(For the riddles, please see back page)
1) i) The Maharam Schiff (end of Bava Kamma) answers that Yaakov wanted to purchase the birthright from Eisav with the food that he gave him. He was concerned that the monetary value of the stew may have been less than one perutah, which is the minimum amount legally required to affect a financial transaction, so he added the bread to ensure that the food items would be worth more than one perutah.
ii) Alternatively, Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin cites the ruling of the Gemara (Shavuos 26a) that an oath made under duress is not legally binding. He explains that Yaakov was planning to have Eisav swear to uphold the sale of the birthright, but when Eisav remarked (Bereishis 25:32) that he was so exhausted and sick that he thought he would die, Yaakov was concerned that such an oath would be considered to have been made under duress and would not be binding, so he first gave Eisav bread to eat to restore his health so that the oath that he would make when selling the birthright for the lentil stew would be legally binding.
2) The pasuk (26:11) says that Avimelech commanded his people saying, “Anyone who touches this man or his wife, will surely be put to death.” The Sefar HaYashor (Parshas Chayei Sorah) speaks out that the Avimelech mentioned in the story of Yitzchak and Rivka is not the same Avimelech as in the times of Avraham and Sarah, rather it was his son. The Sefer HaYashar then relates: At that time, Avimelech commanded all his ministers and officers to come, he then arranged that Yitzchak and his wife Rivka be brought in front of him, and he commanded that they both be dressed in royal clothes, and then driven on special horses through the streets of the city. He had the ministers and officers call out in front of them: “These two people are husband and wife, anyone who touches this man’s wife, will be put to death.” This is just like what happened to Mordechai HaTzadik in the Purim story.
3) The Gemara in Bava Metzia (114b) relates that Rabbah Bar Avuha once met Eliyahu HaNavi and he told him that due to the burden of parnosah he is not able to learn probably and is therefore not proficient in Seder Taharas and Zeroim. Eliyahu HaNavi then took him to Gan Eden, and told him, “Remove your cloak, and fill it up with leaves that grow on the trees in Gan Eden”, and Rabbah Bar Avuha acted accordingly. He then made his exit from Gan Eden, and he heard a loud voice saying, “Who else consumes his World-to-Come like Rabba bar Avuha”, when hearing this he quickly threw away the leaves. When he returned home, he realized that his cloak had absorbed a very pleasant scent from the leaves of Gan Eden, and he was able to sell it for twelve thousand dinars, and he divided the money amongst his sons-in-law.
We see from this Gemara that the scent of Gan Eden isn’t any regular scent which loses its potency over time, rather, it gets absorbed into the garment and it becomes part of the garment and is irremovable, like what would happen if one would dye the garment (otherwise, people wouldn’t pay so much for it). Similarly, we can suggest that this is the same thing that happened with the bigdei chamudos that Eisav got from Nimrad, who in turn inherited it from Adam HaRishon, and this is how the smell was able to last for so long.
4) The Yalkut Reuveni (Chayei Sorah, 23:2, ois 13) quotes from the Shach, who in turn quotes the Zohar who says, that by the akeidah, Avraham shechted the majority of the two simanim of Yitzchak and he was in great danger. Immediately, after the akeidah, malachay hashares [heavenly angels] came and took him to Gan Eden to be healed, and he waited there for three years. Since Yitzchak was in Gan Eden for three years, we can understand how he knew what it smelt like. (This riddle and the previous one, has been adapted from the sefer Pikudecha Dorashti, written by R’ Eliyohu Schlesinger, and is le’iluy nishmas his father R’ Menachem Aryeh Schlesinger, the mechaber of the set of seforim called Ayil Meshulash.)
5) The Kli Yakar answers: Eisav knew that Yaakov was always learning Torah and that the zechus [merit] of Torah would protect him, however, during aveilus one isn’t allowed to learn, as, פקודי ה' ישרים משמחי לב, Torah makes one happy and an avel isn’t supposed to do things that make him happy. Therefore, he waited for this special opportunity.
The difficulty is, even during aveilus one is allowed to learn certain parts of Torah such as Hilchos Aveilus, so surely Yaakov Avinu would learn these parts of the Torah, and once again the Torah would protect him?
i) Even if Yaakov would learn Hilchos Aveilus, however, an avel isn’t allowed to derive enjoyment from his learning, and he isn’t meant to get the feeling of פקודי ה' ישרים משמחי לב, and Torah without joy doesn’t offer as much protection (Kovetz Beis Aharon V’Yisrael, Year 22, gilyon 2, pg. 132 in the name of the Beis Yisrael of Ger)
ii) Even if he could learn Hilchos Aveilus, he was still going to be preoccupied, as the great people and kings of the different lands would come to comfort him out of respect that they had for his father Yitzchak (like the Sefer HaYashar relates) and he wouldn’t be able to learn during these visits, and at such a time Eisav would kill him. (Pikudecha Dorashti)
6) When Yitzchak planted crops, the land produced 100 times more than expected, which the Torah (26:12) describes as “Meah Shearim.” After the shepherds in Gerar fought with Yitzchak’s men over the wells they dug, he moved away and dug another well. When they did not quarrel over it, he named it Rechovot (26:22), at which point he traveled to Be’er Sheva (26:23). (Parsha Challenge)
