Have you ever been deceived? How did it feel? Did you appreciate it? I’d venture to say that no one likes to be deceived. And a deceptive person is appropriately viewed negatively by society.
But what if my perspective made me think I was being deceived? In other words, no one attempted to deceive me but because of my worldview and my perception of reality I assume something incorrectly. Has anyone done anything wrong?
While I might initially feel deceived, when I understand the actual facts I’d likely feel differently.
Let’s explore a particularly peculiar episode in this week’s Torah portion: Yaakov deceiving his father in order to receive his father’s blessings in place of his brother Esav.
What? Yaakov, the straight laced, quiet and honest son deceived his father? He used subterfuge and disguise and had to bend the truth to receive blessings that seemed to rightfully belong to his brother??
Once we’re analyzing, what was Yitzchak, the father of this unlikely pair, thinking in the first place? Bless his wicked son Esav? I get it that Esav was his son after all; but this wasn’t about a simple deviation from family norms - Esav was a known rapist and murderer. Why bless him at all??
Something just doesn’t add up here.
As with much of the Torah, a simple reading doesn’t suffice: Here’s an explanation that perhaps can explain not only the story but help us understand our role in this world.
Yitzchak wanted to bless Esav since he knew that Esav’s primary frame of existence was within the physical world. Yitzchak hoped that the blessing would provide Esav the ability to rectify his past mistakes and partner with his brother Yaakov. Yitzchak hoped that the material blessing that Esav would receive would then be used to help Yaakov in his Divine service and study.
However, Yitzchak’s wife and the mother of this motley pair, knew it wasn’t meant to be (at least not yet). She intervened and orchestrated the grand deception, having Yaakov disguised as his brother and ensuring that he received the blessings.
While Yitzchak thought it would be possible to separate the spiritual and the physical, Rivkah understood that the two need to work together. Yaakov, as the progenitor of the Jewish people, needed to be engaged with the physical world - not only the spiritual.
And that’s where the real accusations of deception come about. Yaakov, whose primary role was that of spiritual matters and connection to Hashem, was suddenly seeking blessing in material matters. And the truth is he wasn’t interested in the material in and of itself, his purpose was to elevate the material world, to promote an appreciation for G-dliness within the physical.
On the surface it may seem that Yaakov - and by extension all of us, his descendants - was interested in the material blessings for the physical benefit and pleasure that comes along with it. But that’s not the case, the core of all physical matter is G-dliness and revealing that was Yaakov’s goal.
Deceptive? Perhaps in perception. But in reality, it’s the ultimate truth.