week 12-1

Within Rivka were two nations struggling against each other even before they were born. Even before their birth, there was the one that we are told that G-d chose and loved and the other that we are told that He rejected and hated. There was good, and there was evil. These two were predestined to walk the path of spiritual history in two separate manners.

The clever Esau was born into the Covenant and took on the appearance of the very religious man. With questions about tithing from salt or straw, he convinced his father of his scrupulous behavior in every small matter. Like the pig, who has a cloven hoof, Esau looked kosher on the outside, while the hidden, inner man was vile. His mother, Rivka, who had grown up in a house of liars and thieves, saw through the clever ruse he was playing to win his father's approval and trust, and Esau hated her for it.

Yaakov was called a man who stayed in the tents. His softer demeanor was not so impressive to his father, who admired the ways of a "man of the field". Rivka, who had received prophetic insight into the characters of her children before their birth, realized the spiritual superiority of the younger son. This was the one whose potential merited to carry on the Covenant of Avraham.

There was a separation, not only of manner, but of eras in which each would dominate the world stage. Esau, father of Edom, became the archetype of the age of Man, in which strength and achievement in this world were essential. This rule would apply in every field. Yaakov's time, by contrast, would be delayed until the time of Man played out. There could be no "joint rule", as suggested by Esau and then again by various Roman leaders. Yaccov's time would be one of Redemption, one of elevated spiritual life on earth that could not co-exist with the sinful lust for life and gain that epitomized Esau.

Through all this dynamic we witness duality. There were two nations; there were two character types; etc. We live in a world of duality that seems at odds with the question of coming to the place of knowing, truly understanding, the oneness of G-d. As long as there is evil in the world, it seems to be an impossible task to comprehend this concept. Yet how can we recognize good except for having seen evil; how can we recognize truth except for having heard a lie? From the pashat reading, this seems to be demonstrated in the house of Yitzhak and Rivka. Yitzhak, who had been reared in a home of truth, had a hard time recognizing a liar. Rivka, on the other hand, had grown up with Laban. In the Haphtorah, in which G-d says He chose Yaakov and rejected Esau, it seems that G-d Himself is acknowledging duality through His choices.

Yaakov strove against his brother, but also against himself, to get to that perfect place of the Oneness of G-d. Even in this time of our dualistic world, it is possible to come into a place of the Oneness--that place where we are at total peace. This is the Redemptive ideal that Yaakov comes to personify in the balance of truth, of Torah. As we strive to walk in a closer way with G-d, we come closer to the Redemption that will one day encompass the earth.

Israel, as a nation, continues to struggle against the Esau aspect within, against the desire to be successful and accepted in the world as other nations. The leaders turn to the nations and desire to have peace made with treaties between men and ignore the Covenant of peace with G-d. And the duality and striving continues. Yet this coming to Oneness is the whole point and purpose of the choseness of the Nation of Israel. It is the leading of the world to the place of true peace. This is the place where there is no enemy, there is no hate, there is no evil, there are no lies. This is the place of G-d's crowning glory, where all the nations rise up to praise G-d.