Jacob Fears His Father Will Touch Him and Curse Him

Rabbi Yitzchak said: He did not ask of him, nor did she ask of him. "And the goat shall carry" (Leviticus 16:22): this is Esau, "Esau my brother is a hairy man." "All their iniquities [avonotam]": read as "all the iniquities of the perfect one [avonot tam]," "And Jacob was a perfect [tam] man" (Genesis 25:27). "Perhaps my father will touch me, and I shall be in his eyes like a deceiver [metate'a]" (Genesis 27:12): like one who goes astray and like one who worships idols. "And I shall bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing": even the one blessing that he is destined to give me in the end he will not give me. Rabbi Eleazar said: Whoever changes his word is as if he worships idols. It is written here "like a deceiver [metate'a]," and it is written there, "They are vanity, the work of delusions [tatuim]" (Jeremiah 10:15). "And his mother said to him, Upon me be your curse, my son" (Genesis 27:13). She said: The first man sinned; was it not his mother who was cursed, as it is said, "Cursed is the ground" (Genesis 3:17)? You too: upon me be your curse, my son. Rabbi Yitzchak said: Upon me is it to go in and say to him, your son Jacob is righteous and Esau is wicked. "And he went and took and brought to his mother" (Genesis 27:14): forced, bent over, and weeping. "And Rebekah took the garments of Esau her elder son, the precious ones" (Genesis 27:15), which he had coveted from the wicked Nimrod; this is what is written, "The wicked covets the catch of evil men" (Proverbs 12:12). Rabbi Meir says: Esau saw the tunic upon Nimrod and coveted it in his heart and killed him and took it from him. And when he wore it he too became mighty, as it is said, "And Esau became a man skilled in hunting" (Genesis 25:27). Jacob said: The wicked one is not worthy to wear these garments. What did he do? He dug in the ground and hid them, as it is said, "His rope is hidden in the ground" (Job 18:10).