Isaac Blesses Jacob

Esau wasn't all bad. He had a stellar soul which shone brightly. So why didn't he receive the blessings?

When Jacob receives the blessings of his father Isaac he received a double blessing. What is the double blessings significance?

Bloodshed, conquest, genocide, terrorisms, pogroms and all the synonyms of hatred. The hands seem more popular than the voice.

Was he right to deceive his father and to take from his brother the blessing Isaac sought to give him?

The future is never as straightforward as we are led to believe. Abraham is promised many children, but has to wait years before Isaac is born. The patriarchs are promised a land, but do not acquire it in their lifetimes. The Jewish journey, though it has...

When Yitzchak bestows the blessing of the first-born, rather than invoking the name of G-d associated with mercy and benevolence, he invokes the name of G-d associated with judgment and severity. This class will explain this oddity and offers an encouragi...

The story of Yaakov deceiving his father and stealing the blessings from his brother Eisav is full of mystery. One peculiar detail is Eisav’s special garment that Yaakov wears for the scheme.

Jacob and Esau wrestled with each-other while yet in their mother's womb. Their struggle, explain our Sages, was over possession of both this world – the physical, and the hereafter – the spiritual. But why the battle over both worlds?! Jacob desires the ...

Ch. 27, verses 28 - 38: Yitzhok unwittingly blesses Yaakov with the firstborn blessing. Yaakov exists just before Esau enters with the food for his father. Esau cries bitterly when his realizes that Yaakov had duped him and taken the blessing. He asks his...

What was Isaac thinking? a closer reading of the text--and subtexts--of the story of the "stolen blessings" reveals a debate between Isaac and Rebecca beyond the commonly-thought "favorite son" contest