Parshas Toldos
1. In the blessing with which Yitzchak blessed Yaakov when he sent him to Padan Aram, the verse says,[1] "And may He give you the blessing of Avraham." Rashi quotes the words "the blessing of Avraham" and explains: "For He said to him,[2] 'I will make you a great nation'[3] and 'through your seed shall they be blessed.'[4] Let those blessings be for him"[5] (as will be discussed below in section 4).[6]
This is not understood:
a) The verse itself goes on to explain what the blessing of Avraham is — "that you may inherit the land of your sojourning." So (1) why does Rashi need to pause here to explain at all? And (2) further: Rashi explains that "the blessing of Avraham" means other blessings ("I will make you a great nation" and "through your seed shall they be blessed"), not the blessing explicitly stated here in the verse?!
b) Even if for some reason Rashi is compelled to say that the verse here means further blessings, where is the proof that these are specifically the two blessings "I will make you a great nation" and "through your seed shall they be blessed"?[7] In addition: the matter and content of "I will make you a great nation"[8] is found in the blessings of Avraham in expressions with more emphasis on an extraordinary increase — for example, what G‑d said to Avraham: "And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth…,"[9] "I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens…"[10]
[It is difficult to answer that the blessings "…as the dust of the earth" or "…as the stars of the heavens" are only a description of the details of quantity of the blessing "I will make you a great nation," which is the main point and essence of the blessing, and that Rashi brings the general and main blessing and not the details.
For (a) this does not sit well at all: from the very fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, set apart the promises "And I will make… as the dust of the earth" and "I will multiply… as the stars of the heavens…" as separate blessings, it is proven that they contain a special addition beyond the blessing "I will make you a great nation" (as is also plainly understood, for "a great nation" can also mean an increase that is smaller, not even comparable to "the dust of the earth" or "the stars of the heavens"). Further, and most importantly, (b) even of Yishmael the blessing of "a great nation" was said[11] —
and according to this it is even clearer why the blessings "as the dust of the earth" and "the stars of the heavens" are needed — an additional and special blessing,[12] since this is only for the children of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.]
c) Even more surprising: seemingly there is a compelling reason to say that the verse here specifically does not mean these two blessings, for those blessings were also said (earlier) to Yitzchak:[13] "And I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens… and through your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Why then did Yitzchak need to bless Yaakov with the blessing of Avraham, when he himself had been blessed with the same blessings? It would be more fitting for Yitzchak to say that he gives Yaakov the blessings that he himself had received.[14]
2. Regarding Rashi's learning that "the blessing of Avraham" does not mean inheriting the land, the commentators[15] say that the reason is that inheriting the land "is a gift and not a blessing."
[One may add to this[16] (why Rashi does not want to learn that "the blessing of Avraham" means the continuation of the verse, "that you may inherit the land of your sojourning"): the verse itself concludes "which G‑d gave to Avraham," meaning that G‑d had already given it to Avraham. Consequently it is not fitting to say "And may He give you the blessing of Avraham," when with Avraham too this was already (not a blessing for the future, but) an actual giving, in the past.]
But this calls for explanation. Just as we learn about "I will make you a great nation" (which G‑d promised Avraham) that this was Yitzchak's blessing to Yaakov, meaning that the promise should be fulfilled in Yaakov and his sons — we can learn the same regarding inheriting the land. Since in actuality (according to the plain meaning) the land had not yet been given to Avraham, and it is only that "the saying of the Holy One, blessed be He, is as if it were done,"[17] then the blessing[18] is that G‑d's promise of giving Eretz Yisrael to Avraham should actually be carried out in Yaakov and his sons, that they should be the ones who actually inherit Eretz Yisrael.[19]
[And if the compelling reason were (only) from the continuation of the verse, Rashi would have quoted not only the words "the blessing of Avraham" but also the continuation of the verse;[19*] or at least hinted at them by adding "etc."]
3. Seemingly one could say that by "I will make you a great nation and through your seed shall they be blessed," which Rashi brings, he does not mean specifically those two blessings, but that they include all the blessings with which G‑d blessed Avraham (which are found between the two — "I will make you a great nation" is G‑d's first blessing to Avraham and "through your seed shall they be blessed" is the last).
But the strain in this is understood: a) Rashi should at least have hinted that he also means all the blessings in between; and most importantly, b) Rashi concludes (as below), "from you shall come forth that nation and that blessed seed," from which it is understood that he specifically means those two blessings.[20]
4. Rashi continues: "Let those blessings that were said[21] be for your sake: from you shall come forth that nation and that blessed seed."[22]
This is entirely not understood — what does the length of the wording add? It is the plain meaning of Scripture that the blessings "I will make you a great nation and through your seed shall they be blessed," which Rashi brings as "the blessing of Avraham," refer to "And may He give you" — to Yaakov!
[With some strain one could say that Rashi's words "Let those blessings that were said be for your sake" (as commentators[23] explain Rashi's intent) mean that "And may He give you the blessing of Avraham" means that he gives the very blessings to Yaakov, not that Yaakov should be blessed with blessings similar to the blessing of Avraham, in which case the blessings (the blessing of Avraham) could be given away to someone else.
But the continuation and conclusion of the wording, "from you shall come forth that nation and that blessed seed," is merely a repetition, already understood from "Let those blessings that were said be for your sake."]
We must also understand: since Rashi is explaining the words "the blessing of Avraham," why does he also quote from the verse the word "es" ("the")?[24]
5. The explanation of all this: the difficulty Rashi is resolving in the verse is this: when the Torah relates a blessing someone received, it generally states alongside it the cause and reason for it, or else it is self-understood. We find this with the previous blessing Yitzchak gave, where Yitzchak said,[25] "Behold now, I have grown old… make me delicacies… so that my soul may bless you before I die." So too with the blessings with which G‑d blessed Yitzchak when He said,[26] "Sojourn in this land": this is because "he (Yitzchak) intended to go down to Egypt…"[27] So too with the blessings after the Akeidah, where it says[28] that this is "because you listened to My voice," and likewise in several places. In our case, however, the verse does not indicate — and it is not self-understood — for what reason Yitzchak now blessed Yaakov.[29]
The blessing "And may G‑d Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and you shall become a congregation of peoples" we can understand: since Yitzchak sent Yaakov to make a match, he therefore blessed him, "And may G‑d Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you…"[30] But what connection does this have to the continuation, "And may He give you the blessing of Avraham, to you and to your seed with you, that you may inherit the land of your sojourning"? [If "the blessing of Avraham" means inheriting the land, it belongs rather to the previous blessing, "And may G‑d give you… of the fatness of the earth…"[31] (which was Yitzchak's blessing to Yaakov "before I die"[32]).]
6. That is why Rashi explains that "the blessing of Avraham" too is a blessing connected with the match, since it means the blessing "I will make you a great nation and through your seed shall they be blessed" (which are a continuation and detailing of the previous blessing, "And may G‑d Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you…"), a continuation and detailing of "and take yourself a wife from there": to have many children ("I will make you a great nation"[33]), and that they should be such children of whom it can be said "through your seed shall they be blessed."
But he is precise to add the wording "the blessing of Avraham," for what is needed here is not simply a blessing connected with a match ("make you fruitful and multiply you"), and (also) not simply a blessing given to Avraham, but the special blessing that concerned Avraham in particular (and that is also why Rashi quotes the word "es"):
Yaakov had to set out on the road ("Arise, go to Padan Aram"), and we already know from earlier that a "road" lessens "fruitfulness and multiplying" and "lessens one's name."[34] Therefore Yitzchak added, "And may He give you the blessing of Avraham": the blessing "I will make you a great nation" was given to Avraham specifically because of this ("Go forth from your land"), which lessens fruitfulness and multiplying,[35] as Rashi explains there.
And so too with the blessing "through your seed shall they be blessed": that the "road" should not bring about a lessening of the name of his children [whereas the blessings that concern him (Yaakov) himself, including the blessing that his name not be lessened,[36] are included in the blessing Yitzchak gave him earlier[37]].
7. But the question is: what is Yitzchak's intent in blessing Yaakov with the special blessings of "the blessing of Avraham," when these blessings seemingly were not fulfilled in Avraham himself?
[It is true that the intent of the blessings is for the future and for later generations. But since the blessing was given to Avraham because his "road" lessens fruitfulness and multiplying, the blessing refers to the fruitfulness and multiplying of Avraham himself — and seemingly we do not see this.]
For to Avraham only one son was born from Sarah, Yitzchak, for "specifically through Yitzchak shall your seed be called"[38] (unlike Yishmael and the sons of Keturah).[39] How then can it be said that in the birth of one son (Yitzchak) there was expressed the blessing of fruitfulness and multiplying, which resolves the lessening of fruitfulness and multiplying through a road?
And so too regarding the blessing "through your seed shall they be blessed": we seemingly do not find this fulfilled in Avraham's own children. On the contrary (besides that "specifically through Yitzchak shall your seed be called," as above), even before Yitzchak was born, it was said about Yishmael, "And he shall be a wild man; his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him" — "all hate him and provoke him."[40]
That is why Rashi continues, "Let those blessings that were said be for your sake": the very blessings said to Avraham will be because of Yaakov[41] — specifically in him they will actually be fulfilled. And so it indeed was in actuality: to Yaakov were born the twelve tribes,[42] in which is already discernible the beginning and foundation of a great nation. We see the effect of the blessing, which resolves and negates the lessening of fruitfulness and multiplying through a "road."
8. It may further be said that with this Rashi answers another question in the plain meaning of Scripture: how is it that Yitzchak sent Yaakov himself, "to Padan Aram… and take yourself a wife from there," and did not act like his father Avraham, who sent an agent and instructed him,[43] "and you shall take a wife for my son from there"?[44] [For Yitzchak's sending Yaakov was only with the intent of making a match there — not to flee from Esav,[45] for Rivkah did not (in the plain meaning of Scripture) reveal this to Yitzchak.[46]]
One cannot distinguish by saying that Yitzchak's match had to come through an agent because Yitzchak was "an unblemished burnt offering" (because of the Akeidah) and therefore could not leave Eretz Yisrael (whereas Yaakov could leave). For in the plain meaning of Scripture, this was not the reason why Avraham did not want to let Yitzchak go by himself to Aram Naharayim;[47] and only later was it revealed to Yitzchak that he was an "unblemished burnt offering, and outside the land is not worthy of you."[48]
This question,[49] why Yitzchak did send Yaakov to Padan Aram,[50] is answered by what Yitzchak added: "And may He give you the blessing of Avraham — I will make you a great nation and through your seed shall they be blessed."
G‑d's blessing Avraham with "I will make you a great nation" was connected with "Go forth," because of (and as a reward for) the journey on the road, etc.[51] That is why Yitzchak sent Yaakov, "Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Besuel… and take yourself a wife from there": by the merit of this journey he will receive the blessing of "I will make you a great nation"[52] ("and through your seed shall they be blessed").
9. But the question arises: we find that Yishmael too was blessed by G‑d with the same blessing:[53] "I have blessed him, and I will make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly; he shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation." In what then does the special superiority of this blessing to Yaakov consist? Harder still, in G‑d's prophecy Esav as a "nation" is compared with Yaakov — "two nations," "two peoples."[54]
That is why Rashi adds, "from you shall come forth that nation and that blessed seed." In contrast,[55] the blessing connected with Yishmael, and likewise what was said about Esav, have no connection to the blessing with which G‑d blessed Avraham.
10. According to this, the continuation and conclusion of the verse is also understood: since Yaakov goes away from Eretz Yisrael and builds his household outside the land, and on the contrary, the blessing of "a great nation" is connected in his case specifically with his going away on the road (outside the land), while Esav remains in Eretz Yisrael, one might therefore think that Esav remains the one in possession of Eretz Yisrael.[56]
So Yitzchak adds, "that you may inherit the land of your sojourning, which G‑d gave to Avraham." On the contrary, since "those blessings that were said are for your sake: from you shall come forth that nation and that blessed seed," it is understood and simple that the land "which G‑d gave to Avraham" belongs specifically and only to Yaakov and his seed after him.[57]
Being "that nation and that seed," the land was given only to them.
11. Another point in Yitzchak's blessing, "Let those blessings that were said be for your sake: from you shall come forth that nation and that blessed seed," which belongs especially to the blessing "I will make you a great nation and through your seed shall they be blessed":
The wording of the blessing "And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth…" or "as the stars of the heavens," "and as the sand on the seashore" (and likewise the beginning of the blessing Yitzchak said to Yaakov here, "make you fruitful and multiply you") brings out the tremendous increase in the number of children who will come from him, but there is not discernible in this their connection and relation to him, that they are called by his name.
But the blessing "I will make you a great nation" emphasizes that all the children and descendants are attributed to him, that he is the "great nation."[58] So too regarding the blessing "and through your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed": this will be in such a way that they will bless themselves with them as "your seed," your children, the children of Avraham.
This was the blessing of Yitzchak: "And may He give you the blessing of Avraham — I will make you a great nation and through your seed shall they be blessed. Let those blessings that were said be for your sake: from you shall come forth that nation and that blessed seed." That is, "I will make you a great nation" should be expressed only in Yaakov — and as we see, all Israel are called the tribes of Israel (the children of Israel) by the name of Yaakov; and so too "through your seed shall they be blessed" — as the children of Yaakov.
(From a talk of Shabbos Parshas Toldos, 5731)
Key Lesson
A journey away from home seems to lessen a person: his children, his name. Yet the blessing of "a great nation" came to Avraham precisely because he went forth, and Yitzchak sent Yaakov himself on the road so that the blessing would come true in him. All Israel carry Yaakov's name, and the going out to a far place, for the sake of a Jewish home, is itself what builds the great nation.