BackCan We Justify Yaakov's Deception of and Lying to His Father?
By: Rabbi Barak Bar-Chaim
The Torah describes how Yitzchak asks his eldest son, Esav, to bring goats and prepare a meal for him. Yitzchak informs Esav that after the meal, Esav will receive blessings. Yaakov (following his mother’s instruction) prepares a meal for Yitzchak, disguises himself as his brother Esav, and proceeds to deceive his blind father Yitzchak. Yaakov then receives the blessings that Yitzchak had intended to give to Esav.
We know that our forefather Yaakov represents the concepts of Torah, truth, and morality. Were Yaakov’s actions sinful? How could one morally justify deceiving and lying to one’s own father? Although Yaakov knew that Esav was a bad person and Yaakov’s intention was to prevent Esav from using the product of his father’s blessing for evil purposes, do the ends justify the means?
The Netziv explains that Yaakov had, indeed, committed sins by lying to and deceiving his father, Yitzchak. However, before the giving of the Torah, it was permitted to perform a sinful act if one did so with pure intentions for the sake of Heaven. In the terminology of our sages, this is called an ‘aveirah lishmah,’ a sin for the sake of Heaven. While Yaakov lied to and deceived his father, he did not do so for personal gain. He did so for the greater good, understanding the disastrous global consequences of his wicked brother, Esav, receiving the blessings. The Netziv also explains that once the Torah was given at Mt. Sinai, a sin for the sake of Heaven is prohibited. One is no longer allowed to engage in sinful activity for the sake of Heaven. We no longer say that the ends justify the means.
Our sages teach us that although such behavior was permitted before the giving of the Torah, it was conditional on the motives being completely pure and that no pleasure would be derived from such actions. When Esav returned to receive his father’s blessings and realized what had transpired, he was devastated and cried out. Yaakov felt a small amount of pleasure at witnessing Esav’s pain, and was, in fact, punished for this. How so? He, himself, was deceived by his father-in-law Lavan, who had switched Leah and Rachel. Yaakov had waited seven years to marry Rachel and then had to deal with his father-in-law’s deception.
In conclusion, the Netziv teaches us the important lesson that no matter how pure our motives may be, sinful activity is forbidden. The ends do not justify the means!