{"id":14340,"date":"2026-01-08T23:52:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T23:52:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.kabbalah.info\/?post_type=book&p=14340"},"modified":"2026-01-08T23:52:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T23:52:22","slug":"borrowing-vessels","status":"publish","type":"book","link":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/borrowing-vessels\/","title":{"rendered":"819. Borrowing Vessels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why was Isaac afraid to say, \u201cWhat iniquity is there in me that I blessed the little one before the older one and changed the order of relation?\u201d Esau began to shout, \u201cHe delayed me twice!\u201d His father told him: \u201cWhat did he do to you?\u201d He said, \u201cHe took my blessing.\u201d He said, \u201cThis is what I regretted and dreaded that I might have broken the letter of the law. Now, my blessing to the elder, \u2018he, too, shall be blessed\u2019\u201d (Midrash Tanchuma<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that this is why Isaac blessed Esau, because of the birthright. Therefore, we should understand why Jacob had to deceive his father that he was Esau. He could have told him that he deserves the blessings because of the birthright. Nachmanides interpreted the verse, \u201cAnd Esau despised the birthright,\u201d that this is why he said to Isaac, \u201cI am your elder son,\u201d telling him that he deserves to be blessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should also understand the verse, \u201cAnd Isaac loved Esau for there was game in his mouth.\u201d What is the precision, \u201cin his mouth\u201d? Baal HaSulam interpreted why Isaac wanted to bless Esau, since it is impossible to give anything spiritual to one who has no desire for the matter. Otherwise, the spiritual matter yields no blessing to a person, but on the contrary, a curse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBlessing\u201d means that his situation will improve, he will grow and expand, and will be able to go higher and higher to the sought-after wholeness. But if a person is given something spiritual while he lacks the Kelim<\/em> [vessels] to receive, meaning that he has no need, this matter brings him nothing but losses, the opposite of a blessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacob was a smooth man, as it is written, \u201cand I am a smooth man,\u201d meaning without any deficiency. \u201cAnd I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing. And his mother said to him \u2026 but obey my voice.\u201d Conversely, Esau was hairy. Se\u2019arot<\/em> [hair] comes from the word Se\u2019arah<\/em> [storm], meaning deficiencies, for over deficiencies there can be a storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence, it is precisely Esau who had the Kelim<\/em> to receive the blessings, unlike Jacob. Rebecca advised him, meaning he wore the best garments of Esau. As RASHI interpreted, he coveted them from Nimrod, meaning that those garments belonged to wicked Nimrod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Esau took from him these Kelim<\/em>, and she also dressed his smooth parts with leather from young goats. In other words, he wore Esau\u2019s desires and thus had a lack in which to receive the blessings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By this we can explain and say that for this reason, when Esau came and said, \u201cHe delayed me twice,\u201d meaning that he also took from me the birthright, his mind was eased that he had blessed the little one. That is, before he knew that he was the elder, he thought that he had no place of deficiency, and therefore no connection to the blessings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But once he learned through Esau, that he took the birthright from him, Isaac (saw) that Jacob himself tried to obtain Kelim<\/em> so he would have a place in which to receive the blessings, since he tried to find by buying the birthright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why Isaac said, \u201cHe, too, will be blessed,\u201d for now Jacob is suitable for the blessings. Prior to the correction of borrowing Esau\u2019s Kelim<\/em>, buying the birthright in and of itself was not enough to receive the blessings. Hence, there was no point in telling him that he has the birthright from Esau, since this is only the beginning of the making of the Kelim<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By borrowing the Kelim<\/em> of Esau, he had the suitable Kelim<\/em>. This is similar to the borrowing of the Kelim<\/em> of the Egyptians, as it is written, \u201cAnd each woman shall borrow from her neighbor,\u201d for the people of Israel, too, needed to borrow a place of lack so they could receive the Mochin<\/em> of great possessions, similar to borrowing the garments of Esau here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can understand the matter of borrowing Kelim<\/em> through a depiction. It is a rule that it is impossible to provide any answers if he does not have the questions. Jacob did not have any questions, so it was considered that he took the questions from Esau in a manner of borrowing, meaning in order to extend the answers. Yet, he promptly returned and gave him back all the questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why was Isaac afraid to say, \u201cWhat iniquity is there in me that I blessed the little one before the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":6246,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"topic":[26],"class_list":["post-14340","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry","topic-rabash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKabbalah | 819. 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