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This week's Parsha, Parshas Toldos, begins with the story of Rivka, after twenty years of marriage, finally being able to conceive. The Torah tells us that Rivka experienced a difficult pregnancy. Rashi, citing Chazal, described the difficulty in spiriual terms, namely, that she would pass a Torah institution, Yaakov would struggle to come out and when she passed a place of idol worship, Eisav would struggle as well. Rashi adds that they were also struggling with each other.

This description, particularly of Eisav, raises a question. How could the child of two tzadikim have the tendency for such evil? The Lubavitcher Rebbe offered an answer. It is precisely because the avot and imahot were models of spiritual perfection that some of their children were born with such problematic tendencies. Why? Because their perfection implied completeness, and completeness had to include all possible paths of spiritual self-refinement. There are different paths to spiritual refinement, and they can be grouped into two categories: those who are naturally pious and are not tempted by evil, and those who behave righteously despite their temptations. In this case, Yaakov was the naturally pious one and Eisav was more challenged by an evil inclination.

Therefore, Eisav's mission in life was to demonstrate that a person with a strong tendency for evil is capable of overcoming temptation and remaining righteous. God created him with an inborn desire for idolatry in order that he overcomes it. In fact, until he turned thirteen, his inclination towards wickedness did not lead him astray. He channeled it towards outsmarting his evil desires and using it for holy purposes. It was only when he turned thirteen that he rejected the ways of his father and grandfather. He became an expert "in the field" in a negative sense. As such, Eisav's story and failure, challenges us as we interact with our everyday pursuits of life. Our task in not only to emulate Yaakov by being "dwellers of tents", but to also emulate Eisyav by becoming "hunters" in everyday life and transforming even the physical realm into a home for God. Each one of us possess an inner Yaakov and an inner Eisav. When we learn to channel both towards avodat Hashem, we will be able to approach the completeness of our avos and imahos.