Kabbalah Library

19) “And Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife,” meaning he offered a sacrifice and prayed for her. It is written, “And Isaac pleaded,” and it is written, “And the Lord granted his plea.” “Pleaded” is an offering, “and the Lord granted his plea” is also an offering, meaning that a fire above emerged in correspondence with the fire below because two fires are required for eating the offering: the fire of a high one and the fire of a layperson. Hence, “And Isaac pleaded” refers to the fire below, and “the Lord granted his prayer” is a fire above.

20) “Isaac pleaded,” he prayed and strove upward, toward the fortune that affects sons, for the delivery of sons depends on that place, the fortune, which is Dikna of AA. It is written about that, “And prayed unto the Lord.” HaVaYaH is ZA and “unto the Lord” is Dikna of AA that surrounds ZA and is called “fortune.”

Then, “And the Lord granted his prayer.” Do not read it as “granted,” but as “strove,” since the Ayin is replaced by Het [in Hebrew] as they are from the same origin—the letters Aleph, Het, Hey, Ayin [guttural letters in Hebrew]. This is so because the Creator subverted for him and accepted him. Then, “And Rebecca his wife conceived.” From the perspective of the system, she was unworthy of conceiving, since she was barren from birth. But through his prayer, He subverted for him, meaning He changed the arrangement of the system, “And Rebecca his wife conceived.”

21) For twenty years, Isaac waited on his wife and she did not deliver until he prayed his prayer. This was so because the Creator desires the prayer of the righteous, when they ask before Him for their needs. And what is the reason? It is so that an ointment of holiness would grow and proliferate through the prayer of the righteous for anyone in need, for the righteous open the upper pipeline with their prayer, and then even those who are unworthy of being granted are granted.

22) Abraham did not pray for sons before the Creator even though Sarah was barren. But Isaac did pray because he knew that he was not sterile but his wife. Isaac knew in wisdom that Jacob was to emerge from him with twelve tribes, but he did not know if it would be from this wife or from another. This is why it is written, “For his wife” and not “For Rebecca.”

23) Why did Isaac not love Jacob as much as Esau, since he knew that twelve tribes were destined to emerge from him? Nevertheless, he loved Esau more, since each kind loves its own kind, and a kind follows its own kind.

24) Esau was born and came out red. He was of Isaac’s kind, the harsh judgment from above, of holiness. And Esau, who is the harsh judgment of below, emerged from him, with his head in holiness and his body not in holiness, which is why he is similar to the kind of Isaac. And because each kind follows its kind, he loved Esau more than Jacob, as it is written, “Because he had a taste for game,” for his head was in holiness.

It is written, “Because he had a taste for game,” and it is written, “Therefore it is said, ‘Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.’” The meaning of hunting is harsh judgment, and the hunting here is harsh judgment, too. And the text tells us that he loved him because he was harsh judgment, like him.