בראשית כח: ג,ד "וקל שקי יברך אתך ויפרך וירבך והיית לקהל עמים. ויתן לך את ברכת אברהם לך ולזרעך אתך לרשתך את ארץ מגריך אשר נתן אלקים לאברהם."
Bereshit 28:3,4 record that Yitzhak blessed Yaakov a second time when sending Yaakov away to Haran to marry. Why did Yitzhak bless Yaakov twice? Why was first blessing not sufficient? Why did he not combine the blessings, and give both at the same time? Also, Yitzhak seems to have been angry with Yaakov for fooling him, as he told Esav that Yaakov deceived him, 27:34, so why would Yitzhak give Yaakov a second blessing? Finally, after Esav learned that Yaakov had received the blessing that he was supposed to receive he asked Yitzhak for another blessing, and Yitzhak said that he had no other blessing to give, 27:34-37. Why did Yitzhak not give Esav, the second blessing that he gave to Yaakov?
One approach is that the second blessing was to confirm the first blessing. For example, Sarna (1989, p. 195) writes, “by this act (the second blessing), Yitzhak confirms Yaakov’s title to the birthright independently of the deception.” Similarly, Robert Alter (2004, p. 147) argues, “Yitzhak, whatever misgivings he may have about Yaakov’s act of deception, knows that his younger son has irrevocably received the blessing, and he has no choice but to reiterate it at the moment of parting.” Yet, the second blessing appears to be completely different than the first blessing. The first blessing relates to which brother would be dominant, while the second blessings relates to the blessing of Avraham. How could the second blessing confirm the first blessing if it is not related to the first blessing?
Cassuto (1990, p. 208) suggest a second approach. This approach minimizes the significance of the second blessing. Cassuto writes that the second blessing was specific to the trip that Yaakov was about to embark on. Yaakov was going to find a wife, so Yitzhak gave him a blessing that he would have children, and as Yaakov was leaving the land of Israel, Yitzhak blessed him that he would return to the land. However, the second blessing seems to be more than just good wishes before the trip, as Yitzhak blessed Yaakov that he should receive the blessing that G-d gave to Avraham.
A third approach is that the two blessings were independent from each other. The first blessing was a material blessing, and the second blessing was a spiritual blessing. With this approach, Yitzhak intended to give the first blessing to Esav, while the second blessing was for Yaakov, see Hirsch 1989, p. 444, Luzzatto on 27:1, Netziv introduction to chapter 27 and on 27:19, and N. Leibowitz, 1976, pp. 275-279. Accordingly, even after Yaakov received the first (material) blessing he also had to receive the second (spiritual) blessing.
This approach makes Yitzhak’s desire to give Esav the blessing in chapter 27 more understandable, but makes Rivka and Yaakov's actions even more problematic as now they tricked Yitzhak to get a material blessing. Moreover, I think this approach is based on a selective reading of the first blessing. While the first part of the first blessing refers to material possessions, 27:28, the second part of the first blessing, 27:29, refers to which brother would be dominant. In addition, when Esav asked Yitzhak for another blessing, 27:37, Yitzhak responded that once Yaakov had become the dominant brother there was nothing else he could give to him, and all Yitzhak could do was to try and limit Yaakov's dominance, 27:40. We see that the point of the blessings was would be the dominant brother. If the blessing that was mistakenly given to Yaakov in chapter 27 was only a material blessing, then there was no reason why Yitzhak could not have still blessed Esav with material success. The material success of one brother did not have to preclude the material success of the other brother.
In addition, this approach to split the blessings of chapter 27 and 28 into material and spiritual blessings also assumes the incorrigibility of Esav that he could not possibly get the spiritual blessing. Instead, one might wonder why Yaakov should deserve to receive the spiritual blessing after he deceived his father.
In order to understand the relationship between the blessings of chapters 27 and 28, we have to determine what was the point of the fight between Yaakov and Esav? Their fight began in utero, 25:22, continued with the sale of the soup, 25:29-34, with the first blessing in chapter 27, and only ended with their encounter when Yaakov returned from Haran, 32:22-33:17. What was the point of this conflict? Did it have cosmic implications or was it just a personal feud? Was it related to the question who would be part of the covenant or was it just another example of two brothers who did not get along? If the fight was about the covenant, then the blessings of chapters 27 and 28 are connected, but if the fight was a personal feud, then the two blessings are independent of each other, that either brother could have received either blessing or even that both brothers could have received the second blessing.
The conflict between the brothers focused on who would be the firstborn, the dominant brother, and there is no mention that they were fighting about the covenant. It seems that some people assume that only the firstborn son would be a part of the covenant, but both brothers could have been included in the covenant, as occurs by Yaakov’s children. Furthermore, just as Yaakov’s children fought due to sibling rivalry, so too the fight between Yaakov and Esav was a personal fight between brothers.
Accordingly, the blessings of chapter 27 (the one that Yaakov received and the one that Esav received) focused on the personal fight between the brothers, with no implications towards the covenantal process that began with Avraham.
On the other hand, the blessing of chapter 28 is the covenantal blessing, and this was open to both brothers regardless of who was the dominant brother. The only qualification to receive the covenantal blessing was to marry within the family, Terah’s family. The blessing only became relevant when Yaakov said he was going to Haran to marry, and this made him eligible for the blessing even though he had deceived Yitzhak in chapter 27. Yaakov could have left earlier to go to Haran to find a wife, but then this would have meant losing his personal fight with his brother. He only agreed to leave when his life was in danger, and even then only with Rivka’s prompting. With this understanding, Yaakov received the covenantal blessing due to his desire to marry within the family, and not because he sold the soup to Esav or tricked his father.
Esav could have received the covenantal blessings by marrying within the family, but he chose not to. Lavan had two daughters, Leah and Rahel, and hence both Esav and Yaakov could have married with the family of Terah. Yitzhak would have given Esav the covenantal blessing if Esav said he was willing to marry in the family, but Esav married two Hittite wives, 26:34, and then Mahalat, Yishmael’s daughter, 28:9. These marriages did not disqualify Esav from receiving the blessing of chapter 27, since the question of who was to be the dominant brother was independent of who was to be in the covenant. Yet, the marriages did mean that Yitzhak was unable to give Esav the covenantal blessing of chapter 28.
This approach also explains Rivka’s statement to Yitzhak after she learned that Esav intended to kill Yaakov. Rivka told Yitzhak that Yaakov had to leave to find a wife, and she did not mention the threat to Yaakov’s life, 27:46. Cassuto (1990, p.208) explains that she did want to mention this second reason in order not to upset Yitzhak that Yitzhak should not know that Esav wanted to kill Yaakov. Yet, maybe also if she told Yitzhak that Yaakov was leaving to save himself from Esav, then Yitzhak would not have given the second blessing to Yaakov since the blessing was to the person who would marry within the family, and not to one who was running away to save his life.
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