[Avodah] Sedra Toldos - Balance, When Parents Favour One Child

[Rabbi Meir G. Rabi]

I prefer not to be so speculative about the motivations,
Eisav had failings, but Yitzchak felt that the person who was supposed to
go out into the real world,
But what I proposed does not exclude that possibility. Although, giving the
blessings to someone with known failings seems unlikely. Depends I suppose
on how extensive those failings are or how well they were known to
Yitzchak.
Or it might just be that he was the Bechor, HKBH's choice. Should Yitzchak
challenge HKBH?

I wrote -
Yitzchak understood, he encouraged Eisav to hunt and cook for him. He even
reminded Eisav ....
Eisav loved his father and he loved hunting [25:27]. He desperately sought
his father's approval. He pursued this as he best knew, by hunting and even
by lying. We might even say that he felt as though he was hunting for his
father's love.

Yitzchak understood, he encouraged Eisav to hunt and cook for him. He even
reminded Eisav to take his hunting weapons when he instructs him to hunt
and prepare food before he blesses him - Yitzchak wants Eisav to be engaged
in the hunting and preparation of the food, because it is this engagement
that is their link and best encapsulates his approval of his son Eisav. In
other words, "It's not the food I want, for that I could ask your mother or
you could grab an animal from our flock - it would be much quicker. No, I
want you to be of service to me. Knowing that you have hunted to provide
for me makes me happy and I enjoy the food more."

Eisav knew that his mother was capable of and willing to provide her
husband with all the tasty food he could stomach. He got the message that
it was not food that Yitzchak wanted. Yitzchak was reaching out to Eisav,
knowing how desperately Eisav sought his approval. Eisav learned how to
cook in order to express his love. He even deceived Yitchak, painting
himself as the Gd fearing son in order to win his father's approval.

Best,

M
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