THE TWINS

30 Marcheshvan 5774
Rosh Chodesh `א

Yesterday, in Parshat Toledot, we were introduced to Yitzchak Avinu's and Rivka Imeinu's twin sons - Eisav and Ya'aqov. A rivalry began that day which has existed and shaped humanity until this very day. Beginning today and through the days leading up to Hanukah, I'd like to delve deeper into this subject.

Today, I'd like to look back again at the parshah and share with you what the Stone Edition Artscoll Chumash says in its commentary:

Each of the Patriarchs maintained a yeshivah in which he taught about the existence of God and His will. Abraham's academy had hundreds if not thousands of students - Isaac had an academy of one. His lone student was Jacob, whom he trained and appointed to teach others (Rambam, Hil. Avodah Zarah, 1:2-3). This provides a clue to the way in which Isaac's role diverged from that of Abraham. Abraham could accept everyone into his orbit; Isaac could not.

The Torah devotes much less space to Isaac's life than to the lives of Abraham and Jacob. On the one hand Isaac seems to be but a bridge between his father and his son; on the other hand, he had the task of drawing the line between good and evil - as represented by Jacob and Esau - because the emerging nation of Israel could not be a mixture of good and evil. In contrast to Abraham whose primary characteristic was chessed, or kindness, Isaac's was gevurah, or strength. One requires strength to differentiate between good and evil - and then to purge the bad and nurture the good.

Isaac and Rebecca produced two sons; one became the peronsification of righteousness and the other the personification of wickedness, and it was the lot of the parents to make the distinction so that the nation of Israel would be pure.

Lest one think that Isaac discarded Abraham's way in favor of his own, the Torah stresses at the very beginning of the Sidrah, that Isaac was the son of Abraham - Abraham begot Isaac. In the Jewish scheme of life, kindness and strength must go together; either one without the other can be dangerous. Kindness not tempered by strength can lead to self-indulgence and hedonism; strength without kindness can lead to selfishness and cruelty.

...On vs.2 - the children agitated. The rabbis explain that וירצצו is derived from the root רוץ, to run: When Rebecca passed the Torah academy of Shem and Eber, Jacob "ran" and struggled to come forth; and when she passed a temple of idol worship, Esau "ran" and struggled to come forth (Midrash). Gur Aryeh explains that this embryonic Jacob-Esau struggle was not influenced by their personal Good and Evil inclinations, for they are not present before birth. Rather, Jacob and Esau represented cosmic forces in Creation, forces that transcended the normal course of personality development, and that existed even before birth.

...Through Shem, God conveyed to [Rebecca] that the unborn infants represented two nations and two conflicting ideologies - Israel and Edom - and that their struggle in the womb symbolized the future rivalries between them, which would end with the younger prevailing over the older (R' Hoffmann). Thus, the turmoil within her was due to the irreconcilable conflict between the two nations that was already taking shape (Mizrachi).

The Sages teach that the two of them will never be mighty simultaneously; when one falls, the other will rise (Megillah 6a). History has demonstrated this prophecy in practice. Two regimes, one espousing morality and justice and the other standing for license and barbarity, cannot long coexist. They must always be in conflict until one comes to dominate the other, whether through victory on the battlefield or in the contest for men's minds.

Today's headlines are full of news describing this ongoing conflict, but they are also heralding the collapse of Edom and the quickly rising fortune of Israel - the final world power.