05 Apr How Does A Tzadik’s BRACHA Work?

The blessing of a righteous person has a place of pride in Jewish tradition, even if it is currently taken to extremes in certain circles. Shimon Peres has famously credited his long life to the blessing he received when he was four from R. Yisrael Meir Kagan, the saintly Chafetz Chaim. The Talmud (Bava Basra 116a) says that someone with a sick family member should ask a Torah scholar to pray for the ill person’s recovery. Torah scholars and righteous people have long blessed others. I’d like to examine the metaphysics of a blessing, the heavenly process by which it works. How was the Chafetz Chaim able to cause such a lasting impact on Shimon Peres? The place to start is Yitzchak’s blessing of Ya’akov and Esav.

The Torah tells the story of how Ya’akov tricked Yitzchak into giving him the blessing intended for Esav (Gen. 27). This is a rich tale with many layers of interpretation which we will not discuss here. But it leaves open one important question: Why was Yitzchak’s blessing so valuable that it was worth all this fuss?

I. Prophecy or Prayer

Ibn Ezra (Gen. 27:40) offers two possibilities: 1) Yitzchak’s blessing was a prophecy of the future, 2) It was a prayer for the success of the blessing’s recipient. Each possibility suffers from narrative difficulties. If it was a prophecy, why should Rachel and Ya’akov go through a subterfuge to obtain the blessing? The prophecy will not change based on Yitzchak’s preference among his children. And if it was a prayer, how can his prayer for Esav–whom he thought was with him–apply mistakenly to Ya’akov?

Ibn Ezra sides with the latter approach, that it was a prayer, and suggests that Yitzchak was uncertain which son was with him (as can be seen from Gen. 27:21-22). He prayed from whichever son was standing before him.

Ralbag (ad loc.) adopts a hybrid approach to answer the questions. The blessing is primarily a prophecy but with an additional, personal prayer to add to the prophecy. Rivkah knew the prophecy about Ya’akov would come. However, she also wanted to make sure that Ya’akov received Yitzchak’s prayer.

Ran (Derashos Ha-Ran, ch. 2 at the end, pp. 32-34 in Feldman edition) takes a similar approach as Ralbag, arguing that Yitzchak’s blessing was a prophecy. If so, why did it matter who was standing before him? Ran suggests that prophecies at that time were less durable and certain that in later eras. Rivkah knew from an earlier prophecy (Gen. 25:23) that Ya’akov was destined to prevail. However, she was concerned that Yitzchak’s blessing would include a prayer for Esav that would overturn the prophecy. Therefore, she ensured that Ya’akov would receive the blessing, preventing Yitzchak from praying for Esav. (See also Derashos Ha-Ran, ch. 5, pp. 74-75.)

I believe that Rashi and Ramban disagree on this point. The Torah emphasizes that Yitzchak wanted to give the blessing “before God” (Gen. 27:7). What does this phrase signify? Rashi (ad loc.) explains that Yitzchak wanted God’s permission and therefore agreement to the blessing. In other words, Yitzchak would pray in front of God for the blessing to come true and, with God’s permission, it was guaranteed. Ramban (ad loc.) explains the phrase to mean that the blessing would be given under divine inspiration, meaning as a form of prophecy.

II. Inheritance and Inspiration

R. Yitzchak Arama (Akedas Yitzchak, no. 24) rejects the premise of the entire discussion. This blessing was not a new promise; it was the blessing that Avraham and Yitzchak received. As the current “owner” of the blessing, Yitzchak had the right to choose who would receive it from him. The blessing was the enaction of a succession plan, a transaction that was entirely in Yitzchak’s hands. This approach seems to me to work best with the earlier story about Ya’akov buying the birthright from Esav. The entire narrative revolves around who would be Yitzchak’s heir.

R. Yitzchak Abarbanel (ad loc.) finds a different middle position, one that is directly relevant to the question with which we began. Abarbanel says that Yitzchak’s blessing, and the blessing of any righteous person, is intended to prepare the recipient for divine overflow. In other words, the blessing is part prayer and part inspiration, making the recipient more worthy of the divine reward in the prayer. When Yitzchak gave Ya’akov the blessing, or when any tzadik blesses someone else, the entire situation is one of inspiration and religious growth. The tzadik offers a prayer for a certain outcome and uplifts the recipient, changing him in a religiously positive way.

I see this blessing as an analogue to prayer itself. Philosophers grapple with the heavenly mechanics of prayer. If a person is worthy of a particular reward, then God should give it to him without the need for prayer. What does prayer add? Many answers have been offered to this philosophical problem. R. Yosef Albo (Sefer Ha-Ikkarim 4:16-18) explains that prayer is intended to inspire us. It is a religiously transformative act that makes us more worthy of divine reward. Similarly, a tzadik‘s blessing is intended to transform us, making us more worthy of the reward for which the tzadik prays.

If Shimon Peres still remembers receiving a blessing from the Chafetz Chaim, he was surely impacted positively by the meeting. He was inspired, even if his life did not take the path of full mitzvah observance. That religious inspiration made him more worthy of divine protection, of fulfillment of the Chafetz Chaim‘s prayer for the young boy.