“Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin” (Genesis 27:11). “Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy [sa’ir] man” – a demon-like man, just as it says: “Demons [se’irim] will dance there” (Isaiah 13:21). “And I am a man of smooth [ḥalak] skin” –just as it says: “For the Lord's portion [ḥelek] is His people” (Deuteronomy 32:9).
Rabbi Levi said: This is analogous to one with a full head of hair and a bald person who were standing at the edge of the threshing floor. The chaff went up onto the one with the full head of hair and became entangled in his hair. The chaff went up onto the bald person, and he placed his hand on his head and removed it. So, Esau the wicked is sullied with iniquities all the days of the year, and he has no means with which to gain atonement.
But Jacob is sullied with iniquities all the days of the year, comes Yom Kippur, and he has the means with which to gain atonement, as it is stated: “For on this day he shall atone” (Leviticus 16:30). Rabbi Yitzḥak said: This is not related to that and that is not related this.19The verse is not related to that interpretation and that interpretation is not related to the verse. Rather,20The same conclusion can be reached from a different source. “the goat shall bear upon itself” (Leviticus 16:22) – this is Esau, as it is stated: “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy [sa’ir] man.”
“All their iniquities [avonotam]” (Leviticus 16:22) – the iniquities of the simple man [avonot tam], as it is stated: “Jacob was a simple [tam] man” (Genesis 25:27). “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse, and not a blessing” (Genesis 27:12). “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver [metate’a]” – like a dead man [met], an aberration [to’eh],21Metate’a is an acronym for met and to’eh. and an idolater.22Anyone who distorts the truth in his speech it is as though he engages in idol worship (Sanhedrin 92a).
“I will bring upon myself a curse” – even the one blessing that he is destined to bestow at the end,23See Genesis 28:4. he will not bestow it upon me. “His mother said to him: Your curse is upon me, my son; only heed my voice, and go, take for me” (Genesis 27:13). “His mother said to him: Your curse is upon me, my son” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Adam, who sinned, was it not his mother that was cursed, as it is stated: “The ground is cursed on your account”? (Genesis 3:17).
You, too, “your curse is upon me, my son.” Rabbi Yitzḥak said: [Rebecca said:] ‘It is incumbent upon me to enter and say to your father: Jacob is righteous and Esau is wicked.’24It is incumbent upon me to see to it that there will be no curse at all. “He went, took, and brought to his mother, and his mother made tasty food, like that his father likes” (Genesis 27:14). “He went, took, and brought to his mother” – compelled, coerced, and weeping.