Giving things away is counter-intuitive. From our earliest ages, we always seek to acquire – it is natural, instinctive behavior.
So perhaps it is not surprising that in the Torah, very few people ever give valuable things away to other people – not Adam or Cain or Noach, or even Avraham or Isaac. Though it should be noted that both Avraham and Lot demonstrate hospitality, which is a more limited (and interpersonal) form of giving. Indeed, both Avraham and Lot choose to retain their wealth rather than give it away in order that they could continue to live together!
The rest of “giving” by the aforementioned are invariably transactional in nature. Machpelah is purchased by Avraham and so, too, the gifts to Rivkah and her family are also transactional, with expectations of commensurate rewards in return for what is given. Both come with negotiations and cultural expectations. Neither was merely an act of giving.
On the other hand, we do appreciate that hospitality and investing one’s own time and energies (as Avraham, Lot and Rivkah all do for strangers) is clearly beautiful, holy, and much to-be-admired.
Nevertheless, Yaakov is the very first in the Torah to give away substantial wealth – and he does so in the form of no fewer than 550 animals!
How do we know that G-d viewed this act with favor? Just a few verses after Yaakov sends the animals toward Esau, Jacob is bequeathed with a new name, which becomes the name of the entire nation: Israel. The act of giving, especially to improve a relationship (as Jacob does with Esau) meets with divine favor.
Isn’t the text suggesting that Jacob’s act of giving was definitional, creating an essential identity characteristic of the Jewish people for all time: the act of giving to others as a way to create, heal, and grow relationships?