The Kedushat Levi discusses the nature of Esav's tears and their spiritual significance, exploring why sincere crying — even from Esav — creates an enduring spiritual entitlement, and how this relates to the rectification available to Israel in the corresponding period.
הברבה אחת היא לך אבי (בראשית כז, לח). הכלל, דיש חיות וברכה מהקדושה וזה לעומת זה עשה אלהים דיש גם כן חיות מהקליפות. וידוע מה שכתב האר"י ז"ל דהקדושה נקראת אחת שדבק באחדות הבורא ברוך הוא, וכן אמרו חכמינו ז"ל בכמה מקומות. ורש"י בחומש פרשת ויגש בפסוק (בראשית מו, כ) כל הנפש עיין שם. והנה יצחק בירך את יעקב מסטרא דקדושה. וזה שאמר עשו הברכה אחת היא לך אבי, אחת דייקא, שמרומז על הקדושה, פירוש וכי מסטרא דקדושה לבד אתה יכול לברך. ברכני גם אני אבי, מסטרא דקליפה. ובזה סתר דברי אביו שאמר הן גביר שמתיו לך, דהא ברכתו דיעקב מסטרא דקדושה וכשיברך אותו מסטרא אחרא לא יהיה עליו גביר, כיון שברכה שלו יהיה מסטרא ההיפך מברכת יעקב. וכשמוע יצחק את דברי עשו, ראה רשעתו שנמשך אחר סטרא אחרא. אמר ועל חרבך תחיה, פירוש כשיבא עליך מכת חרב והרג ואבדן אז תחיה, דהיינו שתעלה על ידי זה שיבא קידוש השם. וגם אמר לו והיה כאשר תריד, דידוע מאמר חכמינו ז"ל (בראשית רבה מב) והיה לשון שמחה, ורש"י ז"ל פירש תריד לשון צער. וזה והיה, פירוש שיהיה שמחה כאשר תריד, כשיהיה לך צער יגון ואנחה אז ישמחו כל העולמות כנאמר (משלי יא, י) באבוד רשעים רנה. וגם אמר ופרקת עולו מעל צוואריך. דהנה ישעיה הנביא אמר (ישעיה א, ג) ידע שור קונהו וכו', אפס כשנותנים עול על צווארו אין השור יודע בעליו מצד בחירתו רק מוכרח הוא מחמת העול, אמנם כשפורקין העול מעליו הוא נוהג כבוד מצד בחירתו. כן הוא הדבר באומות, כל זמן שבית המקדש היה קיים היה העול על צוואר האומות שהיו נכנעין לישראל, מה שאין כן עתה שבית המקדש חרב נפרק העול מהם, אבל מצד הבחירה מחויבין לעשות רצון ישראל גם עתה בגלות שישראל הם בעלים כמאמר חכמינו ז"ל שכל העולמות ברא הקדוש ברוך הוא בשביל ישראל, והאומות הן כמו בהמות כנאמר (שם מ, יז) מאפס ותוהו נחשבו לו. וזהו שאמר יצחק לעשו ופרקת עולו מעל צוואריך, פירוש אפילו בשעה שתפרוק עולו של יעקב מעל צוואריך, דהיינו בזמן הגלות כפירוש רש"י רק מעל צוואריך הוא שתסיר שלא תהיה מוכרח לזה אבל ממילא מצד עצמך ראוי לך לעשות רצון ישראל אף על פי שאין העול על צוואריך כנאמר ידע שור קונהו וכו'. וזהו פירוש הכתוב וישא עשו קולו ויבך, פירוש אימת תהיה נשיאת קולו, דהיינו עליה שלו דהרמת קול היא עליה. ויבך, פירוש בשעה שיהיה בוכה, דהיינו שיהיה לו יגון ואנחה דמרומז על הדבר הנ"ל אז הוא עליה שלו כנ"ל והמבין יבין:
Genesis 27,38. “do you really have only one blessing that you can dispense, my father?;While there is a rule that life as well as blessings originate from one holy source, this rule brings in its wake the possibility that the “left” side of the emanations can also be the seat of life, as when G’d created the universe He arranged that the forces of evil and those of good be at par with one another least on the surface. [Otherwise freedom of choice granted to man would be meaningless. Ed.] Both the Ari z’al and others preceding him, including Rashi, stated that holiness is also known as אחת, “a state of unity.” Rashi points out that when the descendants of Yaakov set out on their journey to Egypt and their names had been listed individually, the Torah (Genesis 46,27) concluded the list with כל הנפש, “the sum total of the soul,” (singular) when referring to this family. On the other hand, when the Torah reports Esau and his family leaving the Holy Land in order to settle in the region of Seir, (Genesis 36,6) Esau’s descendants are referred to as נפשות, “souls” (pl.). Such nuances in the Torah reveal to us that not all souls originate in the same region of the diagram portraying the emanations.Genesis 27,38. “do you really have only one blessing that you can dispense, my father?”;While there is a rule that life as well as blessings originate from one holy source, this rule brings in its wake the possibility that the “left” side of the emanations can also be the seat of life, as when G’d created the universe He arranged that the forces of evil and those of good be at par with one another least on the surface. [Otherwise freedom of choice granted to man would be meaningless. Ed.] Both the Ari z’al and others preceding him, including Rashi, stated that holiness is also known as אחת, “a state of unity.” Rashi points out that when the descendants of Yaakov set out on their journey to Egypt and their names had been listed individually, the Torah (Genesis 46,27) concluded the list with כל הנפש, “the sum total of the soul,” (singular) when referring to this family. On the other hand, when the Torah reports Esau and his family leaving the Holy Land in order to settle in the region of Seir, (Genesis 36,6) Esau’s descendants are referred to as נפשות, “souls” (pl.). Such nuances in the Torah reveal to us that not all souls originate in the same region of the diagram portraying the emanations. When Esau, at this point questions his father if he has only ברכה אתת, he asks whether his father cannot dispense a blessing for people whose origin is not in the holy section of the emanations, the section known as אחת. He feels, that surely seeing that he is his father’s son, his father must also be able to have reserved a blessing for him! By asking this question he contradicted the words of his father who had told him that the blessing he had already bestowed on Yaakov that made him senior to his older brother, i.e. הוה גביר לאחיך, made this impossible. If he were to give Esau a similar blessing he would in effect deprive Yaakov of the blessing he had just given him. When Yitzchok heard what Esau demanded of him, seeing that he had told him that in his blessing he had made Yaakov the senior of the two, he realized the full extent of Esau’s wickedness, and that is why he added, now, without reservation, גם ברוך יהיה, “he shall also remain blessed!” Up until that moment Yitzchok had not realized that Esau was a product of the סטרא אחרא, the “left side” of the scheme of emanations. Having found that out, he now gave Esau a blessing that was in keeping with the “blessings” perceived as such by souls that originate in that realm, i.e. על חרבך תחיה, “seeing that you are loyal to the principle that might is right,” the principle espoused by people whose souls originate in the left side of the emanations, people who believe in the survival of the fittest, Yitzchok could only bless his son Esau by wishing him “success” (death) when he would be involved in such lethal encounters. He meant it in the sense that “until you pay the price with your physical life you will not be able to secure for yourself any life in the hereafter”. When such people lose their lives when engaged in what they perceive as a “holy” war, they may redeem themselves and secure life in the hereafter. [This editor has often wondered it the concept of our sages of a Mashiach ben Yoseph, a messiah who will die in battle before the advent of the Mashiach ben David, the ultimate redeemer, may not originate among the gentiles and earn his right to his hereafter in the manner just described. Ed.] Genesis 27,40. Let us turn now to the next part of Yitzchok’s “blessing” to Easu, the words והיה כאשר תריד ופרקת עולו מעל צוארך, “but when you humble yourself you will be able to remove the his yoke from around your neck.” According to Or Hachayim on our verse the word והיה in the above verse is to be interpreted as a form of joy, שמחה. Contrary to the accepted translation of this line, Rashi understands the word תריד, as “when you will suffer pain.” According to Proverbs 11,10 באבוד רשעים רנה “when the wicked perish there is jubilation.” Isaiah 1,3 speaks about the ox recognizing his owner. The fact is that when the ox wears a yoke he does not recognize (in the sense of welcoming) his master voluntarily, but only because he is forced to wear a yoke. When the yoke is removed he will honour his master by still respecting and welcoming him. Something parallel occurs in history about the Israel/Esau relationship. As long as the Temple in Jerusalem was standing, the gentile nations paid reluctant respect to the Jewish people. Nowadays, when there is no longer a Temple in Jerusalem, the yoke which had restrained the Gentiles has been lifted from them, although their obligation, as a free willed creature created in the image of G’d to respect G’d’s people has not been lessened. G’d, after all, created this universe only for the sake of His people, the Jewish people. According to Isaiah 40,17 כל האומות כעין נגדו מאפס ותוהו נחשבו לו, “All nations are as naught in His sight; He accounts them as less than nothing.” This is in essence what Yitzchok told Esau when he said ופרקתו עולו מעל צווארך, “even when you will divest yourself of the yoke of Yaakov, in times when the Jewish people are in exile, as Rashi explains, you will only remove this yoke from your neck, i.e. temporarily during the time Israel is in exile, but inherently, your duty toward G’d, whose representative on earth the Jewish people are, will continue, just as an ox knows his master regardless if he is restrained by a physical yoke or not.” Upon hearing this, Esau raised his voice and wept, feeling frustrated that his father would not give him a blessing that would neutralize the one he had given to Yaakov. He had fully understood all the implications of the few words Yitzchok had said to him.