Yitzchak's Blessing: Good Hidden Within Judgment

18aLet us explain the blessing Yitzchak gave: he blessed Yaakov, though he had wanted to bless Esav. Know that everything below is a likeness of what is above [as with Yitzchak, Esav and Yaakov]. Chazal expound the verse “Give thanks to Hashem, for He is good, for His kindness is forever”: give thanks to Hashem, Who collects what a person owes through the person's own good.¹ For everything the Merciful One does, He does for the good.² Something may look bad to a person, but in truth it is not: Hashem collects what is owed through the very thing that is good for him. Only the person does not understand this, and so it pains him; that is why Chazal said, “Give thanks to Hashem, for He is good.”

18bSo when the Holy One, blessed be He, gives the attribute of judgment power to punish a person, it looks, as far as we can see, as if He is giving the accuser power to punish. But in truth it is good, in a hidden way, for everything the Merciful One does, He does for the good. The same holds below. Yitzchak, as we know, is the attribute of judgment; Esav is the power of the accuser and punisher; and Yaakov is the good of Israel. That is why Yitzchak, who comes from the attribute of judgment, wanted to bless Esav, the accuser and punisher, of whom Chazal say, speaking of the Satan, “He is the yetzer hara, he is the angel of death.”³ But it did not turn out that way. He blessed Yaakov, who is the good meant for man; for, as with all the Merciful One does, the good comes in a hidden way. So Yaakov Avinu, too, came in a hidden way, without Yitzchak Avinu knowing. Understand this.