122. "He called Esau his eldest son..." This means that he was included within strict Judgment, WHICH IS THE ASPECT OF ESAU. THEREFORE HE CALLED ESAU. "And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death." Rabbi Elazar opened the discussion with the verse, "Happy is the man, whose strength is in You..." (Tehilim 84:6), happy is the man who is strengthened by the Holy One, blessed be He, and puts his trust in Him.

123. This trust could be interpreted as the trust that Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah put in Him when they said, "Behold, our Elohim whom we serve is able to deliver us; He can deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and out of your hand, king..." (Daniel 3:17), MEANING, THAT THEY TRUSTED THAT THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, WOULD SURELY SAVE THEM FROM THE FIERY FURNACE. HE SAYS THAT THIS IS NOT SO, ONLY come and see, if He would not save them and be with them, it would come to pass that the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, would not be sanctified before the eyes of everyone, as they said. But when they realized they did not speak properly, they spoke again, saying "But if He does not, be it known to you, king..." (Ibid. 18), THAT IS, whether He will save them or not, let it be known to you that we will not worship an image. It was made known to them by Ezekiel, whom they heard and believed that the Holy One, blessed be He, would not be with them, TO SAVE THEM. AND HE TOLD THEM THAT, so that they would SURRENDER THEIR SOULS AND be rewarded. Then they spoke again, saying, "Be it known to you, King..."

124. A man should not assume and think, the Holy One, blessed be He, will save us, or, that the Holy One, blessed be He, will do such and such for me. However, it behooves man to place his trust in the Holy One, blessed be He, to help him ACCORDING TO HIS NEED, as long as he strives to keep the precepts of Torah and to walk the path of truth. When a man wishes to be purified, he is surely helped, and he should trust the Holy One, blessed be He, to help him in this. And he should put his trust in Him, and not in another. Therefore, it is written, "Whose strength is in you." "In whose heart are your highways" (Tehilim 84:6) MEANS that it behooves him to prepare his heart as fit, so that no strange thoughts will come into it, but to be as a mended way to pass through, wherever one needs to, EITHER RIGHT OR LEFT. THUS WHETHER THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, DOES GOOD FOR HIM OR NOT, HIS HEART SHOULD BE READY AND PREPARED, AND NOT HARBOR STRANGE THOUGHTS IN ANY CASE WHATSOEVER.

125. Another explanation for, "Happy is the man, whose strength is in You." Strength as in "Hashem gives strength to His people" (Tehilim 29:11), MEANS THE TORAH. AND "WHOSE STRENGTH IS IN YOU" MEANS that it is incumbent on a man to be occupied in studying Torah for the name (sake) of the Holy One, blessed be He, NAMELY, THE SHECHINAH, THAT IS CALLED 'NAME.' For whoever is occupied in the Torah, but not for its own sake, would have been better never born. What is meant by the verse, "in whose heart are Your highways (Heb. mesilot)?" It is as in the verse, "extol (Heb. solu) Him who rides upon the clouds; Yah is His name" (Tehilim 68:5), WHICH REFERS BOTH TO EXTOLLING THE RIDER ON THE CLOUDS AND THE HIGHWAYS IN THEIR HEARTS. THIS MEANS that when he studies the Torah, HE SHOULD BE INTENT UPON extolling the Holy One, blessed be He, and glorifying and extolling Him throughout the world. THUS STUDYING TORAH FOR ITS OWN SAKE (NAME) IS FOR THOSE "IN WHOSE HEART ARE YOUR HIGHWAYS." THIS MEANS THAT ONE MUST BE INTENT WHEN STUDYING TORAH TO DRAW THE BOUNTY OF KNOWLEDGE FOR ONE AND FOR THE WHOLE WORLD, SO THAT THE NAME OF THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, WILL GROW IN THE WORLD, AS IT IS WRITTEN, "FOR THE EARTH SHALL BE FULL OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF HASHEM" (YESHAYAH 11:9) AND "HASHEM SHALL BE KING OVER ALL THE EARTH" (ZECHARYAH 14:9).

126. Come and behold, Jacob, all that he did was for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He, and for that reason the Holy One, blessed be He, was with him always, by that the Shechinah never moved from him. For when Isaac called for Esau, his son, Jacob was not there. The Shechinah told this to Rivkah, who informed Jacob.

127. Rabbi Yosi said, come and behold, If, heaven forbid, Esau would have been blessed at that time, Jacob would not have ruled over the world, BUT STAYED, HEAVEN FORBID, IN EXILE ALWAYS. But it was decreed by the Holy One, blessed be He, THAT JACOB WILL BE BLESSED, and everything happened as it should. Come and behold, It is written, "but Rivkah loved Jacob" (Beresheet 25:28), as has been explained. Therefore, she sent for Jacob and said to him, "Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother" (Beresheet 27:6).

128. "Now therefore, my son, obey my voice..." (Beresheet 27:8): It was then Pesach (Passover) eve, and the Evil Inclination had to be exterminated from the world, and the moon, the secret of faith, NUKVA, had to govern. Therefore, Rivkah cooked two dishes.

129. Rabbi Yehuda said that this alludes to the descendants of Jacob, who in the future offered two goats on Yom Kippur, one for Hashem and one to Azazel. For this reason, Rivkah offered "two kids of the goats," one for the supernal grade and one to subjugate the grade of Esau, so he would not rule over Jacob. Thus, there were two kids of the goats. From both, Isaac tasted and ate.

130. It is written, "and he brought him wine, and he drank" (Beresheet 27: 25), AND NOT, "AND HE SERVED HIM WINE." By this he hints that he served him wine from afar. According to Rabbi Elazar, this means that he brought him wine in which there is complete joy, THAT IS, THE WINE "WHICH CHEERS ELOHIM AND MAN" (SHOFTIM 9:13), to gladden Isaac, for he needed cheering, as the side of the Levites needs cheering, TO WIT, THE LEFT SIDE. FOR SINCE JUDGMENTS TAKE HOLD OF THE LEFT SIDE, THEREFORE, SADNESS DWELLS IN IT, AND THERE IS NEED OF HEARTENING ALL THOSE WHO ARE DRAWN FROM IT, THE LEVITES AND ISAAC AS WELL. Therefore, "he brought him wine, and he drank."