Like Uncle, Like Nephew

Eisav is out for revenge and Yaakov must flee.

Yitzchok calls in Yaakov, blesses him, and gives him instructions. "Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Get up and go to Padan Aram, to the home of Besuel your mother's father and take for yourself there a wife from the daughters of Lavan your mother's brother." (28:1) 

Yitzchok sent Yaakov off. He went to Padan Aram, to Lavan, son of Besuel the Aramite, brother of Rivkah, the mother of Yaakov and Eisav. (28:1,5)

It is strange indeed that the Torah felt it necessary to reiterate, at this late stage of the family saga, the painfully obvious fact that Rivkah is the mother of Yaakov and Eisav. Our greatest commentator shrugs his shoulders. "I do not know what this teaches us" (Rashi ad loc.). 

Although Rashi freely admits when he is at a loss (cf. Bereishis 35:13, Gilyon HaShas to Berachos 25b), in the absence of a pressing question, it is unheard of for Rashi to make such a comment. When a commentator has no useful insight, surely he has the right to remain silent.   

In his supercommentary Maskil L'Dovid, Rabbi Dovid Pardo (d. 1792) offers a delightfully creative rereading of Rashi's words. He argues that Rashi is not throwing in the towel. On the contrary, when Rashi wrote "I do not know what this teaches us," he was presenting a brilliant explanation of this difficult verse.

As we can well imagine, before Yaakov departed for Padan Aram, he had a question for his father. 

"You have instructed me to go and marry one of my cousins, a daughter of Uncle Lavan. I have never met Lavan. What kind of man is he? Tell me about him." 

Although Yaakov's question is not recorded in the Torah, Yitzchok reply is. The Torah's seemingly superfluous description of Lavan as the "brother of Rivkah, the mother of Yaakov and Eisav" is actually an abbreviated quote of Yitzchok's response to Yaakov, and Rashi, in typical fashion, fleshes it out. To paraphrase:

"My dear son Yaakov, I wish I could answer your question. I don't know Lavan personally. Ordinarily, we can infer a man's personality from his nephew, for sons always take after their mother's brother (Yevamos 62b). However, my brother-in-law Lavan has two very different nephews, you and your brother Eisav. This presents a conundrum and I do not know what this teaches us about your uncle!"

II

When Yaakov first meets Rachel, he introduces himself by saying כי אחי אביה הוא, "he is her father's brother" (29:12). This is technically false, as Yaakov is not Lavan's brother but rather his nephew. Rashi defends Yaakov's usage by citing a precedent: Avraham called his nephew Lot a "brother" (13:8). However, this interpretation is unsatisfying, for the parallel is not direct. In the case of Lot, he was Avraham's brother's son. In line with the Talmudic dictum, בני בנים הרי הם כבנים, "the sons of sons are considered like sons" (Yevamos 62b), Lot can be considered a son of Terach and thus a brother of Avrahom. This is not applicable in the case of Yaakov's relationship with Lavan, for Yaakov was not the son of Lavan's brother, he was the son of Lavan's sister. 

Presumably, this is why Rashi offers an alternative interpretation, which has Yaakov making an assertive statement regarding his father-in-law to be:  

...אם לרמאות הוא בא, גם אני אחיו ברמאות 

If he attempts to trick me, I am his equal ("brother") in trickery. And if he is an אדם כשר, an honest man, than I am also [honest, for I am] the son of his honest sister Rivkah. (Baba Basra 123a)

Yaakov is not postering. Rachel is Yaakov's wife-to-be and she has a right to know the personality of her future husband. Yaakov would love to give a straight answer, but he is confused and does not know what to say. 

Yaakov originally thought he was destined for the tents of Torah, but Hashem seems to have other plans. After outsmarting a suspicious father and a shrewd brother, Yaakov is confronted with his hitherto unknown God-given potential. It is frightening realization. Trickery is not compatible with Yaakov's self image as a proudly naive man of truth. 

So what kind of person is he? Well, men always take after their mother's brother, so Yaakov tells Rachel that everything depends on the dubious character of "brother" Lavan. If Lavan is honest, then so am I. And if not, not. 

Yet Yaakov is mistaken. His identity is not tied to Lavan at all. On the contrary, the Torah testifies that Yaakov was born an איש תם, "a simple man" (25:27) and Rashi (ad loc.) defines that to mean מי שאינו חריף לרמות, "someone who lacks the shrewdness necessary to be a trickster." 

How can this be? If Lavan is a scoundrel (29:25) and a swindler (31:7), how could his sister's son be an איש תם, the polar opposite of his uncle?

III

Rivkah was barren (25:21), childless for the first twenty years of her marriage (25:20,26). The Midrash famously states that all four of the foremothers started off barren because "Hashem desires the prayers of the righteous." The Netziv offers a different explanation.

Children naturally take after their mother's brother, and in the case of Rivkah that would mean her children would be born with negative character traits. In order to prevent this eventuality, Hashem made Rivkah incapable of bearing children naturally. She could only have a child supernaturally, in which case the child would not take after her wicked brother.

Describing her husband's prayers during this difficult period, the Torah tells us that Yitzchok pleaded לנכח אשתו, "opposite" his wife (25:21). In light of the Netziv's commentary, we can can take these words literally. Afraid of Lavan's genes, Yitzchok davened "against" his wife, praying that she would not give birth to a child naturally. Yitzchok only wanted a child if the birth would be supernatural, free of his brother-in-law's influence. 

Hashem answered Yitzchok's plea (25:21) and the result was an איש תם, the antithesis of Lavan. However, Yaakov was not born alone. Rivkah gave birth to twins. 

IV

Yaakov was conceived first (Rashi to 25:26) and his birth was Hashem's response to Yitzchok's tefillah. The question is Eisav. If Rivkah was incapable of conceiving naturally, does that mean Hashem performed a special miracle to create a monster?

A generation earlier earlier, when the barren Sarah gave birth to Yitzchok at age ninety, "many barren women were remembered with her, many sick people were healed that day, many prayers were answered with her; there was a great rejoicing in the world" (Rashi to 20:6). 

When it rains, it pours, and when Hashem opens the gates, He showers blessings on the whole world. It follows that when Hashem answered Yitzchok's prayer for a miracle child, many barren women were healed of their disability, including Rivkah herself. This is why Rivkah is able to conceive another child. As opposed to Yaakov, this second child was conceived naturally and should therefore take after his mother's brother. 

The Torah tells us that Yitzchok loved Eisav because ציד בפיו, Eisav had "game in his mouth" (25:28). Rashi quotes the Midrash, "Eisav trapped [Yitzchok], tricking him with his words." Like uncle, like nephew. Eisav was a trickster, just like Uncle Lavan. 

V

Unaware of his father's preconception prayer, Yaakov naturally assumes his birth was natural and he is "blessed" with the trickster traits of Uncle Lavan. Yaakov's negative sense of self is reinforced by his native talent as an voice impersonator (cf. Ramban to 27:12), and also by Eisav's twisted take on his name. "So that's why they called him Yaakov - he tricked me twice! He took my birthright and now he took my blessing!" (27:36). Yaakov is wrong about himself, but the misconception is central to Hashem's plan.

Skillsets are overrated; self image is what matters. Thinking he was חריף לרמות, shrewd enough to outsmart anyone, Yaakov faced down Lavan, Eisav, and Shechem with confidence. In reality, Yaakov was an איש תם, but he was better off not knowing it.