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Rivkah, struggling through unusual pains of pregnancy, became so distraught that she went to seek guidance at the Bais Ha’Midrash of Shem and Ever. She was told that she was carrying twins who were disparate in belief and temperament. They would eventually go their own separate ways, one to do good and the other inclined to the path of evil. This seems puzzling. How was Rivkah comforted by the knowledge that two nations existed within her womb?  Did the news of the imminent birth of an evil son make her pregnancy any easier? Indeed, the grim news that awaited Rivkah,…

Esov married Canaanite girls, the very women who Avraham had admonished Eliezer not to take for Yitzchak. The reality that these women were idol worshippers was a source of anguish to Yitzchak and Rivkah. In stating this fact, the Torah mentions Yitzchak’s name before Rivkah’s. The Midrash gives an insightful explanation for this. Yitzchak, having been reared in an environment of holiness and purity, was more intensely provoked by idol worship than Rivkah. Although Rivkah was a devout believer in Hashem, the abomination of idol worship seemed to lose its odium because of her prior exposure to it. Her tolerance…

Eisav was not a simple person who wantonly lusted after his heart’s passions. He was an intelligent human being who had developed his own philosophy of life. Eisav’s ability to “fool” Yitzchak, a feat which even the Satan could not successfully accomplish, provides evidence of this. In distinguishing Yaakov from Eisav, the Torah characterizes their chosen vocations as the manifestation of their divergence. The Torah describes Eisav as “one who understood hunting, a man of the fields,” while, in contrast, it characterizes Yaakov as “a single minded man dwelling in tents.” Yaakov is not presented as the tzaddik, while Eisav…