ודילמא דרך חכמתן קא חשיב להו אלא מעתה (בראשית לה, כט) ויקברו אותו עשו ויעקב בניו מאי טעמא לא חשיב להו דרך חכמתן אלא מדאקדמיה אדבורי אדבריה ומדאדבריה שמע מינה תשובה עבד בימיו
And whence do we know that Ishmael repented while Abraham was still alive? — From the discussion which took place between Rabina and R. Hama b. Buzi when they were once sitting before Raba while he was dozing. Said Rabina to R. Hama b. Buzi: Do your people really maintain that wherever the term 'giving up the ghost' [gewi'ah] is used in connection with the death of any person, it implies that that person died righteous? That is so, he replied. But what then of the generation of the Flood?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Of which it is written, And all flesh gave up the ghost (wa-yigwa'), Gen. VII, 21.
');"><sup>31</sup></span> [he asked.] We only make this inference, he replied, if both, 'giving up the ghost' and 'gathering in' are mentioned. But, he rejoined, what of Ishmael, who is said both to have 'given up the ghost' and 'been gathered in'?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gen. XXV, 17.
');"><sup>32</sup></span>
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
Nachmanides deals with the problem at length and is worth reading (cf. 24,1). I shall also make a contribution to these puzzling and conflicting statements. Nachmanides follows his method, whereas I shall follow mine.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
Another important allusion to be found in the word ואגדלה is the assurance that this universe would endure, i.e. that Abraham is the guarantee that this would be so. The word ואגדלה contains the six first letters of the א-ב, six letters corresponding to the six days of Creation. Although the letter ל in ואגדלה, seems to contradict this allusion, we shall explain this.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
What bothered Rashi was that Esau had been described as "the red one" already at birth (25,25). If that description was justified based on his hair or color of his skin, then why did the Torah have to tell us in 25,30 that the reason that Esau was called "the red one," was because he demanded to be given of the red dish? Besides, if a person asks for bread and he receives it, will anyone henceforth call him "bread?" There must have been something more than meets the eye in why the Torah tells us that this encounter between Jacob and Esau led to Esau being called "the red one." This is why Rashi writes that the dish consisted of red lentils, something eaten as a sign of mourning, i.e. that on that day Abraham died and was buried. Esau, the man of the field, did not mourn, but pursued his usual nefarious activities. Our sages say that he committed no fewer than five transgressions on that very day (Baba Batra 16). Since he was somewhat ashamed, he acted as if he had not been aware that the day was a day of mourning for his grandfather, and he deliberately misrepresented the dish that Jacob had prepared, calling it "this red, red stuff." Since everybody who heard Esau realised that he had shammed ignorance of the precise nature of both the dish and the reason it had been prepared on that day, he was henceforth called "the red one," as a description of his falseness. When Rav Ashi said that the Romans' own mouth "tripped them up," he referred to their statement: "the master is the swindler."
