Yaakov left Beer Sheva and went to Charan. (Bereishis 28:10)
Before Yaakov received the berachos, he sat and learned in the tents of Torah. After he received the berachos, his life changed radically. He was in exile, at the house of Lavan, and spent his days in a very different way.
The three Avos are the embodiment of the three pillars of chesed (right) gevurah (left) and tiferes (middle). The middle pillar relates to both extremities, to right and to left. It has a little of both. So in principle, there should have been two Avos to embody the middle pillar. It would work out like this: Yaakov would take the right-hand aspect and be the Av of doing good. Eisav would take the left-hand aspect and be the Av of refraining from evil. Eisav’s very nature, even before he was born, was to be attracted to avodah zarah, and this is because he was meant to be the master of “refraining from evil” who overcomes every nisayon in the world. Yaakov was inherently drawn to the beis midrash, and his nisayon was to diligently and constantly pursue Torah learning and kedushah, and not slack off. He succeeded in this. All the years he spent in the yeshivah of Shem and Ever he did not sleep.
Yitzchak had a good reason for wanting to grant the blessings to Eisav, as Eisav’s avodah was outside, in the world, and he needed the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth. He was meant to support Yaakov in learning, along the lines of Yissachar and Zevulun. Furthermore, Eisav faced greater nisyonos, and would thus receive greater reward, so it was fitting for the berachos to go to him.
But Eisav strayed from the path of avodas Hashem. So the blessings were transferred to Yaakov. Now Yaakov needs to perform both roles. He needs to face the nisyonos that were originally intended for Eisav, in addition to his own inherent avodah.
Yaakov thus left the beis midrash and went into exile. He lived by Lavan, the arch-crook, in order to engage in the avodah of “refraining from evil.”
And so it is throughout the generations. The descendants of Yaakov need to hold up both pillars. Torah and kedushah.
