self determination

Two quick thoughts:

1) The Ritva in his commentary on the Haggadah (on the section where we quote the pasuk ...v'eitein l'Yitzchak es Yaakov v'es Eisav) writes that Yaakov and Eisav had the same genes, they came from the same womb, they were raised in the same house, yet they turned out so differently.

We learn from here that it's not genes, it's not your birthday or mazal, it's not where or when you came from that matters.  Each person has the power to determine for him/herself what kind of person he/she will be.

2) וַיַּ֛עַן יִצְחָ֥ק אָבִ֖יו וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֑יו הִנֵּ֞ה מִשְׁמַנֵּ֤י הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה מֽוֹשָׁבֶ֔ךָ וּמִטַּ֥ל הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם מֵעָֽל

Rashi comments that the words  מִשְׁמַנֵּ֤י הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ refer to איטליא.  Why Italy and not some other place, I can't tell you, but the question I think we can address is why Rashi needed to name a specific place at all.  Just a few pesukim earlier, in the bracha given to Yaakov,  וְיִֽתֶּן־לְךָ֙ הָאֱלֹקים מִטַּל֙ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּמִשְׁמַנֵּ֖י הָאָ֑רֶץ וְרֹ֥ב דָּגָ֖ן וְתִירֹֽשׁ, we have the same words of שְׁמַנֵּ֤י הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ and there Rashi offers no comment at all; he doesn't think he has to name some specific location.  If מִשְׁמַנֵּ֤י הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ cries out for identification or explanation, why here and not there?

Secondly, if Yitzchak already gave מִשְׁמַנֵּ֖י הָאָ֑רֶץ to Yaakov, how could he now give the same to Eisav?

The Taz in Divrei David writes that there are two types of lands that can be described as מִשְׁמַנֵּ֤י הָאָ֙רֶץ֙.  There is land which is inherently fertile, filled with natural resources, easy to cultivate and develop.  Eretz Yisrael is not like that.  That doesn't mean Eretz Yisrael cannot be all of the above, but when it comes to Eretz Yisrael, it's not natural -- it's only because of yad Hashem.  

By way of analogy, when Avraham approached Mitzrayim, he said to Sarah that until that day he did not know that she was beautiful.  How can that be?  My son recently posted the hesber of the GR"A.  There is beauty which is natural, yofi, and then there is beauty that comes because Hashem gives a person a bracha of chein.  Avraham knew Sarah was beautiful, but he thought that was chein, because of a special bracha.  Now that they drew close to Mitzrayim and that special bracha of chein beauty would have been a takalah, he realized that it was not because of the bracha that she looked beautiful, but rather this was her natural, innate appearance.

When Yitzchak blessed Eisav, he gave him just a piece of land.  The word הִנֵּ֞ה that Yitzchak used in presenting the bracha  הִנֵּ֞ה מִשְׁמַנֵּ֤י הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה מֽוֹשָׁבֶ֔ךָ means here it is, the land just as it was created, with whatever maalos it has in it, no more and no less.  When he blessed Yaakov, it was וְיִֽתֶּן־לְךָ֙ הָאֱלֹקים.  It's  מִשְׁמַנֵּ֤י הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ not because that's the teva of the specific place, but rather it's because hashgachas Hashem makes it so.  

Don't think for a minute that Eisav was happy, even though he received a land that was rich and fertile.  Kuzari writes (2:14)

ועל הארץ ההיא נפלה הקנאה בין יעקב ובין עשו בדבר הבכורה והברכה ולסוף נדחה עשו על אף גבורתו מפני יעקב עם כל חלשתו

The dispute between Yaakov and Eisav, which continues to this very day, was over Eretz Yisrael.  No mere piece of real estate מִשְׁמַנֵּ֤י הָאָ֙רֶץ֙, no matter how fertile, no matter how rich in resources, can substitute for a land that affords a relationship with Hashem.