Everyone knows the story of Jacob and Rebecca teaming up to trick Isaac out of the blessing intended for Eisav the firstborn. Isaac was blind, he sent Eisav off to hunt for a delicacy and in the meantime Rebecca prepared a delicacy at home and dressed Jacob with furs so that his arms would feel as hairy as Eisav. Isaac seems a little confused, he says, “The voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands are the hands of Eisav.” But he blesses him anyways.
That’s the simple basic version of the story. There are lots of questions. Was Isaac totally out of touch? Was he so oblivious to the reality to think that the wicked Eisav deserved the blessing more than Jacob did? We know Isaac was suspicious. Just before blessing Jacob he observed, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Eisav.” If he suspected something was amiss, why did he go ahead and bless him?
Another strange aspect of this whole story is the actual content of the blessing. Take a look at the blessing that Jacob stole. It’s a blessing for prosperity and power. It speaks of grain and dew. Then skip to the end of this Torah portion, where Isaac blesses Jacob before he runs away from home. That blessing is much more appropriate and Jacob-like. That blessing includes the heritage of Abraham and the promise of the Land of Israel. That’s more like it. It seems like Isaac had planned a spiritual blessing for Jacob and a physical blessing for Esav. So why did Jacob have to go and steal Eisav’s physical blessing?
Because of all these questions and more, the Chassidic explanation delves deeper than the simple literal meaning for a rich and beautiful interpretation that’s relevant and applicable to our lives today.
Tanya 27 explains that the meaning of Jacob’s request, “Make me Delicacies so that I may bless you,” is more than what Isaac told Eisav a few thousand years ago. This is a continuous call and charge of the Divine Presence to all of the Jewish People!
G-d enjoys two types of delicacies – which is why the verse refers to it in plural. (a) Sweet foods that taste good from the start: A piece of cake, fresh fruit or a candy. (b) Sharp or spicy foods, that when properly prepared are delicious to a more mature palate. Think pickle or hot sauce. Think of this as sweet and savory. Kids love sweets. Then adults mature into appreciated a savory or sharp taste in food.
This isn’t just about food. Sweet and savory is a metaphor for two ways that we can serve G-d. The first is with things like Tefillin or Torah study which is straight up good and holy, the second is with things that involve challenge and effort, they have some kick and tang and zest. G-d wants both! In the language of Chassidus it’s the difference between Iskafya and Ishapcha, the struggle of the Benoni versus the soaring spiritual heights of the Tzaddik.
You can even think of it as the difference between a college age kid living in Jerusalem or Brooklyn versus being a student trying to do Judaism here at UAlbany. Isaac figured that Jacob was the spiritual type, studying Torah all day, sitting in the tent. He couldn’t see Jacob making the spicy, zesty, challenge type of pleasure for G-d. So Isaac thought he’d give Jacob the spiritual blessing, but give Eisav the physical one. He hoped that Eisav would be up to the challenge to bring G-dliness to a physical world, to create that spicy and sharp type of pleasure for G-d, with a kick.
Rebecca saw it differently. She knew Eisav wouldn’t utilize the physical blessing toward a G-dly end. And she realized that Jacob had another side to him. By dressing him in fur, she demonstrated that Jacob can be both the voice of Jacob and the hands of Eisav. She saw his ability to prepare and produce both types of delicacies for G-d. When Isaac saw that, he went ahead and gave him the physical blessing too.
Remember the mission! Our task is to make both types of delicacies in our daily lives from which G-d derives great pleasure! Sweet and savory!