Midreshet Amit

• LIVE TORAH:
• Academic Program
• Yimei Iyun
• FAQ
• Recent Shiurim
• View by Parsha
• View By Chag
• Search Database
• Ask the Rav

Parshat Toldot focuses on the lives of Yitzchak and his family. His two sons, Yaakov and Esav, seem to struggle with one another throughout the Parsha.  Even before they are born, the Torah states, "And the children clashed within her" (Genesis 25:22).  Rashi quotes a Midrash to elucidate this statement. “Whenever she passed the entrance to the House of Study of Ever, Yaakov struggled to exit, [whenever] she passed the entrance to houses of idol worship, Esav struggled to exit.” This idea seems to allude to the fact that Yaakov would end up being the righteous child who would continue in the path of his parents as a pillar of the Jewish nation, while Esav would be an idol worshipper with virtually no connection to spirituality. However, Rabbi Zev Leff raises a powerful problem with this.  Doesn’t this contradict the concept that human beings are given free will?  According to many sources in the Talmud and the works of our Rishonim, while certain circumstances of one’s life can be predetermined such as strength, wealth, and other physical characteristics, man has the power to determine his inner character: to be either righteous or evil. So how could it be that Esav was predestined to be evil already from the womb, before he was even born?

Therefore, Rabbi Leff suggests a new perspective on how to understand this Midrash.  He proposes that it teaches us that while one will never have a predetermined life as good or evil, one can have a predisposition. Yaakov naturally had a spiritual inclination, and Esav tended toward the physical world, but neither had a predestined fate. They both had equal opportunities to use their strengths and weaknesses in the manner that they chose, and determine their actions and manners, and therefore their futures.

Another pasuk that seems to suggest that they had no free will is the answer that God gives Rivka when she inquires about her strange pregnancy. When God explains to her that she has two opposing nations in her womb, He uses the phrase “ve-rav ya’avod tza’ir.” This seems to suggest that God had already planned for the younger son, Yaakov, to be the “chosen son,” and for the elder, Esav, to serve him. However, some commentators notice the fact that the word “et” is missing from the verse, making it ambiguous if it was the elder that would serve the younger, or vice versa. Therefore, Rabbi Yaakov Beasley suggests that God gave both Yaakov and Esav the equal potential to thrive and succeed. In fact, Yaakov and Esav were the perfect example to demonstrate the equality of potentials because of the fact that they were twins, and naturally equals at birth.

Although ultimately Yaakov is the righteous son who merits the title of our Forefather, while Esav succumbs to the path of evil, this is not the clear, predestined path from their birth. Although Esav is born with more wild, animalistic tendencies while Yaakov has a softer, simpler disposition, there is not a clear “good guy” or “bad guy” initially.  Yaakov exits the womb competitively holding on to the heels of his brother, takes advantage of Esav’s exhaustion in order to obtain the birthright, and then deceives his father in order to receive Esav’s blessing.  His very name, Yaakov, means deceit, as Esav explicitly points out in Bereishit 27:36.  Esav, on the other hand, is loved by his father and shows him great respect, a core value of the Torah. Eventually, however, Esav allows his hot-headedness and impulses to get in the way of his positive attributes, while Yaakov realizes the value of truth and sets himself straight, as highlighted by his eventual name change from Yaakov to Yisrael (Bereishit 32:29, 35:10).

We can learn from the lives of Yaakov and Esav that we are all given a unique set of circumstances and have the power to use them to unlock our true potential. We can let our weaknesses overcome us, and lead us down the path of evil, or we can channel them along with our strengths and achieve greatness.