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By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum
ויתרצצו הבנים בקרבה (פרק כה פסוק כב)
When Rivkah was expecting Yaakov and Eisav the Torah tells us that there was a lot of movement inside of her. Rashi, in one explanation, says that every time she passed by a בית מדרש Yaakov ran towards it and whenever she passed by a house of עבודה זרה Eisav tried to run out. R’ Berel Povarsky asks, how did Yaakov know that there was a בית מדרש there? R’ Berel says that the entire question assumes that a בית מדרש is nothing more than a house devoted to service of Hashem. If we understand that קדושה, holiness is a reality, רוחניות, spirituality, can be sensed and felt, then the question does not begin. Just as a compass always points north, Yaakov naturally gravitated to קדושה. Even inside the womb he was pulled to the בית מדרש through the reality of קדושה that emanated from there.
ויתן לך האלקים (פרק כז פסוק כח)
Yitzchak finally gives his coveted ברכות, blessings, to Yaakov. The ברכה begins that “Hashem will give to you” etc. Rashi explains that the future tense of the word “give” is to hint to a ברכה that Hashem should continuously give to you again and again. Many ask, Hashem can give as much as He wants in one shot, why should it be considered a ברכה to have many “givings” from Him? R’ Shmuel Rozovsky explained that normally the purpose of a gift is just for the recipient to have it. However, when we receive anything from Hashem, the more significant part is that we are building a relationship with Him. We look for Him to give us anew, even if the item received is not necessary, just for the bond that it gives us with Him. If He would just give us tremendous ברכה in one shot, we would be missing the main point, our connection with Hashem.
