Toldos – Page 14 – Peninim on the Torah

Rivkah took her older son Eisav’s clean garments and clothed Yaakov her young son. (27:15)

Rashi explains that these garments were actually Eisav’s precious garments, which he had stolen from the great King Nimrod. Eisav, who was meticulous in the honor he bestowed on his father, always served Yitzchak while wearing these precious garments. Obviously Eisav’s attitude towards Kibbud Av, honoring his father; did not transform him into a moral human being. He continued in his evil ways, despite his meticulous performance of a single mitzvah. How are we to understand the paradox that was Eisav? How can someone who dons precious clothes to serve his father “moonlight” as a murderer? The commentators respond in…

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Moshe Marcovich In Toldos, 5758

And Eisav raised up his voice and wept. (27:37)

Eisav’s tears have had a significant impact on the fate of Klal Yisrael. We have been considered unscrupulous for stealing Eisav’s birthright. Eisav was rewarded for his tears. He experienced peace and tranquillity as a result of his weeping. Moreover, the Zohar Hakadosh says that Moshiach will not come until Eisav’s tears will dry. This is the analogy: We will remain under Eisav’s power until we repent and shed tears that will overwhelm Eisav’s tears. What do Chazal mean by this? Ostensibly, Klal Yisrael has long ago surpassed the level of Eisav’s tears. What aspect of his tears condemned us…

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Moshe Marcovich In Toldos, 5758

And Yaakov listened to his father and to his mother. (28:7)

Yaakov followed his parents’ instructions not to take a wife from the girls of Canaan. The Midrash refers to Yaakov as a chacham, wise man, because he listened to his parents’ advice. They cite a pasuk in Mishlei 12:14, “One who listens to advice is a chacham.” Let us analyze Yaakov’s remarkable wisdom. Eisav is waiting to kill him. His parents told him that his “bashert,” future wife, was waiting for him in Charan. He did not have many options. He had the choice to stay and be killed or to leave and meet his destined wife. Horav Baruch Mordechai…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Toldos, 5757

“And the children agitated within her.” (25:22)

Chazal teach us that even prior to their birth, Yaakov and Eisav clearly exhibited their innate tendencies. They explain that the word, “ummur,hu,” is derived from the word, .r, which means “to run.” When Rivkah passed the Bais Ha’Midrash of Shem and Ever, Yaakov “ran,” struggling to come forth to study Torah. In contrast, when she passed a house of idol-worship, Eisav “ran,” trying to emerge. This Midrash has long been a source of discussion regarding the relative quality of Torah study, given the nature of the spiritual environment. This is inferred from the fact that Yaakov desired to “escape”…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Toldos, 5757

“And the boys grew up and Eisav was a man who knew hunting, a man of the field; Yaakov was a wholesome man dwelling in tents. ” (25:27)

With these few words, the Torah characterizes the essence of Yaakov and the essence of Eisav. Indeed, it seems that the text pinpoints the predominant difference between the two brothers. One question is readily apparent. Eisav was a rasha m’rusha, evil incarnate. Even before his birth, in his mother’s womb, his wicked tendencies were already manifest. Chazal teach us that when Rivkah passed by a house of idolatry, Eisav gravitated towards it. All this while he was still in the womb! On the day that he sold his birthright, he committed five cardinal sins. Is this a man who should…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Toldos, 5757

“And Eisav was a man who knew hunting, a man of the field, and Yaakov was a wholesome man dwelling in tents.” (25:27)

Eisav is not depicted as a hunter, but as a man who “knew” hunting, a professional hunter who is an expert at his chosen vocation. Eisav is the consummate hunter, the one who sets the standard for excellence in the field of hunting, the one to whom everybody looks up. Eisav is a “doer;” his entire essence bespeaks accomplishment and success. Yaakov, on the other hand, is portrayed as a man who dwells in tents, the quiescent scholar who remains cloistered from society, his mind buried in his books. Undoubtedly he is successful at what he is doing. In the…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Toldos, 5757

“And he said (Yitzchak), ‘Your brother came with cleverness and took your blessing.'” (27:35)

Probably one of the most difficult narratives in the Torah to understand, is the one which depicts Yaakov as “taking” the blessings from Yitzchak, through a manner uncharacteristic of someone who is considered to be the epitome of veracity. We do not understand the ways of Hashem. Why did He choose that Yitzchak be unaware that he was actually blessing Yaakov — and that Eisav was actually not fit for blessing altogether. The Zohar Ha’Kadosh comments that this scenario was essential so that the blessing would come directly from Hashem to Yaakov via the medium of the unsuspecting Yitzchak. The…

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Sruly Schnair In Toldos, 5756

“These are the generations of Yitzchak, the son of Avraham, Avraham begat Yitzchak.” (25:19)

The commentators address the apparent redundancy of the pasuk. Obviously, if Yitzchak was the son of Avraham, then Avraham begat Yitzchak. In his commentary on Chumash, the Tzemach Tzedek offers an explanation rooted in Chasidus. Avraham Avinu is a figure who serves as a paradigm for avodas Hashem, service of Hashem, through love and chesed. In contrast, Yitzchak is the model of fear and stringency. These two divergent approaches to serving the Divine have two levels. The lower level of fear is represented by yiraas ha’onesh, fear of punishment. The higher, more sublime sense of fear, yiraas ha’rommemus, is described…

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Sruly Schnair In Toldos, 5756

“The children agitated within her.” (25:22)

Rashi cites Chazal, who explain that the word ummr,hu is derived from the root .r, which means, “to run.” Hence, Rashi interprets the pasuk to suggest that when Rivkah walked by the yeshivah of Shem and Ever, Yaakov would “run” in an attempt to come forth. In a similar manner, when she walked by a temple of idol worship, Eisav would “run” and struggle to escape. Horav Yerucham Levovitz, z.l., questions Yaakov’s “ability” to perceive the presence of the Bais Ha’Midrash and Eisav’s tendency to sense the tumah, impurity, of the temple of idol worship. He explains that we, regrettably,…

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Sruly Schnair In Toldos, 5756

“The voice is the voice of Yaakov, but the hands are the hands of Eisav.” (27:22)

Chazal imply that when the voice of Yaakov, the sound of Torah and tefillah, is strong and dominant the evil “hands” of Eisav are rendered powerless. Eisav’s strength is reinforced when we are weak in our commitment to Torah. This interpretation does not seem consistent with the text of the pasuk. The pasuk seems to suggest that it is possible for both the “voice of Yaakov” and the “hands of Eisav” to reign simultaneously. How are we to reconcile this apparent inconsistency? Horav E.M. Shach, Shlita, offers a novel interpretation. Hashem has established individual “borders” for Yaakov and Eisav. Yaakov’s…

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Rivkah took her older son Eisav’s clean garments and clothed Yaakov her young son. (27:15)

And Eisav raised up his voice and wept. (27:37)

And Yaakov listened to his father and to his mother. (28:7)

“And the children agitated within her.” (25:22)

“And the boys grew up and Eisav was a man who knew hunting, a man of the field; Yaakov was a wholesome man dwelling in tents. ” (25:27)

“And Eisav was a man who knew hunting, a man of the field, and Yaakov was a wholesome man dwelling in tents.” (25:27)

“And he said (Yitzchak), ‘Your brother came with cleverness and took your blessing.'” (27:35)

“These are the generations of Yitzchak, the son of Avraham, Avraham begat Yitzchak.” (25:19)

“The children agitated within her.” (25:22)

“The voice is the voice of Yaakov, but the hands are the hands of Eisav.” (27:22)

YEARS

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