Rabbi Yehuda M. Hausman argues that the Patriarch Jacob grows up longing for his father's love.
In fact, Isaac blesses him richly:
"And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
"Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.
"And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;
"And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
"And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother." (Genesis 28:1-5)
I believe that Jacob eventually settles for His Heavenly Father's love, even if he still insists on trying to force God's hand:
"And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
"So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:
"And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee." (Genesis 28:20-22)
God more than kept His end of the bargain, blessing Jacob with twelve male children, from whom emerged the nation of Israel, and through whom all the nations of the world have been blessed!
Beyond the insights I discovered regarding the love that Jacob was seeking, I also believe that Jacob was given a second chance, especially for playing favorites with his sons from his second wife Rachel.
Jacob had much to be thankful for, in spite of his many failures. He acknowledges his missteps, but tends to exaggerate them:
"And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
"And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?
"And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage."
That was simple not true. Jacob received a larger family with greater wealth, including the personal invitation of his son -- now the Prime Minister of Egypt -- to live in peace and prosperity in the Land of Goshen.
The next verse contradicts Jacob's low estimation of his walk on the Earth:
"And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh." (v. 10)
Imagine that -- the Pharaoh, a heathen king, accorded enough respect to Jacob that he received the Patriarch's blessing. Imagine what would happen if the Egyptians of today sought the blessing of the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, instead of fighting with them and plotting the demise of the Jewish State?!
Ultimately, one could argue that Jacob had always had his father's and his Father's love, but he never believed it and thus never received it.
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