The value of “harsh” (אִיֵּשׁק) in the harsh judgment is 411, the same value as “chaos” (הוּתּ). We have therefore learned that Isaac’s harsh judgment is related to what we know as “lights of chaos” (תֹרוֹאו הוּדְּת). The value of both phrases, “harsh judgment lenient judgment” (אִינִדּ אִיֵּשׁק אִינִדּ אִיֵּפַר) is the same as 4 times “Isaac” (קָחְצִי) or 4 times 208, or 832, the value of “the Land of Israel” (אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל). The Zohar says that the children of Isaac are in exile between Yishma’el—as we are here in Eretz Yisrael—while the Jews that reside outside the Land of Israel are in exile among the children of Esau. Since Isaac and Rebeccah’s two measures of judgment together equal “the Land of Israel,” we learn that the rectification of the Land of Israel depends on the inclusion of Isaac and Rivkah together. From God’s providence over the Land of Israel, His providence over the entire world extends.
To understand this better let us look at the service of the Patriarchs. Every Jew has the attributes of all three Patriarchs within. Of course, every individual is different, with different measures of each attribute. What was the service of Abraham and Isaac in terms of the eternal Redemption, after which there will be no exile?
Abraham and Isaac in Each of Us
Abraham brings the Mashiach by spreading the wellsprings. His work is similar to the Ba’al Shem Tov’s, who when he asked the Mashiach when he will come, the Mashiach replied that it will happen when your [Abraham’s] wellsprings spread forth. Among the Patriarchs, Abraham resembles the Ba’al Shem Tov. Abraham’s entire life is dedicated to spreading the light, especially since spreading even a little light, pushes away a great deal of darkness, to the point where the darkness itself becomes light. Abraham does not know for certain how it will all work out; he just knows that you need to spread light. Spreading light is a considered making a makif, an indirect action. The part of Abraham that is in each of us is the understanding that we need to spread as much Torah, as much Chasidut, sweet tasting Torah to the entire world. We need to speak the Torah using words and ideas that people can understand. More than this we don’t know. Why has Mashiach not come yet? Apparently, we have not yet done enough. We haven’t spread the light far enough. This is Abraham.
Abraham’s son is Isaac. Parashat Toldot stresses this point—that Abraham gave birth to Isaac, seemingly a simple point. The Torah stresses this because Isaac’s mindset is very different from his father’s. Isaac does not think it is enough to spread light. His attitude is one of harsh judgment while Abraham’s is one of loving-kindness.
Contemplating Being
One way to understand this difference between Isaac and his father Abraham can be seen in their approach to the physical material in the world. Isaac is described as connected with true being (יֵשׁ הָאֲמִתִּי), while Abraham is sensitive to the true nothingness (אָיִן הָאֲמִתִּי). Created being, which refers to the material of this world, is actually just a representation of God’s true being. Meaning that soon, when the Mashiach comes, the table will just become Divinity. Not only will the table contain some spark of Divinity, a spark that keeps matter together, but rather the table itself is the true being. If there is anything that stands to conceal or refute true being, it is a lie. That is why the sages say that this world is a world of deceit (עָלְמָא דְּשִׁקְרָא). To say that this world is a world of deceit is to say in the same breath that this world is nothing but God, but that this is concealed from us.
Each of the patriarchs has his own frustration. Yitzchak’s frustration is that he knows that this world is deceit, and that we must reveal that everything is God. That the world should reflect the true being—i.e., God. That is why his service is to dig wells. He wants to reveal the concealed truth of the physical matter of this world. He wants to find the essence of God as that which is concealed behind all material.
Abraham too dug wells. But he did invest the same existential effort into this work, which is why his wells were eventually sealed by the Philistines. Isaac digs these wells so that matter feels the deceit, so that it is forced to reveal the truth.
Isaac’s Love for Esau
How does this explain why Isaac loves Esau more than he does Jacob? It says in Chasidut something very strong. Esau too is full of deceit and as such he reflects the deceit of the material world, which God created for the express purpose of revealing His honor. The world was created so that eventually the Godly essence behind it is revealed. In the meantime, it is deceitful. Esau reflects this type of deceit, but Jacob knows nothing of it. Jacob is not like Isaac. He is on a different program. Jacob is a Torah scholar. His goal is to use his wisdom, to clarify (לְבָרֵר), i.e., to engage in the service of clarification (דַתֹעֲבו הַבֵּרוּרִים), which aims to elevate sparks of holiness concealed within matter. But, after Jacob elevates these sparks, the material in which they are trapped remains opaque to Divinity, and as far as Isaac is concerned, the deceit remains. Therefore, Isaac does not connect with Jacob’s program. He respects Jacob for what he is. Jacob’s name (בֹקֲעַי) even implies that his wisdom—represented by the first letter in his name, the yud (י)—can permeate all the way down to the lowest levels of reality—represented by the rest of his name, בֵּקַע, which means “heel.” We are all descendent from Jacob and we are also named after him; thus, Jacob’s service of elevating sparks of holiness is the service of our entire people.
Again, Abraham is about adding light, the more we add light, the closer the redemption is. Abraham does not deal with reality directly, he only illuminates it from above (as such, his efforts are felt as surrounding light). But Isaac and Jacob deal with reality directly, except that Isaac wants, with his harsh judgment, to immediately reveal the true being concealed within reality, and then, in one single moment, created being will be nullified before true being and it will be revealed that “all is God,” and there is nothing else.
Now!
But Jacob’s approach is different. One illustration of Jacob’s Divine service can be seen when he meets Esau after he returns from Haran. They come to a bit of an uneasy peace treaty between them in lieu of which Esau invites Jacob to join him in his estate in Se’ir. But Jacob politely rejects Esau’s proposal stating, “I will conduct myself slowly because of my toils and because of the children that are with me.” Esau is restless and wants to secure his newly established peace with Jacob. Jacob is in no hurry.
We see that Esau is like his father Isaac, he wants things to move fast, which is why Isaac loves him, even though they stand at two ends of the spectrum of holiness. They both understand the call for “Mashiach Now!” And to get there, both must argue that the service of clarification (דַתֹעֲבו הַבֵּרוּרִים) is over. Because, it is not, you still must conduct yourself slowly.
Isaac lived the longest lifespan, you would think that he has the most patience, but incredibly he has no patience, he wants Mashiach Now! That is why he is connected to Esau, who represents the physical and material aspects of reality. Like Isaac, Esau has no connection with the slow conduct of the service of clarification.
The Relevance of Jacob’s Program
The value of the words Jacob says to his brother Esau, “I will conduct myself slowly” (הַלֲהָנְתֶא יִטִאְל) equals “Israel” (יִשְׂרָאֵל). Jacob was given the name “Israel” after his struggle and victory against the angel. However, at that time, this new name was still temporary. Later it would be God who would change his name permanently. God says, “No longer will your name be called Jacob, but Israel.” When Abram’s name was changed to Abraham, it became forbidden to refer to him as Abram. We would expect the same with Jacob: should he not be called only Israel from now on? The reason Jacob retains his earlier name is that Jacob still represents the service of clarification. Jacob’s wisdom is still descending to grab Esau’s heel, i.e., into the material world that Esau represents and working to rectify it. As long as Mashiach has yet to come, we continue to see ourselves as Jacob’s descendants dedicated to the toil of clarification.
To recap, Chasidut teaches that “harsh judgment” refers to the expectation that the Redemption complete on the spot: like a person who has a business, and he has some kind of special goal, and he tries to reach it immediately. Those who have this harsh judgment must have things happen immediately and they have to have them happen the way they envision them. There is no time to change, no time to be flexible about how to attain this goal. You must define very precisely what you are going to do to reach your goal, you have to work hard and fast, there is a deadline. Isaac is working against a deadline, the direction is very clear, and cannot be changed. That is the attitude of harsh judgment, which is not used only to judge the wicked. Isaac’s harsh judgment seeks to push hard, in a pre-defined manner, towards achieving its goal, right now. The only candidate to follow Isaac’s program is his son Esau. This is the deep reason why Isaac chose to bless Esau.
(from a lecture given on the 28th of Cheshvan 5773)
