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Chumash B’Iyun - Did Yaakov Tell the Truth? By Rabbi James Kennard
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Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
this week's paraa is to do and which
the the main element in toot is the
giving of the bra to the by to one of
his sons and we're all familiar with the
story he plans to give it to asav Rifka
overhears Rifka tells Yakov to dress up
as asav and go and get the braa himself
and we come to in quote number one
goes into his father bearing the food
that his father asked to be
prepared andov said my
father and
replied here I
am who are you my
sonov said to his
father I am as your
firstborn a and I have
done like you have said to me in other
words I've prepared the food I've caught
the the game like you asked
me now get up and sit and
eat from my
trappings in order that you can bless my
your soul can bless me now we have a
like this little problem in this verse
what's the little problem in this verse
seems like a
lie our ancest says I am asov your
firstborn and the little problem is he's
not and therefore he seems to be saying
something which is not true which we
would perhaps not expect of our
Patriarchs let's go on a little bit
further in the
conversation is clearly not totally
convinced who which son he's talking
toov says are you this my son
asov and he replied yes I am or he
replied I am or I and then later on as
turns up
in his father said to asov who are you
because I'm getting confused of all
these Sons coming in and out same
name and as says I am your son your
firstborn asov so is asov telling the
truth yes asov gets it right maybe we
should be the descendants of asov which
is perhaps what y intended and not the
descendants of yakob so we have here a
huge problem it's a well-known problem
it's a much discussed problem there are
dozens of responses to this we're going
to go through hopefully four which is
really three and a half as I will
explain which actually cover I think the
main spectrum of how we respond to this
how do we deal with our ancestor yakob
of whom it said tiain emov Hashem gives
truth to yakob we say that every morning
how can it be that he says a little bit
of a what we call in London a pcup pie a
untruth okay so we're going to see as I
say four approaches which is really
three and a half and we're going to
start with the Radu R David Kimi
says as follows in number two on the
words there are those who Express
wonder how could Yakov who was a sadic
and a fearer of God how could he speak
false so obviously the starting point is
we shouldn't speak false the Tor
says keep away from a false thing some
want to say that's more encompassing
than just don't lie someone to say
that's less encompassing than don't lie
but certainly we should be people of
Truth the the signature of Hashem is
truth and we would expect our ancestors
to be telling the truth how could Yakov
who is a sadic how could he Co how could
the Sid coexist with the she says the
end of line one the it's not a question
because here's the answer
knew that he was more fitting for the BR
than his brother and then
the the spirit of no of
Prophecy that will settle on to give the
blessing just pause for a minute um
theak is saying something I think
important of the whole story is why was
this blessing so incredibly important
why did Yakov and asov come to such
blows over who was going to get it and
the answer is because it's more than
just a braa when one of us blesses
another of us we just hope for um Hashem
should uh shine on the person whom we
are blessing but there's no guarantee
that that will happen y according to
radak was speaking with a spirit of NAA
of Prophecy and when he says to whomever
whichever son he thinks he's speaking to
you're going to get this blessing and
this blessing and this bounty and this
produce it's a NAA it's a prophet
so says uh and it's got an effect so
says Yakov the spirit of NAA which will
rest on my
father to bless
him Hashem himself who is providing the
N will cause that the braa goes on yov
and not on his
brother because yov is more fitting in
hashem's eyes than him than asov Yakov
knows that when Hashem through y wants
to give a br to the son who is most
appropriate that son is him is yov and
therefore he is the real recipient of
the braa and he says and a very
important Point really sums up his
position end of line
three and a swapping of things in these
situ
ations it's not a disgrace it's not
a a defaming thing to a sadik and then
he gives some proofs for that so his
basic answer to our question is yov
wanted the braa to go to the one who
should get the braa which by coincidence
was himself so when he says I am asov
yes he is lying but he's lying in a way
to bring about something that Hashem
wants to happen and that's not called a
gai and a I think it's significant that
the ru and this will be borne out by
what's going to come next the redu does
not say this is not a lie he says the
way I read it a lie in this circumstance
is not a gai it's not a disgrace it's
not a hasem it's not a defamation it is
a lie I think the Rak is saying that but
in this case it's a lie that's permitted
uh it's it's it's not anything wrong
because yakob is bringing about what
Hashem wants to happen and then he says
um we can see other examples of this um
middle of line four and this is a
classic example which is often quoted in
the debate is it ever permitted to
lie hasem said to so I just pause here
let's set the scene sha is king um in
the time of SCH sh the navi sha is the
king it's not working out so well sha is
not proving to be the most reliable of
kings and Hashem want to go and anoint
David this this young man in Bethlehem
to be the King instead of sha and SCH
says there's a problem here sha if he
hears about this won't be best please in
fact he will kill me so what should I do
so Hashem says to end of line
four take a cal with you in your hands
and said
I've come to make a sacrifice to Hashem
I'm going to don't tell people you're
going to to anint of it because that'll
be dangerous go and tell people you're
going to bleim to have a sacrifice now
the interesting thing here and this is
the example often quoted is it's not
untrue SCH did take a cal and did
conduct a sacrifice and then he went to
a night du it so this example which the
redact bringing here to show that it's
okay under special circumstances with
hashem's approval to say something
that's not true is not necessarily a
complete example what's going on there
is SCH is telling the truth but not the
whole truth when scho says I've come to
make a sacrifice it is true but it's
also deceptive but however I think the
next examples are better for the reduxx
position middle of line
five both Abraham twice and once said
regarding their wives
she is my
sister and yet we don't think of Abraham
and Y as speakers of falsehood so they
say something that's not true they said
regarding their wives but they were
their
sisters okay so there are circumstances
say the radak where a lie is not
considered something that you shouldn't
do that's how I think he's he's
balancing it let me just finish the
paragraph and then we'll take a question
so they and yit it wases it was to save
their own lives it was to save their
wives lives or to save their wives from
from something even worse um they spoke
something which was not true but says
the they're not called speakers of
falsehood because out of fear they said
what they
saidov and now let's get back to Yakov
he fits in the same pattern like schm
like Abraham like Yak yob did what he
had to do to receive the BR of his
father and if he switched his words this
is not called that doesn't make him a do
and I think again the radak is being
very precise is it a falsehood yes it is
a falsehood but does that make Yakov a
liar no it doesn't make him a liar
because there are falsehoods which might
be necessary which don't change the sidk
the righteousness of the person saying
it there still he he doesn't become a
even though he said one thing that
wasn't true that doesn't determine who
he
is and furthermore it was the Mitzvah of
his mother his mother told him to do
this a person should fear their mother
and father and do what they say now we
also are told
by kazal um that if your mother or
father tells you to go against that you
shouldn't do that and the classic
example is if your parent tells you to
break Shabbat you should not listen to
your parents you should not break
Shabbat so the radak is is is finding
different ways to make the same point
yes this is a lie under no under usual
circumstances it shouldn't be done but
under these circumstances it was the
right thing to do and his mother was
telling him the right thing to do she
wasn't telling him the wrong thing to do
and therefore for part of his Mitzvah
was to respect what her mother said and
we'll just pause there because there's
one more point that that brings but I'll
take the question over here sorry sorry
behind you just I'll come to you in a
moment ASA or is he giving it to yob
when you talk about the see if he says
I'm ASA is this what heed for as or is
this what
heed okay
there's a huge question I I think there
is a clear answer to that but I I I I'm
going to draw a line in this year
because time is limited on what was
yak's plan and I'll just mention that
when asov comes in all upset and asov
says have you got one little braa left
for me the yak says well all right I'll
find one little braa which which is a
story in itself for um and then at the
very end of the para calls in yov knows
he yov and gives him the Abraham The
Blessing of Abraham itself so perhaps
you can say and I think the evidence is
quite strong that there was a certain
blessing that yak always intended for
yakob however I think uh it's it's it's
reasonable to say the answer to your
question is sorry yov says I amov gives
him the bra intended that bra to go to
asov yes I was
lawyer
didn't okay we'll get to Rashi who is
going to say what you're saying Rashi
obviously it was trained in the same
legal school okay we will get to that
for sure
yes about which is before talking about
and also it it it it says by Abra when
Sor says that my husband is uh is old
then also well that yeah that by Abraham
when Sarah says my husband and I are
both old how can I have a baby and
Hashem himself is that doesn't tell the
whole story yet
[Music]
okay no uncomfortable of all the the
question
okay so you're you're right this because
we want Hashem wants us us to have a
good piece of Torah to learn um that's
why it's so complicated but but um
you're right it's forced absolutely
because we've dealing with a very hard
challenge here Yakov is a sadic Yakov is
lying how can we reconcile the two but
but we says the radak on good authority
and the radak is the radak we have
examples of Abraham y SCH saying things
that aren't true but in a Justified for
a Justified reason and then it becomes
that again I think this is a very ke
clear key phrase they don't become do
even though on that particular instance
they said a falsehood that doesn't
affect who they are okay um yes I just
wanted to ask that he had to be um his
mother told him to do it and uh he had
to keep yob had to keep keep aim indeed
I I the interesting the the challenge of
that did Yakov have to keep kib aim is
the the hak is if your parent tell you
to do something wrong you don't listen
to your parents that's what the alaka
says so it must be the radak is saying
that Rifka told him to do something
right which fits in with his whole
analysis this is the right thing to do
because it was right that he gets the
braa I'll just take this last question
and then I'll have to move on
yes there may have been other ways to do
this because the other false choices
from the previous examples that you gave
us had no negative consequences here
it's a history of negative consequences
so the implication is
exact um
maybe okay so was it the right way to do
this I I'll leave that as a maybe
because I want to get on um the radak
continues he said
[Music]
um thank you the radat continues and
says as we were just saying that it was
a Mitzvah of his mother and then he says
in almost the last
line it was also a n and then he refer
refers us to vas so let's just jump to
okay let's just jump to number six sorry
number four number four um when Rifka
says to Yakov I want you to do this and
dress up as asov Etc and then Yakov says
this could be disastrous if my father
realizes that I'm deceiving him he'll
give me a curse not a br to which Rifka
says in number four IMO his mother said
to him his mother said to yov
Al your curse on me Ben my
son but just listen to what I'm saying
and go and do what I've
asked yeah can everyone please make sure
their phones are on silent it's h it
would help
everyone okay the tarum unus in number
five which normally translates literally
word for word and when he doesn't that
gets us all very excited because he says
translating number four into Aramaic but
Amar she said to himay his mother Al
itar
it was said to me by a
prophecy that no curse will come on you
the simple reading of number four is she
says the curse will come on me that's
how it's usually translated if there's a
curse don't worry Yakov because I'll be
the recipient of the curse says the
tarum that's not what she's saying and
perhaps that's not what she's saying
because it's it's it's pretty strange
for anyone to want a curse to fall on
them so the unus doesn't think that's
what um Rifka is saying he says and he
adds the words it was said to me to
Rifka in a na that there wouldn't be a
curse on you on you yakob what was the
Na she's referring to so at the very
beginning of the paraa when she's
pregnant and she notices there's two
babies going on she doesn't know what's
happening and she goes to Shem son of
Noah and Shem reports a prophecy that
you're carrying two children and the
older will serve
the younger so says Rifka that means I
have to bring about that the older
doesn't get the braa and the younger
does and the way the Tas explains that
is she's saying it's absolutely BEDA
it's absolutely okay I have been assured
from the big boss that there will be no
curse and that couldn't be more of a HK
of a permission from hakes than than the
the N that she's talking about so if I
can just go back to the redu in almost
the last line middle of the
line the translation of what looks like
on me will be your curse my son
is that it's been said to be AA that
there won't be a curse on you in other
words we have we have Yakov thinking
correctly but this is what Hashem wants
to happen because Yakov knows that he is
much more fitting for this blessing than
is Asa we have Rifka telling him to do
that and that's a Mitzvah of kib aim and
we have Rifka telling him that Hashem
has agreed to this in the na that Rifka
got and all these indications all these
circumstances push us to the conclusion
that was it a falsehood yes it was a
falsehood was it the right thing to do
yes it was the right thing to do okay
questions very
quickly that should
so well maybe
sorry his brothers was cor okay so the T
seems be ambiguous but I'm going to go I
I would suggest but the redu is saying
that when you get a NOA it is up to the
recipient of the NOA to bring it about
and that explains ysf and here this
would explain rivka that I think is the
Redux position
yes
given
okay but for some for
reasons for
reasons which other discussed but right
now we can just leave to AES that wasn't
hashem's
plan okay
yes I have a
question we'll come to that we'll come
to that okay I'm gonna move on I'm gonna
have to be a little bit uh rigorous and
not have time to take every question
because I do want to cover all the four
positions when
aren of hearing more astute so you would
think that he would have known may
an
except that he would
have senses so maybe that's why he was
able to say Yakov the voice is the voice
of yakob as but the hands are the hands
of asov because of the furriness but he
could hear the voice of the voice of
yakob and maybe that's and maybe that's
why he got so confused and yes there is
a position I forget who who says that y
knew all along but he was blessing Yakov
I think that personally I think that's
hard to sustain I'm going to move on
because as I said um I do want to move
on um to number eight so I said at the
beginning there's four positions which
is really three and a half the radak
really is a subset of the iban Ezra who
says the same thing but in a more
defiant way and the first line is really
a spoiler for what's going to come later
he says in number
eight God forbid that yob should be
lying Hani as a as a navi r who came but
rather what he said was Ani comma about
a semicolon m m Ani I'm who I
am and as is your firstborn that's
rashi's position which we will get to so
let's not discuss that now second
line and there's others who
say quietly he said the
word and then lifted up his
voice is your firstborn which is sort of
equivalent to the way Rashi tries to
find an answer but then says the Ean
Ezra third
line these are words and here he doesn't
mean Holy Spirit he means nonsense these
words are
foolish are divided into two sections
there's two types
of the first type is sorry is
who come to tell you how to do a
Mitzvah the second
type they're what we normally call
prophets by the way people who s say
what's going to happen in the
future
for and if they need to say something
which is not
correct that doesn't cause any
damage and I put in it's my word because
I think it has to be there but midox if
a can we turn off the phones please if a
who's or
na'vi okay I think we we've got the
message thank
you okay okay let's move
on as we were saying
umv somebody who's come to tell teach us
how to do a Mitzvah they can't say
anything wrong because if they did say
something wrong we'd be learning how to
do the Mitzvah wrongly that's no good
however
so when who's there to tell us about
mitv it cannot be that they tell a lie
that's
impossible G and now he gives examples
of nim who lied he gives a number of
examples
David is described as the man of
God and David said that the spirit of
hem is speaking in me
um except for his words
with and he said that the vessels of the
lads were holy for the needs of the time
this is referring to an incident where
David was running away he and his land
and they were very hungry and the only
food available was bread of Kusha that
had been set aside in the B mikdash and
he was told you can only eat this bread
if you and all your troop with you are
tahor not in a state of tumor and David
said we're all tahor no worries give us
the bread now um as far as I can see
it's not clear that David is saying
something untrue if you look in the text
um and and I couldn't see any evidence
that David was saying something untrue
but the iban Ezra thinks that was a
little lie and he thinks that David said
something untrue and it was necessary
because David was famished and his men
were famished and they couldn't carry on
without some food that's one example um
sorry we're running out of printing at
the bottom of the page here um and the
next
example uh end of line
six so Elisha was asked by the king of
Aram through a messenger is the king of
Aram going to survive the illness that
he was currently undergoing and Elisha
says to the messenger who
is Le go and say Lo to him now
interestingly there's ATIV and a here it
might be written or it might be written
which changes the
meaning you will
live even though that what Elisha
actually meant
is you will live from this
illness Hashem but Hashem has shown me
that he will be he will die and actually
Elisha was hinting to the messenger um
kazel that kazel should go back to the
king of Aram and say you're going to
live and then Kel should um kill him
which is what happened so again without
going into the details because there's a
lot to unpack there Elisha said in the
eyes of the iban Ezra something that's
not true
who to um there was a prayer said by a
Novi called M which again the izra I'm
not quite sure why regards it is
something that wasn't true wasn't going
to happen down to the last line on this
page Danielle and Danielle said when
nebeta said Please interpret my dream
Daniel
said don't worry this dream is for your
enemies it's a dream of lots of terrible
things and it's not going to happen to
you neuch caneta it's going to happen to
your enemies and that was also not true
but uh jumping through the next few
words last two words on the first page
if we turn over the page
Abraham Abraham said g which is the
introduction to quote number nine um he
said when Eli asked Abraham why did
Abraham say that Sarah was his sister
Abraham said I did uh there was reasons
I did it and it's not totally untrue
because abam says in number nine the gum
she is my sister on The Father's
line but she's not the sister for my
mother in other words she's my half
sister
for and she's become my wife now Rashi
there
says Rashi there says she wasn't his
sister as we would say she was his niece
she was the son of his brother but Rashi
says that there are many places in the
Kish where we count two gener is one
where we call our father grandfather or
the other way around I don't want to get
into detail so Rashi says that was in a
sense correct the izra doesn't agree H
and he says um number
10 what's correct in my eyes what
Abraham was saying at that
point he pushed away with
words according to the needs of the time
so whereas r
defends what abam is saying in a
slightly convoluted way as being true
the Ezra says it's not true Sarah was
not his half sister she may have been
his niece but she wasn't his half sister
so what Abraham is doing there is saying
something that's not true and the last
example that the iben Ezra brings going
back to the top of the page he
says this is Abraham at the aada and
Abraham says to the two Lads whom he's
brought with for the journey you stay
here at the bottom of the hill of the
mountain yak and I will go up to the top
we will prostrate we'll bow down
Thea and we plural will return and again
the mosim say what's Abram saying the
plan is not that we plural will return
but rather Abraham will return and Yak
not so good and yet Abraham says we will
return so again abim give different
explanations of why Abraham said this
but according to izra it's a not true
statement and izra would say that each
one of these examples I think if I count
toite there's five examples they're all
not truths for a good reason so says
Ezra nobody should be bothered by Yakov
also saying something that's not true
for a good reason doesn't spell out what
the good reason is I think we can take
that from the radak and perhaps our own
understanding but the basic position of
the izra is it's lie get over it it's
for a good
reason we'll get to Rashi that's how
we're leading up to Rashi as I usually
do but before we get to Rashi we'll go
via the
rabaya so the rabaya says in number
11 these are our words that are so
problematic I am as your
firstborn and similarly when when says
to yob asov are you really my son
asov and yob replies I and here he means
I
am so
the um who is not going to go down the
path of the izra at all is going to say
there is no doubt that take out all the
double negatives it is absolutely the
case that Yakov did only spoke the truth
so
well we we'll we'll get there according
the re's position is this is 100% true
100%
true and
thei tells
usov they say we say it every morning
give truth to Yakov Yakov is Mr truth so
don't tell me that Yakov told Al Li he
did not so the problem will be how can
we say that
is true it looks sort of not true but
the is saying very very defiantly it
must be true
so end of End of Line
two here when he
said I am your
firstborn what he meant to say what he's
implying
is I am here in place of asov the your
first born
I'm here for the B for the right of the
firstborn another thing that I'm not
going to get discussed today um because
our time is limited is what exactly was
the B first of all that Yakov bought
from asov and what was the B that wanted
to give to whichever sign he thought was
deserving uh it's not clear I'll just
say is it a financial matter in the
inheritance of when the father dies and
who gets the double portion going to a
firstborn or is it as Rashi says the
right to serve in the BET mikdash which
before it was given to levim was given
to the firstborns but whatever the Bor
the firstborn right whatever that was
was transferred from asev to Yakov when
Yakov bought it and asov was prepared to
give it to Yakov so going back to line
three Yakov is saying I am here in place
of asov because I am now the because the
the right of the firstborn belongs to
me and only wanted to bless as because
he was the possessor of the B so what
yov sorry yit wanted to do was bless the
son who had the B and to which yov says
I'm the son who has the B because I
bought it from asov
so I am playing the role of asov I.E of
the firstborn because I am actually now
the firstborn because I have the
um and therefore because Yakov was now
the B because he had bought the Bak y
the blessings were now fitting for
Yakov in place
of because he had already acquired yov
had acquired from as the for
whom and from the strength of being the
possessor of the B he now comes in place
of asov for the B to be given to him
by and everything that goes with
the and somebody comes I would say
perhaps on the authority of another
person Haru koho for omed bimo he is
like him and he is standing in his place
and I've just realized the most obvious
um uh analogy is he's got power of
attorney I didn't think of that until
now um and I apologize to any lawyers if
I've misunderstood the nature of power
of attorney but what he's saying is and
I would paraphrase it like this when
asov sold the B to Yakov he gave to
Yakov power of attorney in any matters
dealing with the bakar
so now as yob is the one who deserves
the bras which go with the B and
everything else that goes with it and
therefore he is coming in place of the
other person who doesn't have the Bor
anymore but that Bor has been
transferred to Yakov so he can say I
have come in place of asov I am playing
the role of asov and I am now the
B
um End of Line
we see this examp the idea of speaking
on behalf of other people um in a few
occasions but he gives an example
particularly when a Mal speaks when a
Mal speaks and he says for instance as
the Malak said to Yakov and I think
that's why he quotes this
example I am the god of beel was the Mal
Hashem no the Mal was the Mal so how can
he say I am Hashem he doesn't say I've
got a message from Hashem he doesn't say
I'm speaking on behalf of Hashem he says
I am Hashem because he is there on
behalf of Hashem I am Hashem so similar
if a Malik can say I am Hashem so Yakov
can say I am asov because I'm in place
of asov and number
12 now let's wrap this up this is what
we from this from this understanding
this is what yov
said I am as your
firstborn if he just
said and then
stopped that would be something that's
not true if he says if yob sorry says
who are you and if he had said an I am
asov that would be something not true
and that's why
I am as your firstborn why does he have
to add that word
yobak did not ask who's the are you the
firstborn son are you the second born
son he said which son are you and so why
did aov have to add I am as your
firstborn and the answer is
um it was precisely because of the B the
right of the firstborn that he came in
the place of Asa so yob answers y's
question by giving more information then
y asked y said who are you Yakov says I
am asov your firstborn because I am in
place of asov because I have now got the
legal status of your firstborn and
that's why I'm in place of asov so if he
just said I am asov that would have been
a lie but I am asov because I now have
the status of the firstborn that's not a
lie
and similarly when yob
when
said are you really my son
asov in other words I've got somebody
whom I need to bless is the person that
I think I need to
bless yob
replied
I again he didn't say I am
as but he just said
I I'm the one for whom it's fitting for
you to bless now we're going to see and
you know this is coming rash is going to
analyze the words and the commas and the
full stops in a different way um to say
something that sounds sort of not true
is in a sense true that's rashi's
approach R's approach is different R's
approach is this is 100% true no
trickery I am as because I am your
firstborn oh sorry I better still I am
in place of Asa because I am your
firstborn and when you're asking whom
should I give blessings to it's me and
again he doesn't say an asov that will
be untrue but when he says an it's me he
doesn't mean I'm acting I'm dressed up
as asov it doesn't mean I'm pretending
to be asov he means I'm the one who you
should be blessing because you plan to
bless asov because you think he's the
firstborn but that's me because I'm now
the firstborn so I'm the one you should
bless that's why he just says Ani and he
doesn't say as an ASA and finally um
number 13 is um yes
whole partial however was engineered by
R who had learned about how to be a
trickster
from the whole thing was engineered to
pull the wo over y's eyes she dressed as
ASA he put He put on the the Sheep's
thing he PL to fool his father um we're
just kind of whitewashing it and saying
it's not a blatant Li he's not saying
hello you plan to bless the wrong person
I came to bail you out I'm going to take
the
blessing okay we all agree that it was
done in in a way of trickery which was
allowed because it was extenda
circumstances but it still was done to
fool it's um
absolutely okay good us okay
um yes sh and then I'll say something
Rel
talking okay um I I really I'm conscious
of time here and I do want to get to
Rashi um very very quickly I I I'm not
happy with the word whitewashing because
according to Rea he wasn't lying he was
saying something that's true that's re's
position uh it seems a bit extreme for
us but
is okay okay that's true that's true
that's true okay
okay
order yeah okay okay sh okay you're
right the fact sh sh yeah everyone who's
making these points now is absolutely
correct but the backdrop to this is
rivka thought um presumably correctly at
least according to the N that she'd
received that um she has to bring this
about through trickery um I said uh I I
said I'm trying to keep straight but I
will say one thing um that is such an
important point that came out of last
week's partial with a comment of the NV
um the NV comments on the fact that what
does Rifka do when she first sees Yakov
Yak she covers her face and falls off
her camel Falls or Rashia doesn't say
Falls but others say Falls and the NV
says that this set up a a relationship
between yak and Rifka where Rifka was
totally in a of yak and she couldn't
speak directly to him and it is
remarkable that she doesn't say to Yak
you know which of our sons is most
fitting I actually think it should be
Yanke
um and and I'll add and I'll add
something else which I find remarkable
I'm going off top of
myself when it's all over when the
terrible drama has sort of come to some
conclusion and asov is about to kill
Yakov RKA goes and speaks to y
after this incredible drama and what
Rifka says is nothing to do with what's
just taken place she says I think it's
time for Yakov to find a wife that's
what she says and maybe he should go to
my brother Lan and find a wife and she
doesn't say anything about what's just
happened so yes rivka doesn't speak
directly to Yak for reasons beyond the
scope of this year and it is done
through trickery but getting back to our
original question the redu says the RAB
yakob is lying but for a good reason the
iban Ezra says yakob is lying and Nim do
that all the time I'm paraphrasing
slightly Raya says yakob is not lying
because when he says I am here playing
the role of asov because asov is no
longer your firstborn but I am that's
absolutely true and paragraph 13 covers
up something uh tidies up something else
he said but we'll go straight on to
Rashi
saysat okay so yeah Rashi brings that
you put two P's into a tube the one that
went in second will come out first which
fits the idea that yakob is really the
Bor it goes against all sense of
biology um and I have a daughter-in-law
is expecting twins so I will also vouch
for I don't think that's how it works
but Rashi brings that to show that asov
is really in a sense not the B but the
key thing at least for Rea is that
incident when Yakov bought the b or took
the B for himself let's go to Rashi
number 14
I am the one bringing to you the food
and asov is your
firstborn and then on the word we come
to the next line in just a minute so
this is Rashi this is the famous comment
of Rashi what's he saying he's not
saying what is saying he's not saying
that Yakov can come and tell the truth
and say I'm as of your firstborn because
I'm in the WR place of of your first one
Rashi doesn't go there Rashi says if you
carefully punctuate yakov's words you
find something that's not untrue I'm
choosing my words
carefully and I think I'll say at this
point there is no doubt in for Rashi
that asov sorry that Yakov was planning
to deceive y can't get away from that so
the way y Rashi puts it is Yakov chooses
Words which could be understood as as I
am not ASA but also could be understood
as yes I am ASA I Others May differ but
I think Rashi is saying that and we'll
see what the go Aria says which I think
backs up my point that Yakov is saying
something which he knows can be
understood in two ways but but what's
the but he doesn't choose to go in and
say something totally untrue yakov's
passion for truth is such that when he
has to say something which is deceptive
unlike dark in the Ezra will say to him
all right say a lie he finds a way to
say it in such a way that it's not
necessarily A Lie that's yakov's Passion
For Truth Yakov is in a situation where
for reasons we're not quite discussing
he has to go ahead with this deception
and he has to say I'm asov which is not
true but he says it in such a way that
allows a reading of it which is true
that is what we mean by TI
the next thing that Rashi has to sort of
cover is yakob says ATI I have done um K
Eli like you said to me now what's that
referring to that's referring to the
hunting that y says to asov go and Hunt
me some food and prepare it bring it to
me and Yakov says aiti I've done what
you've asked is that true he hasn't
hunted anything he just went to the
backyard and got a couple of goats so
says Rashi a
I've done many things that you've asked
me in the past I'm alive for 63 years
there have been many times you've asked
me to do things and I've done them so I
think we can say that Rashi is covering
this phrase in the same spirit that he
covered the previous phrase yes it's
designed to deceive Yakov but it's done
in such a way that it can still be
interpreted in a true way that's Yo's
passion for truth now Rashi one more
when he says uh in in
uh when yov y says are
you says are you really my son and he
says I in number 15 Rashi in a similar
vein says I
an now again it seems to me there's no
way around this what did yakob think
that yak would hear what would Scot
would understand are you my son asov I
am he would hear it as yes I'm asov but
he doesn't say an asov because that
would be not true he says Ani which
could be interpreted in a way as I am
I'm me I'm me uh sort of answer a
consultant would give totally obviously
true and useless
um who are you I'm
me now interestingly um the uh the
scholars of Russia have not found a
source in the midash for these words the
closest you get is number 16 which is a
interesting mid that
says he came to his father and he said
I
sorry what does that mean
I am the one who's going to receive the
Ten Commandments but asov is your
firstborn took me a while to realize
where's the Ten Commandments come in the
answer is Ani Ani in the midra ah you
see yeah Ani in the midash is a remes to
the Ten Commandments which given the
word
an so what does this midash help how
does this midash help Rashi it puts the
semicolon after Ani Ani I am the one
who's going to receive the Ten
Commandments and by the way
as just like Rashi puts a semicolon
after the word
Ani um and what I alsoo find interesting
in terms of the methodology of Rashi is
if this is rashi's sort of inspiration
he doesn't quote the whole midrash the
bit about the Ten Commandments Rashi
doesn't mention because he doesn't need
to Rashi is dedicated to finding the
simplest explanation when he brings a
midrashic answer there's a reason why he
brings a midrash and sometimes times he
Alters the midrash because there are
details in the midrash which aren't
necessary for Rashi to explain Pat I
think this is a very nice example of
that that russy's support probably
because we can't find any other is not
just me but people who gone through
every mid rush we can't find any other
support for Rashi so this one teaches
Rashi that you can put a semicolon after
the word Ani but Rashi doesn't need to
adopt the Ten Commandments bit because
that's not relevant to rashi's
explanation okay in the time we got left
I want to turn to the Mah in number
18 so he says as follows on the words
the Mah is explaining
rash I am as sorry I
am I am I as is bringing
you that's what Rashi
says because if we don't go with this
explanation
semicolon how could yov change for his
father change the truth an now we have
the words an as Rashi says there's a
semicolon between Ani and as Rashi has
to say there's that semicolon there
because otherwise how could yakob say
something that was completely
untrue Hashem hates falsehood so it
can't be that yob is going to say
something false this is the mahar's
explanation of what is underlying for
Rashi which I think is obvious Rashi
must find a way way for yov to say
something that's not
untrue and how could he receive the
blessings through something through
falsehood obviously not these blessings
which are so crucial and so important
he's not going to lie in order to get
them and the proves that he was not
lying and now we come to a very clever a
little bit Inus explanation but I want
to see what he says and then comment on
it and line three shov
there's two ways you can say I in Hebrew
In classical Hebrew one is Ani and one
is an in modern Hebrew we don't really
say Ani very often but we do say an but
in classical Hebrew the two could be
used one or the other there is perhaps a
slight difference in meaning but the
point that the maral is making is that
whereas asov uses the word Ani yov uses
the word Ani
why end of line
three the word Ani sometimes comes at
the end of a clause I.E before a
semicolon and sometimes comes in the
middle of a clause where it like runs on
from one word to the next it's the same
Hebrew word there are some words in
Hebrew um which if you put them at the
end of a sentence The Vow changes
it comes from a question of do we say
that gim is the end of the line or is go
the end of the
lineen and we'll find another example in
a moment but the word Ani can either fit
in the hefc form in other words it comes
at the end of a clause before a
semicolon but the very same word could
be heard as continuing with the next
line so when he says
an because he uses the word an and not
the word an which has a different rule
he uses the word
so that it can be heard both ways it can
be heard
semicolon which is what yob wants to say
to keep the truth but it can also be
heard
as which is what yov wants to
hear however
um middle of line
four if he said an with a semicolon
after it an I'm I who's bringing you the
stuff
that's going to be okay in other words
he can say it so yov himself hears the
semicolon
and does not hear the
semicolon
however line
five the word is
different if the word is in other words
it's the end of a clause if it's got a
sh he calls it a Shah we call it a
a and a underneath it
um who become if you want to use the
word oni at the end of a clause you have
to have a but if you want to use the
word oni um sorry I got it on way around
if you want to use the word oni um
without being at the end of a clause it
will have a and if you want to use the
word oni at the end of a clause it will
have a comet if it would be on rather
than an the word an Al has to be
vowelized differently if it's the end of
a clause or if it's not the end of a
clause and that's why Yakov couldn't use
the word oni because he wouldn't be able
to say it the single word with two
separate meanings because if he used the
word oni he would have to have either
Beek which is Oni or not Beek which is
Ani so he deliberately chose the word an
which can be heard either way without
changing the vowels sorry if that was
clear and I'm sorry if I'm rushing but I
just want to get to this
point so if he'd chosen the word oni
that would have given the game away that
would have either it would have been a
HEC or not a HEC either Oni or Ani but
the word Ani it's the same word with the
same vows whether it's at the end of a
clause or not at the end of a clause and
that's why Yakov chooses it now this
this comment of the maral I think is
ingenious um I find it a little bit hard
to imagine that yak was so um fluid in
Hebrew grammar and the very subtle
differences between Oni and Ani but this
is what was really going on here however
the maral has done two things for us
first of all he's answered the textual
question why does yov use the word Ani
compared to asov who uses the word Ani
what's the difference and then maral is
to answer that but more to the point I
think the maral has emphasized just what
yakob is trying to do not just is there
a semicolon or is there not a semicolon
it depends who's listening but even the
very word that he chooses is very finely
chosen just so it can convey the
necessary Nuance he deliberately chooses
the word Ani says the Mahar so that what
he says is not exactly what y he what he
says is as rashy puts it I am I asov is
your firstborn
with the semicolon after the word Ani
but done in such a way that won't sense
that so this is why I say that Rashi is
saying that Yakov is deceiving y he's
saying something which is not true in
the ears of
yak however on another way of reading it
is true that as I say is yakov's passion
for truth that is why we say Titan Yakov
what we learn from Yakov is not that you
can lie which is really what the redu
and the ezzar are saying is that even
when you're in a situation where you
have to deceive you have to go to the
nth degree to minimize the lying and we
can argue whether he's actually lying or
not but certainly you have to make an
effort and the way the mara puts it is
Extreme efforts even considering the
grammar of the letters of the words you
have to make every possible effort not
to lie I just want to conclude with one
source that I I uh missed out before
which I think is appropriate um and that
is number
seven this is the is writing his muser
and he talks about not lying and how
important it is always to speak the
truth and he says in number
seven regarding yov going back to the
way the Radu explained it and he quoted
the tus which quoted Rifka as saying
I've had AA that this is the right thing
to do if it weren't for the permission
that came not just from his mother but
from his
mother's then yob will be
sinning it would be a sin as if he
served Idols so what we see and he's
commenting really on the reduck and
that's why I brought him there after the
reduck section is even if we go like the
radak who says Yakov had to lie and even
if we go like the izra who said Yakov
lied and so people did that from time to
time in situations of necessity and I
would add even if we go like Rashi who
says Yakov had to speak in such a um
convoluted way so we could just about
say but he was telling the truth all of
this is only because only because rivka
told him to on the basis of rivka's own
NAA had Rifka not had a na which gave
license to Rifka to tell Yakov to behave
in this way then for sure he would not
so do we learn from this that it's okay
to lie absolutely not do we learn from
this that it's okay to lie if your life
depends on it possibly yes according to
the Ezra H is it okay to lie to bring
about what Hashem wants to happen anyway
possibly yes according to the Radu but
under all these circumstances everyone
would say it's not something we should
ever ever do lightly and the Kazan is
says we should only do it if we had a
from Hashem but it's the right thing to
do we will stop there