And Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan aram, to take himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him, he commanded him, saying, "You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan." And Jacob hearkened to his father and his mother, and he went to Padan aram. (Bereishit 28:6-7)

 

In Bereishit Rabbah (39), R. Yitzhak began by saying: "Hearken, daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father's house." He listed three things: hearkening, seeing, and inclining the ear. Hearkening should be understood as accepting received opinion, that is, to accept someone else's words even though one's own mind does not support them. So we find [it written]: And Jacob hearkened to his father and his mother, and he went to Padan aram (Bereishit 28) - even though it was difficult for him to go out to exile and he was very afraid lest he assimilate, God forbid, into Laban's household - and that is why he first hid out in Eber's house for fourteen years, but in any event he took no heed of his own opinion and will and simply accepted their words. And so it is in several places in Scripture. Seeing is more than this, it occurs when one sees oneself that there is no way to proceed save the way they had commanded. Inclining one's ear is even more than this, it occurs when one has the wisdom to fathom the intention of the commandment, and as RaMBaM wrote in his responsa, one should pursue the Torah's intention, not just the superficiality of the matter, but to understand the principle of the matter even if it is not explicit. All three of these are required of one who comes to be purified. First he must possess the quality of hearkening to accept God's word and behaving according to the ways of the Torah without sophistry, even [if it seems to say that] left is right and right is left. Later he shall be granted the quality of seeing, that he himself shall see and understand and pursue the Torah's intention, which is called "inclining one's ear" to hear the intention of the words which cannot be found in their superficiality, as RaMBaN wrote (in the beginning of parashat Kedoshim) that "one can be a scoundrel within the boundaries of the Torah," see that cited section.

(R. Shmuel MiSochotshov, Shem MiShmuel, Lekh Lekha 5672)

 

From the Innocence of a Dweller in Tents to Those Who walk the Ways of Perfection

Shlomo Fox

Fated sincerity?!

In parashat Hayey Sarah we learned of the generations of Abraham which descended from Hagar and Ketura, family lines that came to be essentially separated from the genealogy of our people.

In our parasha we learn of the generations of Isaac; the birth of the twins Esau and Jacob. While they are yet in their mother's womb we know them to constitute two peoples, two nations - but their lives and the lives of their descendants will be intertwined. Furthermore, according to the prophet Malachi in the passage that was chosen to serve as the parasha's haftorah, the relationship between Jacob and Esau is not merely an earthly matter - it is also reflected in God's relationship to them: I loved you, said the Lord, and you said, "How have You loved us?" Was not Esau a brother to Jacob? says the Lord. And I loved Jacob. And I hated Esau, and I made his mountains desolate and his heritage into [a habitat for] the jackals of the desert (1:2-3).

What is the source of this relationship? Is it acquired or innate? Can it be changed?

Scripture tells us:

And the first one emerged ruddy; he was completely like a coat of hair, and they named him Esau. And afterwards, his brother emerged, and his hand was grasping Esau's heel, and he named him Jacob. Now Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them. And the youths grew up, and Esau was a man who understood hunting, a man of the field, whereas Jacob was a sincere man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because [his] game was in his mouth, but Rebecca loved Jacob. (Bereishit 25: 25-8)

The two youths grew up and their respective personalities are revealed in this description: one was a hunter and the other a dweller of tents. Parental love was divided between them, but Scripture does not explain why Isaac did not love Jacob or why Rebecca did not love Esau.

Were their personalities innate or were they the products of education? In the past I brought Rabbi S. R. Hirsch's commentary which claims the Torah is criticizing Isaac and Rebecca's faulty educational practices; he says that the characteristics of both Jacob and Esau could and should have been steered together towards God's service. How did this family function and how did the boys feel about it? We cannot know, but we can speculate.

Let us try to clarify what may be derived and learned from this situation.

Esau the hunter reminds us of Nimrod the hunter: He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord" (Bereishit 10:9), while the sincere [tam] Jacob reminds of Job, who was also described as tam:

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was sincere and upright, God-fearing and shunning evil (Job 1:1)

Nimrod was destined to be portrayed in midrash as one who rebelled against God, even though Scripture itself attests that he was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Job, on the other hand, asked so many questions that he came to be seen as a fictional and allegorical character, but he is described as an honest man whose fate was determined by Satan.

Job's sincerity and honesty require us to investigate Jacob's sincerity. Actually, we might easily say that Jacob was the one who "hunted men with his speech," gaining the birthright with his words and the blessing through trickery.

Thus it seems reasonable to say that Esau and Jacob are portrayed as representing two archetypes which must be compared to each other but which also must live together in partnership. This approach is expressed by two views found in the midrash relating to the fact that Esau was se'ir - "hairy":

And Jacob said to Rebecca his mother, "Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man…R. Levi and R. Yitzhak [disagreed on the interpretation of this verse]. R. Levi said: This may be illustrated by two men, one possessing a thick head of hair and the other bald-headed, who stood near a threshing-floor. When the chaff flew into the locks of the former, it became entangled in his hair; but when it flew on to the head of the bald man, he passed his hand over his head and removed it. Even so, the wicked Esau is polluted by sin throughout the year and has nought wherewith to procure forgiveness, whereas Jacob is defiled by sin throughout the year, but has the Day of Atonement wherewith to procure forgiveness.

R. Levi attributes the brothers' different fates to external differences: the hairy one catches the chaff while it slides off the bald man. That is to say: they both have sinned, but only one possesses the means to gain atonement - a completely arbitrary foundation for their different destinies.

R. Yitzhak said: This interpretation is farfetched: And the goat (sa'ir) shall bear upon him (Vayikra 16:22) - this alludes to Esau, as it says, Behold, my brother Esau is a sa'ir [hairy man]; All their iniquities (‘avonotam) unto a land which is cut off - the iniquities of the tam ('avonot tam), as it says, And Jacob was a sincere-tam man (Bereishit 25:27) (Bereishit Rabbah 65:15, based on Soncino translation)

R. Yitzhak proposes a comparison but prefaces it with the caveat that "it is farfetched," that is to say, the topic under discussion is not really similar to the proof given - there is no connection between the brothers Esau and Jacob and the scapegoat. However, in any event he makes the comparison, saying that one bears the other's sins. The se'ir - the scapegoat - bears the sins of the tam (Jacob).

 

From temimut-sincerity disconnected from reality to temimut of completion, of repair-tikkun

Bereishit Rabbah 63 describes how Samuel thought of Esau when he saw David:

Ruddy. R. Abba b. Kahana said: Altogether a shedder of blood. And when Samuel saw that David was ruddy, as it is written, And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy (I Sam. 16:12), he was smitten with fear, thinking he too might be a murderer. But the Holy One, blessed be He, reassured him that he was withal of beautiful eyes (ib.) [which meant], Esau slew by his own impulse, whereas he [David] would slay only on the sentence of the court.

The comparison seems to be in place - both Esau and David are ruddy, but the midrash answers that Esau would kill wantonly and of his own volition, while David would execute the court's sentence. But is this really true? David tells us why he could not build the Temple: But the word of the Lord was upon me, saying: 'You have shed much blood, and you have waged great wars; you shall not build a House in My Name because you have shed much blood to the ground before Me (I Chronicles 22:8). Can we accept the answer given by God in the midrash at its face value? The midrash continues and recounts a story (a version of which can also be found in J. Terumot 8) that seems to offer us an explanation of the similarities and differences between Esau and David, and how our behavior should be different from that of Esau's descendants. Here is the story:

The emperor Diocletian was [originally] a swineherd near Tiberias. Whenever he came near the beit midrash, children would come out and beat him.

Later he became emperor, and went and stayed at Paneas, and sent letters to Tiberias just before the eve of the Sabbath, with the order: "I command the Rabbis of the Jews to appear before me on Sunday morning." He further instructed the messenger not to give them the message until just before Friday evening.

When R. Shmuel b. Nahman went down to bathe, he saw Rabbi standing before his academy with his face all pale. He asked him: "Why are you pale?"

Rabbi told him: "They sent me such and such [letters] written by the King Diocletian."

R. Shmuel b. Nahman told him: "Go and bathe, for God will perform miracles for you."

So he went in to bathe, and there a bath sprite came jesting and dancing toward them.

Rabbi wished to scold the sprite.

R. Shmuel b. Nahman said to him: "Leave him alone, for sometimes his coming heralds a miracle."

R. Shmuel b. Nahman said to the sprite: "Your master is in distress, yet you frolic?"

The sprite told them: "Go home, eat and keep the Sabbath with good cheer, for your Creator will perform a miracle for you and I will set you Sunday morning where you desire."

At the termination of the Sabbath, after the Service, he [the sprite] took them and set them before the gates of Paneas.

The guards came and told the king: "Lo, they are standing before the gates." The King said: "Then let the gates be closed," he ordered.

The sprite took them and set them on the rampart of the town.

The guards came to tell the King.

The King said: "I command that the baths be heated for three days [so hot that it would kill them], then let them go and bathe therein and then appear before me."

The sprite entered the baths with them and tempered [the heat for them], after which they entered, bathed, and appeared before the King.

The King said to them: "Because you know that your God performs miracles on your behalf you insult the king?"

The Sages told him: "Diocletian the swineherd we did indeed insult, but to King Diocletian we are loyal subjects."

The King said to them: "You must not insult the humblest Roman or the meanest soldier." (Based on Soncino translation)

 

What does this story come to teach us?

Some will say it teaches us that whatever we do, God will help and save us, and therefore we should do whatever seems right. However, the story seems to tell us why the king made his decree. It was not a whim, but rather a reaction to the bad experience he had with the students of the beit midrash in Tiberias. The story concludes by telling us that the king recognizes the Creator's power, but he teaches the Sages that no person should be hurt, whether Roman, or a youngster, or a low-level official.

We can only imagine the stories untold continuation, what the sages taught when they returned to the beit midrash, whether they continued their foul custom of hitting swineherds or whether they took care not to hurt others.

Now we can ask what this story has to do with the interpretation of the word "ruddy" that says that Esau used to kill people of his own volition.

It seems that the midrash does not want students of the Torah to claim that the gentiles always act capriciously, that they kill on a whim. Rather, as this story tells us, sometimes their behavior is motivated by our own deeds. Therefore, we must be careful in our dealings with gentiles great and small.

 

And on to the difficult upshot - be of the pursued, and not of the pursuers!

The parasha goes on to describe the jealousy between the Philistines and Jacob's family. This jealousy does not lead to war, but rather to the establishment of a pact!

And he had possessions of sheep and possessions of cattle and much production, and the Philistines envied him... And Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and a group of his companions and Pichol, his general. And Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and you sent me away from you?" And they said, "We have seen that the Lord was with you; so we said: Let there now be an oath between us, between ourselves and you, and let us form a covenant with you. If you do [not] harm us, as we have not touched you, and as we have done with you only good, and we sent you away in peace, [so do] you now, blessed of the Lord." So he made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. And they arose early in the morning, and they swore one to the other, and Isaac escorted them, and they went away from him in peace. (Bereishit 26: 14, 26-31)

Midrash HaGadol quotes a midrash on these verses (Pesikta DeRav Kahana, Mandelbaum ed., 9):

and God seeks the pursued (Kohellet 3:15)

Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Yosef: "In the future, God will exact the blood of the pursued from their pursuers."

A righteous man pursues a righteous man - and God seeks the pursued.

A wicked man pursues a wicked man - and God seeks the pursued.

A wicked man pursues a righteous man - and God seeks the pursued.

You are found implying: Even if a righteous man pursues a wicked man, in any case: and God seeks the pursued.

Know that it is so, for Abel was pursued by Cain... Noah was pursued by [the people of] his generation... Abraham was pursued by Nimrod... Isaac was pursued by the Philistines, and God seeks the pursued And they said, "We have seen that the Lord was with you... Jacob was pursued by Esau... Joseph was pursued by his brothers... Moses was pursued by Pharaoh... Israel is pursued by the nations of the world...

Rabbi Yudah bar Simon says in the name of Rabbi Yosa bar Nehorai: "The ox is chased by the lion, the lamb by the wolf, the goat by the leopard. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Do not bring the pursuers before Me as offerings, but rather only the pursued: When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, etc. (Vayikra 22:27).

Shlomo Fox teaches at Hebrew Union College, Beit Shmuel, and Kolot

 

Israel's Destiny and Purpose amongst the Nations and in the World

Rabbi Brekhiyah began to speak: Turn back, turn back, O maid of Shulem! Turn back, turn back, that we may gaze upon you (Song of Songs 7:1). Turn back is written four times, corresponding to the four kingdoms into which Israel entered in peace and left in peace; O maid of Shulem [HaShulamit] - a nation that is led from tent to tent by the Ever Living Peace [a name of God]. HaShulamit - a nation which has peace bestowed upon it each day by the Priests, for it is said and they shall place My Name (Bamidbar 6) and also and place peace upon you. HaShulamit - a nation in which dwells the Everlasting Peace, as it is said, Make me a Sanctuary and I shall dwell within it (Shemot 28). HaShulamit - a nation which I shall grant peace in the future, for it is said, and I shall grant peace in the land (Vayikra 26). HaShulamit - a nation to which I shall extend peace in the future, as it is written, Thus says the Lord: "I will extend peace to you like a river..." (Isaiah 66).

Rabbi Shemuel bar Tanhum and Rabbi Hana said in the name of Rabbi Idi: A nation that makes peace between Me and My world. If it were not for it, I would have destroyed My world. Rabbi Huna began speaking in the name of Rabbi Aha: The Earth melts with all of its inhabitants [it is I who kept its pillars firm, Selah] (Psalms 75:4) it [the word melts] is to be understood as when it said: All the inhabitants of Canaan melted [with fear] (Shemot 15:15). I who kept [its pillars] firm - I - as soon as they took upon themselves [the commandment to believe] I am you God, I... kept its pillars firm. Selah - the world became well-founded. Rabbi Elazar ben Meron says: A nation that pays for the world's enduring existence, both in this world and the next. Rabbi Levi said: All good that comes to the world comes only by this nation's merit; the rain falls only by its merit, the dew descends only by its merit, for it is said, and God will give to you of the dew of heaven. To you - thanks to your merit - that is what it depends upon.

(Bereishit Rabbah 66:2)

 

The Sages do not Hesitate to Criticize the Patriarchs' Deeds in Order to Derive a Moral Lesson

When Esau Heard his father's words...R. Hanina said: Whoever maintains that the Holy One, blessed be He, is lax [in dispensing justice], may his bowels become lax! He is merely longsuffering, but [ultimately] collects His due. Jacob made Esau break out into a cry but once, and where was he punished for it? In Shushan, the castle, as it says, And he cried with a loud and bitter cry, etc. (Esther 4:1).

 (Bereishit Rabbah 67, Soncino translation)

 

When evening came... (Bereishit 29:23) - He made love to her all night, thinking she was Rachel. When he rose up in the morning, there was Leah (29:25). He said to her: "Cheater's daughter, why did you cheat me?"

She told him: "And did you not cheat your father when he asked you Is that you, Esau, my first-born? And you answered, "I am Esau, your first-born" (Bereishit 27:19), and you ask why I cheated you?! Did your father not say, "Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing" (27:35)?

(Midrash Agadat Bereishit 49)

 

 

 

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