sfat
Emet notes that the
blessing to Jacob is God’s active giving to him, while for Esau it is merely
“the fatness of the earth shall be ...” It is only Jacob who appreciates that
whatever he has attained tangibly and of an earthly nature was given to him by
God. In truth, the very fact of receiving something from God is of infinitely
greater significance than the content that has been received. Since Esau fails
to appreciate the source of his worldly possessions, he is not truly blessed.
The essence of receiving God’s blessing is the connection with God. This
blessing was restricted to Jacob.
Rashi,
quoting Breishit Rabba on 27:28, comments “may He give you and continue
to give you”. This comment conveys another significant advantage of Jacob’s
blessing, says Sfat Emet. Jacob constantly renews his personal
relationship with God.
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