This week’s Torah portion, Tol’dot, means “generations” or “descendants.” When reading Torah over time, there’s a distinct pattern that a younger child replaces the firstborn. Story after story uses the narrative trope of parental favoritism, the threat of disinheritance, and loss of responsibility and privilege. Central to that pattern, however, is the theme of blessings. In the Torah, if you belong to the family chosen by the main deity, both family leadership and God must also bless that person.
What is a blessing? Rabbi Yoel H. Kahn writes that “a blessing is an expression of hope…The blessing is the act of giving, the connection that is created, and the faith and caring that are expressed in the words and gestures…”(1) Blessings come up in Tol’dot over and over again. In just a few examples, God blesses Isaac with fruitful descendants and the lands of Canaan (Genesis 26:4), and Isaac blesses Jacob to find a suitable wife. Of course, the most famous blessing in Tol’dot is Isaac’s blessing of Jacob instead of his older twin brother, Esau. This evasive method to receive the blessing sets up Jacob as the economic leader of his family.
One of the undercurrents of blessings in Tol’dot caught my eye this week: Rebecca was the ultimate engineer of the blessings for her younger son. From the beginning of her pregnancy, she inquired of God why her pregnancy was so challenging, and God responded by explaining her youngest son’s leadership potential. God gave Rebecca, not Isaac, the prophecy for her children’s future. It’s not so surprising, then, that while Isaac did the bestowing of the blessings on his son (as was typical for this time period), it was Rebecca who designed the setting of cooked food, Esau’s clothing, and animal skins that disguised Jacob as Esau. It was because of her actions and decision-making that God’s promise to her was fulfilled.
I think it’s worth considering that blessings aren’t always God-to-person or person-to-person. In our prayer books, we use the blessing formula all the time. In our prayer formula, where we say, “Blessed are you, God,” are we stating that ‘God is blessed,’ or bestowing a blessing on God ourselves? The Talmud has many opinions on this topic and most of them say we as human beings cannot bless God.(2) On the other hand, a contradictory opinion in the Talmud made me smile. God asks for a blessing from R. Yishmael (Berakhot 7a). R. Yishmael responds: “May it be Your will that Your mercy will conquer Your anger, and may Your mercies override Your (negative) attributes, and may You behave with Your children through the attribute of mercy…” Even we human beings have something with which to bless the infinite being that is God.