October 29, 2010 · 00:47:14
Why Did Rebecca Dress Jacob in Esau's Clothes? Because She Was Thinking About the Jew Who Would Say Goodbye to the ShtetlIsaac grows old and his eyes dim. He expresses his desire to bless his beloved and eldest son Esau before he dies. While Esau goes off to hunt for his father's favorite food, Rebecca – his wife – dresses Jacob in Esau's clothes, covers his arms and neck with goatskins to simulate the feel of his hairier brother, prepares a similar dish, and sends Jacob to his father with the food. Isaac suspects that something is amiss and insists on feeling his son. He concludes that the ‘voice is the voice of Jacob, and the hands are the hands of Esau.’ Isaac also mentions that the smell of Jacob’s garments are like the smell of ‘the field that G-d has blessed.’ Isaac then blesses Jacob with ‘the dew of the heaven and the fat of the land’ and mastery over his brother.' The questions cannot be ignored: If Rebecca had a good reason as to why Esau was undeserving of his father's blessings, why couldn't she communicate directly to Isaac? Why couldn't Rebecca ""follow"" the glorious old tradition of Jewish wives who commonly explain to their husbands how wrong they are? Indeed, Rebecca had a good argument against granting the blessings to Esau, one that Isaac would certainly understand. Jacob is ""a wholesome man, a dweller of the tents of study,"" whereas Esau is described as a ""skilled hunter, a man of the field."" Jacob