And Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him

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

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

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

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" (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

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

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

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

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

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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