עקידת יצחק — בא אחיך במרמה / ויעקבני זה פעמים

Q — If Yaakov is the man of אמת, why take the bechorah by lentils and the berachos by disguise — acts that look like deceit? What did he gain, when he fled penniless for decades and received no double portion? Why does Yitzchak choose to bless, and why Esav alone?

A — The supernal maalos were never meant to pass by birth-right alone but to the one truly fit — as with Shem over Yefes, and Yitzchak over Yishmael. Onkelos renders "במרמה" as בחוכמה: an identical act is מרמה when aimed at evil and חוכמה when aimed at good. Yaakov's aim was wholly pure — to keep the eternal maalos from one unfit for them — so "נקי כפים ובר לבב" describes him exactly. Acquiring the bechorah and berachos was the wise securing of a spiritual inheritance, after which the order of birth-right itself was set aside in favor of fitness.