I do have some potentially controversial thoughts about the relationship between Yitzhak and Yaakov. Specifically, after reviewing Parasha Toldot, there is not a single mention of any interaction between Yitzhak and his younger son, Yaakov, until the time when father sends son away. Furthermore, as Yitzhak grows old and "dim in the eyes" he summons only Esav for a blessing. Despite having literal time in between dispatching Esav to hunt game and return after preparing a meal and the actual eating of this meal to summon Yaakov, Yitzhak fails to do so. This storyline is, of course, on top of what the Torah directly tells us about Yitzhak's inner thoughts regarding his son - specifically, that Yitzhak loved Esav because he "puts game in [Yitzhak's] mouth." The Torah does leave out the word "only," however, as in it does not say that Yitzhak "only" loves Esav. In all, we must ask: Why?
On the surface level, and on a point taken up by some commentators, Yitzhak loved Esav because he (Esav) reminded him (Yitzhak) of himself. Although we do see Yitzhak praying or meditating on at least two occasions, most of his exploits involve being out "in the field," digging or supervising the digging of wells and engaging in agriculture. We are told that Yaakov is "smooth" and, as the modern parlance has it, "not an outdoorsy person," preferring to dwell in tents. On a highly superficial level, the Torah may imply that Yitzhak does not love or even despises Yaakov because he does not or cannot relate to him or because he is a disappointment, especially in relation to Esav, who may remind Yitzhak more of his own endeavors. This commentary stands in somewhat contrast to others which seem to imply that Yitzhak was more interested in Esav's development because he was the child that needed more help and guidance whereas Yaakov, the commentary implies, was naturally blessed and possessed good judgment.
However, there is simply no possible way that our Torah could portray such dislike on the part of one of our three forefathers directed towards the very namesake (Yisrael) of our people. Otherwise, Yitzhak would only be a background prop and a progenitor in service of fathering Yaakov/Yisrael. If so, there would be no reason for the narrative in the first place and our Torah could have just said that Avraham fathered Yitzhak, who fathered Yaakov, skipping all Yitzhak narrative completely.
I turned to my meditation in order to answer this question and was presented with an odd but powerful image of what was essentially an electrical outlet overloaded with power - so full of power that, in fact, nothing could be plugged into it and no hand could approach it. My interpretation of this image is that, in a word, Yaakov was so charged with raw spiritual power that Yitzhak, as great as he was, was unable to "plug into" Yaakov (i.e., relate to his son) and may even have been afraid of him.
In a related way, there is a not-so-obvious connection between Yaakov and his grandfather, Avraham. The Torah points out that Yaakov preferred to dwell in tents while his grandfather, Avraham, was seated in the tent at the beginning of the famous Three Guests epoch. Perhaps Yaakov reminded Yitzhak too much of his own father, perhaps even hearkening back to the akeidah and its likely associated trauma. Is there a chance that Yitzhak sought to avoid his own son, Yaakov, because his son reminded him too much of the incident in which he was nearly slaughtered?
Whatever the reason, there is clearly an inability of Yitzhak to relate to Yaakov. This is, at least, until Rivkah informs Yitzhak that they are to send Yaakov away to find a wife and Yitzhak finally does bless him. However, I must say that the majority of this passage is instead an instruction to follow Rivkah's desires and the blessing itself -- while honorable -- is not nearly as rich and poetic as the one Yitzhak intended to give to Esav. There is no crying, yelling, and weeping as there was with Esav. Even here, the Torah suggests a stilted relationship between the two, perhaps also suggested by Yitzhak's decision not to protest sending his younger son away. Maybe Yitzhak thought that the task would take at most a few days as his own engagement process had.
There are so many ways of reading, interpreting, and deciphering the relationship between Yitzhak and Yaakov. For now, I can only rely on my meditation and a related dream in which Yitzhak, for whatever reason, was simply unable to access, plug into, or relate to Yaakov's raw spiritual power - a power that led to the creation of an entire people.
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