Din, mercy, and Yitzchak's blessings

בפסוק והרביתי את זרעך. בעבור אברהם עבדי.

On the verse, "And I will multiply your seed … for the sake of Avraham My servant" (Bereishis 26:24).

The Sefas Emes notes that Hashem's promise to Yitzchak is granted on Avraham's account, and sets out to understand why.

וכ"כ עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי כו'.

And so too it is written, "because Avraham hearkened to My voice …" (Bereishis 26:5).

A second verse likewise grounds Yitzchak's blessings in Avraham's merit, reinforcing the question.

וכי לא הי' יצחק אבינו כדאי לעצמו.

But was Yitzchak our father not worthy in his own right?

The difficulty: Yitzchak was surely a tzaddik of the highest order — why should the promise lean on his father's merit rather than his own?

רק כי השי"ת רצה להרבות זרעו בעבור אברהם אע"ה ולא בעבור זכותו עפ"י מאמרם ז"ל שעלה במחשבה לבראתו במדה"ד וראה שאין העולם מתקיים ושיתף עמו מדה"ר.

Rather, Hashem wished to multiply his seed for the sake of Avraham, peace be upon him, and not for the sake of [Yitzchak's] own merit — based on the saying of Chazal that it arose in [Hashem's] thought to create [the world] with the attribute of din (strict justice), and He saw that the world could not endure, so He joined to it the attribute of rachamim (mercy).

The answer turns on the two divine attributes: the world cannot stand on strict justice alone, so Hashem partnered justice with mercy. This will explain why Yitzchak's own merit, rooted in din, could not by itself secure his offspring.

והנה יצחק הי' עובד ה' במדה"ד וזה הי' כל ענין הברכות שסיבב הבורא ית' ע"י רבקה שיקבלם יעקב שלא ברצון יצחק.

Now, Yitzchak served Hashem with the attribute of din, and this was the whole matter of the blessings: that the Creator, may He be blessed, arranged through Rivkah that Yaakov should receive them not in accordance with Yitzchak's [conscious] will.

Yitzchak's avodah was rooted in strict justice. So Hashem orchestrated, through Rivkah, that the blessings reach Yaakov against Yitzchak's intention — tempering pure justice with the dimension Yaakov represents.

ובודאי הכל הי' נצרך שהי' צריך להיות מחשבתו ורצונו של יצחק כך להנהיג הכל עפ"י הדין.

And surely all of it was necessary, for it had to be that Yitzchak's thought and will be thus — to conduct everything according to the law (din).

Yitzchak's intention to bless Esav was not a mistake; it was needed that his will operate purely by the measure of justice.

רק במעשה לא היה יכול לגמור כן.

Only, in actual deed it could not be completed so.

While Yitzchak's will had to remain set on din, the world could not actually be run by justice alone, so the deed had to turn out otherwise.

ושיתף השי"ת מדה"ר כדי לקיים העולם.

And Hashem joined in the attribute of rachamim, in order to sustain the world.

So that the world could endure, Hashem blended mercy into the outcome — directing the blessings to Yaakov.

וזה הי' על ידי רבקה כמ"ש בפרשת חיי בפסוק ובה אדע כי עשית חסד עם אדוני.

And this was through Rivkah, as it is written in Parshas Chayei [Sarah], in the verse, "and through her I shall know that You have done chesed with my master" (Bereishis 24:14).

Rivkah is the channel of chesed and rachamim — already at her betrothal she is identified with kindness, fitting her role in steering the blessings toward Yaakov.

ואיתא התולה בזכות עצמו תולין לו בזכות אחרים כו'.

And it is brought: one who relies on his own merit, they make [his outcome] depend on the merit of others (Berachos 10b).

The Sefas Emes cites the teaching that one who leans on his own merit ends up being credited only through others' merit — which he will now read in a positive light.

ואין נראה שיהי' זה נדרש רק לגנאי.

And it does not seem that this is to be expounded only as a reproach.

This statement need not be taken merely as criticism; it can describe a lofty mode of avodah.

רק הפי' שמי שתולה בזכות עצמו. הוא עובד בבחינת הדין שרוצה הכל ליקח עפ"י מעשיו כמ"ש באין בזרוע.

Rather, the meaning is that one who relies on his own merit serves in the aspect of din, wanting to take everything according to his own deeds, as it says, "coming with [a claim of] force [the arm]."

To "rely on one's own merit" is to serve through strict justice — to claim one's reward strictly on the basis of what one has earned, demanding it as a due.

אבל באמת אין העולם מתקיים בדין.

But in truth the world does not endure through din.

Yet justice alone cannot sustain existence, so even the greatest tzaddik cannot ultimately stand on his own merit.

ורק ע"י שרצון הצדיקים אלו לשם שמים. הקב"ה מסייע להם בזכות אחרים. זה השכר שלהם.

Rather, since the will of these tzaddikim is for the sake of Heaven, the Holy One assists them through the merit of others — this is their reward.

Because such tzaddikim serve purely lishmah, Hashem rewards them precisely by completing what they lack through others' merit. Being "made to depend on others" is itself the reward, not a rebuke.

וכמו כן ע"י שהי' רצונו של יצחק לשם שמים. סיבב הקב"ה מעשה זו בזכותו של אברהם.

And likewise, since Yitzchak's will was for the sake of Heaven, the Holy One arranged this whole episode through the merit of Avraham.

Yitzchak's pure, justice-driven service for Heaven's sake is exactly why Hashem completed his blessing through Avraham's merit — the very pattern just described.

ועיין בס' שערי אורה איך רצון יצחק הי' עפ"י מדה"ד.

And see in the sefer Shaarei Orah how Yitzchak's will was according to the attribute of din.

He directs the reader to Shaarei Orah for the kabbalistic basis that Yitzchak is aligned with the attribute of strict justice.

והרמז בק"ש שאומרים בכל יום.

And the hint is in the Krias Shema that we recite every day.

The Sefas Emes finds these two attributes encoded in the daily Shema.

כי פ' ואהבת הוא בחי' אברהם.

For the paragraph of "V'ahavta" (and you shall love) is the aspect of Avraham.

The first paragraph, centered on love, corresponds to Avraham, the man of ahavah and chesed.

והי' אם שמוע בחי' יצחק שיש ברכה וקללה.

And "V'haya im shamoa" (and it shall be if you hearken) is the aspect of Yitzchak, for it contains blessing and curse.

The second paragraph, with its reward and punishment, corresponds to Yitzchak and the attribute of din.

ולכן הי' הברכות עיקרים בידו של יצחק אע"ה.

And therefore the blessings were principally in the hand of Yitzchak our father, peace be upon him.

Because din determines reward and consequence, the power to confer the blessings rested chiefly with Yitzchak.

והרמז מ"ש חז"ל ואברכך ז"ש אלקי יצחק כו' ע"ש:

And the hint is in what Chazal said regarding "and I will bless you" — this is the meaning of "the God of Yitzchak"; see there.

Chazal's linking of "and I will bless you" to "the God of Yitzchak" confirms that the dimension of blessing flows specifically through Yitzchak and his attribute of din.

Summary: Yitzchak's blessings come "for the sake of Avraham" because Yitzchak served Hashem through the attribute of din, which alone cannot sustain the world; since his will was wholly for Heaven's sake, Hashem completed his blessing through Avraham's merit of mercy and chesed — channeled via Rivkah and Yaakov. Thus "one who relies on his own merit is granted through others' merit" is not a rebuke but the reward of one who serves through pure justice, a pattern hinted in the Shema's two paragraphs of love (Avraham) and reward-and-punishment (Yitzchak).