R' J. Sacks in his Parsha article [from a few years ago] wonders why Yitzchak loved Esav despite the fact that he was aware of his faults, as evidenced by the fact that he knew that Esav had taken idolatrous wives. He writes:
The sages gave an explanation. They interpreted
the phrase “skilful hunter” as meaning that Esau
trapped and deceived Isaac. He pretended to be more religious than he was. There is, though, quite a different explanation, closer to the plain sense of the text, and very moving. Isaac loved
Esau because Esau was his son, and that is what fathers do. They love their children
unconditionally.
Actually, the text says וַיֶּאֱהַב יִצְחָק אֶת עֵשָׂו כִּי צַיִד בְּפִיו - He loved Esav כי ציד בפיו [see the commentaries] and NOT because Esav was his son. It would MAKE SENSE that he loved Esav because he was his son, but that is NOT what the text says. [Maybe because the Avos were on the level that they weren't guided by their natural inclinations.]
In this years article he writes:
If this is so, then Isaac’s love for Esau is simply explained. It is as if Isaac had said: I know what Esau is. He is strong, wild, unpredictable, possibly violent. It is impossible that he should be the person entrusted with the covenant and its spiritual demands. But this is my child. I refuse to sacrifice him, as my father almost sacrificed me. I refuse to send him away, as my parents sent Hagar and Ishmael away. My love for my son is unconditional. I do not ignore who or what he is. But I will love him anyway, even if I do not love everything he does – because that is how God loves us, unconditionally, even if He does not love everything we do. I will bless him. I will hold him close. And I believe that one day that love may make him a better person than he might otherwise have been.
In this one act of loving Esau, Isaac redeemed the pain of two of the most difficult moments in his father Abraham’s life: the sending away of Hagar and Ishmael and the Binding of Isaac.
I believe that love helps heal both the lover and the loved.
There is some veiled criticism of Avraham here for sending away Yishmael. Actually, HASHEM COMMANDED HIM TO DO SO at the behest of Sarah.
