Parshas Toldos
Inside Outside
By Rabbi Pinchas Winston

FRIDAY NIGHT:

When it came time for her to give birth, she had twins. The first one came out red all over like a fur coat, and they called him Eisav. His brother came out holding onto Eisav's heel; he named him Ya'akov. (Bereishis 25:24-26)

Though, in most cases, the birth of twins is cause for great celebration, in the case of Ya'akov and his twin brother Eisav, it was an ominous sign. First of all, as the Midrash states:

It is a well-known halachah that Eisav hates Ya'akov. (Midrash HaGadol 28:1)

So, it seems, the struggle that Ya'akov experienced before birth ...

... Rivkah became pregnant. Children struggled inside of her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" and went to inquire of G-d ...

was destined to be a struggle meant to continue after birth as well:

G-d told her, "Two nations are in your womb; two peoples will separate from inside of you. One nation will overpower the other; the greater one will serve the younger."

The two nations are, of course, the Jewish People and the Romans. Though it is true that other nations would rise (and fall) over time, and even cause the Jews great distress, exiling them for periods of time, it is the Roman exile--the longest of all the exiles (around 63 BCE until today)--that has had the greatest impact on Jewish history, and continues to do so.

However, even all of this is only symptomatic of another, far more profound problem that has its roots in the very eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil by Adam HaRishon. For, we know that as delinquent as Eisav may have been in the end, in truth, he possessed many important qualities necessary for building the Jewish nation. This is why later, Yitzchak was prepared to bless Eisav in place of Ya'akov, and why Ya'akov was forced to "incorporate" these qualities of Eisav into his very being, first by purchasing the birthright, and later through standing in his stead at the time of the blessings.

This is even why Ya'akov was "forced" to marry Leah, who, originally, had been destined to marry Eisav (Rashi, Bereishis 29:17).

What this means is the following. One of the most dramatic results of eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was the disunification of creation. Man was created to elevate creation even higher than its already pre-sin, high state of spiritual existence, which would have unified all of creation with G-d. Instead, by eating from the Tree without G-d's permission, not only did Adam not elevate creation, but he even reduced its spiritual brilliance causing it to become far more physical, and far less unified.

The more physical something becomes, the Maharal explains, the more complex it becomes. G-d represents the ultimate sublime spiritual reality, and therefore also represents sublime unity. This is alluded to by matzah on Pesach, which is merely flour and water, reminding us that the goal of the Jew is spiritual simplicity and the unity that it allows.

Had creation been more spiritually advanced at the time that Rivkah bore Ya'akov, there would have been no need for a twin brother. Eisav's birth meant that creation was still quite physical, in spite of all the work of Avraham and Yitzchak to elevate it, and therefore disunity still ruled the day. Ya'akov began to reverse this state by buying the birthright and taking the blessings, becoming, in the process, a new entity called "Yisroel"--the unified reality of Ya'akov and the positive aspects of Eisav.

However, as successful as Ya'akov had been at bringing unity to creation, he had over-estimated his success, as we shall see in next week's parshah, G-d willing. This is why he got the shock of his life when he found he was married to Leah instead of Rachel (not to mention Zilpah and Bilhah as well!).

SHABBOS DAY:

The boys grew up. Eisav became a cunning hunter, a man of the field; Ya'akov was a simple person who dwelled in tents. (Bereishis 25:27)

The Midrash says that at the age of 15, just after Avraham died, the twins untwinned. Ya'akov proceeded down the straight-and-narrow, while Eisav veered sharply to the left, down a path of immoral behavior that divorced him entirely from the ways of his fathers. Though the posuk makes Eisav out to be an industrious fellow, familiarized in the ways of the world, the Midrash tells a different story, of Eisav, the "hunter" of other people's possessions and wives.

Yet Eisav was not merely a hunter--he was a cunning hunter. In other words, he had the ability to pass himself off as a hardworking, honest, and reliable partner. This is why the Midrash compares Eisav to the pig who has split hooves (Midrash Tehillim 80:6), as if to say that according to the external signs (the split hooves), Eisav appeared kosher. However, the other sign, the internal one (chewing the cud), the one that cannot be easily seen on the outside, that Eisav lacked, and was therefore 100% treif.

That is what makes the Eisavs of the world so very dangerous: there is something kosher about them. Eisav even thinks that his one sign of kashrus is enough to fool G-d too:

"In the Time-to-Come, Eisav will don his tallis and sit among the righteous in Gan Aiden ..."

However, the One who "knows the mysteries of the world and the workings of the heart" will see right through Eisav, and,

"The Holy One, Blessed be He, will drag him from them." (Yerushalmi, Nedarim 12a)

In the meantime, though it is quite a different story. In the meantime, for over a thousand years now, Eisav has reigned supreme, successful to the point that he was able to destroy the House of G-d:

The rabbis taught: When Rebi Yosi ben Kisma was ill, Rebi Chanina ben Teradyon went to visit him. He said to him, "Chanina, my brother--don't you know that this nation rules with the consent of Heaven, for it has destroyed His house (the Temple), burned its courtyard, murdered His pious ones, and destroyed all His good, and yet, they still exist ..." (Avodah Zarah 18a)

Rebi Yosi ben Kisma was referring to the Romans, who descended from Edom, who came from Eisav. His point to Rebi Chanina ben Teradyon was, "Tread carefully! This nation, as evil and as anti-Torah as they may be, has been very successful, and remains to be so! Could that be if G-d didn't sanction it?"

No, but not because G-d abandoned the Jewish people for Eisav's descendants. The sins of the Jewish people demanded an exile to set things straight over time, and unfortunately, after much persecution. However, to the one unlearned in the ways of G-d, and the process of Jewish history, it might look as if Eisav has indeed been proclaimed "Kosher!" by the Highest Level of certification possible!

However, this is only a test of faith for the Jewish people, and at a times, a huge test at that. In the end though, Eisav will lose the "hashgochah" he never really had to begin with, and Ya'akov will emerge to assume the position that had always been meant for him: the true firstborn of G-d.