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We can see God intervening in numerous situations in the Book of Genesis, revealing His divine plans to our forefathers, saving them, and preventing them from falling into different traps. However, in the whole Parasha of Itzhak's blessing, God keeps completely silent for years and doesn't reveal Eisov's true nature.

Why didn't He reveal to Itzhak that Eisov lies to him? Why didn't He intervene in the story of the blessings and prevent the mess it caused? Why didn't He talk to Yaakov and advise him to choose a different way of handling the situation?

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  • R Yaakov Kamenetsky understands that this whole episode was Yaakov's "Akeida", meaning his test which gave him the right to be considered one of the Avos. As such, Hashem intervening would be counter productive
    – robev
    Commented Nov 21, 2020 at 20:55
  • @robev what was the test - to fool his father?
    – Al Berko
    Commented Nov 21, 2020 at 20:59
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    To add to @Robev's comment - the idea is that they were tested on things that were polar opposite to their defining middah. So Avraham who lived for chessed was asked to kill his child, and likewise Yaakov who was an Ish Emes was required to lie.
    – Dov
    Commented Nov 21, 2020 at 21:20
  • @Dov Nice idea, however, God didn't command him on that, lying wasn't the only way to get Brochos, he could persuade his mistaken father and end it peacefully.
    – Al Berko
    Commented Nov 22, 2020 at 22:19
  • Why didn't God intervene during the Holocaust?
    – larry909
    Commented Nov 24, 2020 at 9:49

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Because we as readers of the story always take for granted that what happened in the story was either necessary to happen, or supposed to happen for some reason. Very few people actually ask the question of whether any of it was actually necessary.

For example, did Isaac even need to bless his Jacob or Esau? Isaac was never blessed by Abraham before Abraham died and everything that was supposed to happen according to God's plan...continued to happen according to God's plan. In fact Scripture even tells us that God is the one to bless Isaac, hinting that the only blessing that truly matters comes from God directly.

Genesis 25:11

יא וַיְהִי, אַחֲרֵי מוֹת אַבְרָהָם, וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹהִים, אֶת-יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ; וַיֵּשֶׁב יִצְחָק, עִם-בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי. {פ} 11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son; and Isaac dwelt by Beer-lahai-roi. {P}

So it's entirely possible that this idea of blessing is something the Patriarchs decided to do culturally, but it might have little religious or divine value. Therefore, Isaac didn't need to bless anyone for God's will to continue to manifest, therefore God didn't see any real need to intervene with the blessings.

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  • I agree about the part of the blessings. I intended to question the part when things got really messy because Itzhak was mistaken and Rivka took advantage, etc.
    – Al Berko
    Commented Nov 24, 2020 at 19:25
  • @Al Berko Your question has more to do with why does God intervene at all then. If you agree that the blessing might not matter, then you're left with the question of why does God intervene when God intervenes? That would be an excellent question and I'd love to see the answers it sparks.
    – Aaron
    Commented Nov 24, 2020 at 20:40

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