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Yaakov is the prototypical man of truth "תתן אמת ליעקב" (מיכה ז, כ)

When his mother proposes a deception so that Yaakov can get Yitzchok's blessings, Yaakov's objection is strictly practical (Beraishis 27 (12) “If my father touches me, I shall appear to him as a trickster and bring upon myself a curse, not a blessing.” and not an objection in principle that the plan does not reflect truth. Why?

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2 Answers 2

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There are a few answers to this question.

One is that in essence, Eisov was the one who was doing the initial tricking here. He would have been receiving the brochos because (1) Eisav had been misleading Yitzchok about his true nature (Key Tzayid B'Piv) and (2)It's unclear if Yitzchok was aware that Esav had sold the Bechora to Yaakov and would have given him the Brochos had he known.

There was no way Eisav would have agreed to drop the deception. When dealing with such crooked people you can act crookedly to get what is due to you.

And as Rashi says Yaakov didn't actually lie. He answered "it is I, Eisov is (technically) your Bechor.

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  • When dealing with such crooked people you can act crookedly to get what is due to you. For a source, cf. M'gilla 13b, "אמרה ליה ומי שרי לצדיקי לסגויי ברמיותא אמר לה אין עם נבר תתבר ועם עקש תתפל".
    – Fred
    Nov 28, 2019 at 5:32
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In an ironic turn of events Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetzky addresses this in his Emes Liyaakov.

He answers that truth and lies are not the black and white as we see them. Truth is what something should be according to Hashem's will. Since actin Yaakov took was to make sure everything played out according to what it should have been, he hadn't actually lied.

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