Vayishlach 2000

In the Torah portion, Vayishlach, we learn about the encounter of Yaacov and Esau.  It is hard to understand how in one household two boys who were obviously given the same education and who had almost the same genes could turn out so differently.  After all, Esau and Yaacov were fraternal twins. Why is it that in our tradition Esau became the personification of evil and Yaacov of good? What is evil anyway in our tradition? Evil is good which has burst its bounds. That's why we say in Hebrew that a good person is a Baal Midos, a person who knows how to measure.  Esau was a Jew in every single respect. His grandfather was Abraham; his grandmother was Sarah; his mother was Rikfa; his fattier was Yitzchak.  He was not like Ishmael who had a different mother.  He was not a Lot who was raised in a different home.  He had the same education as his fraternal twin.  In fact, in the Haggadah, when we speak about the early enemies of our people, we speak about Laban, who tried to destroy us, and we speak about Pharaoh, but we never speak about Esau because Esau was a Jew.  He became a lapsed Jew, but he was still a Jew, and the rabbis say at the end of his life, he actually came back to Judaism, but it was too late for his children and grandchildren.
Esau did not know how to measure things correctly.  He did not know that you

could push a good thing too far and end up with evil.  We know that this is why G-d destroyed the world with water.  Water is a good thing.  We pray for rain all the time; however, too much water is destructive.  This was the sin of the people of Noah's generation.  They pushed their ambition too far.  According to many commentators, they had a very advanced civilization, as advanced as ours.  However, they, in their zeal to create, put no bounds on themselves.
It is just like today.  We are in much the same danger. We have cracked the genetic code and can create all sorts of monsters. The rabbis say at the time of the flood, they created monsters, and we know if something is possible, it is usually done.
I know that in my previous shul, they were all university professors.  One even won a Nobel Prize.  However, some of them were the worst parents I ever say, not because they abused their children physically, but they gave them no time. They gave them the best tutors and sent them to summer camps and had maids to care for them after school. They gave them no time. These children actually hated their parents and wanted to do bad things to hurt them.  I know now, too,

that unless we balance things correctly, we are going to be in a lot of trouble. Many times spouses come to me and complain their spouse does not talk to them and tell them his problems.  He does not listen to them.  I called in this spouse and talked to him, and he said he will try to do better.  A week later, the wife will come to me and say, "He is suffocating me, and I can't stand it." In marriage, we need both distance and closeness.  We have to learn how to balance things.
Esau did not know how to balance things.  Before Yaacov's encounter with his brother, Esau, he wrestled all night with whom the rabbis say was the guardian angel of Esau.  At the end of the encounter, Yaacov had subdued the angel. The angel told Yaacov to let him go. Yaacov said, "I will not let you go until you bless me." Why didn't Yaacov just defeat the angel? He did not just defeat the angel because he knew he needed many of the qualities of Esau. Esau, after all, had charisma, leadership abilities, and he honored his parents. He loved to live in the land of Israel.  He honored the traditions of the faith in his father's home, even having special clothes there.  Yaacov knew that he needed Esau.  Esau, though, did not think he needed Yaacov. Yaacov wanted

Esau's blessing.  He knew he could learn things from him.  Yaacov is synonymous with truth in our tradition because he knew he did not have all the truth.  He needed other people's perspectives as well.  Therefore, the angel blessed him and called him Yisroel ~ Israel — which means you will wrestle with G-d and man and be victorious.
Esau and Yaacov were twins. The word for twins in Hebrew is Tom.  Actually the English name Tom is a Hebrew name.  If you take the same letters that stand for Tom, you have the letters for truth ~ Ernes.  Yaacov was always seeking for the truth.  He knew he was a limited human being and could not have all the truth.  He needed the blessings of others.  He aspired to be Israel ~ Yisroel.  Sometimes he was able to, and sometimes he was not.  That's why his name, unlike Abraham's, remained Yaacov as well as Israel. The Talmud teaches us that once Abram's name was changed to Abraham, it is prohibited to call Abraham anymore Abram, but Yaacov is different.  Yaacov is sometimes referred to as Yaacov after his name was changed, and sometimes as Yisroel. Yaacov knew that he had to strive to balance all the forces on him.  He knew he had to be a universal and particular at the same time.

As I mentioned last week, that was the symbolism of his two wives.  Leah was the Almah D'Eeskaya, the wife who took care of the inner, spiritual things, the particular things of Judaism, while Rachel was the Almah D'Eesgalya, who interacted with the world, who took care of the outer tilings.  Yosef, her son, was the viceroy of Egypt as well as a pious Jew.  Yaacov knew mat he had to interact with everyone and learn from everyone, even though he had to maintain his own inner character and not sacrifice his inner beliefs.  Esau, on the other hand, was a fanatic.  He felt he had all the truth.  He did not need anybody's blessing, and, therefore, he could be violent. When he would ask Halachic questions of his father, he would ask whether you had to tithe straw or tithe salt.  He was concerned about things beneath man, like straw and salt, which are ancillary to man.  He was not concerned about other people and their views and feelings. We must take into account always the feelings of others, even though we know that we have most of the truth on our side. Yaacov was such a man. He drew his strength by knowing that he had to struggle with man and G-d to obtain the truth.  He did not pretend he was something he was not.
I am reminded of the story of the fellow who went to a psychiatrist.  After three

years, he was told he was cured.  He began to cry. The psychiatrist asked him why he was crying, and he replied, "I'm crying because three years ago I thought I was Moshe Rabbeinu, and now I am nothing."  He thought that to be somebody in this world he had have the certainty of Moshe Rabbeinu, but this is not the way it is.  In life we all have to struggle for the truth, and none of us should be fanatics. We should realize that even a broken watch is right twice a day.  This is essential if we are to lead good and full lives.
I am reminded of the story about a man sitting in rabbinic garb aboard an airplane. The man next to him said, "I'll bet you're a rabbi."  He said he was. The man then asked, "Do you have a congregation?" The rabbi said he did not. The man then asked, "Are you a teacher or a mashgiach?"  The rabbi replied he was not. The man finally asked, "What do you do?"  The rabbi said, "I work for a battery factory. When the batteries come off the assembly line, I lift up my hand and say, 'May you have a long life.'"
Yaacov understood that to have a long and good life, you had to always be wiling to struggle to obtain the truth. This strength, itself, is very satisfying.

You may not be granted a large number of years, but if you constantly struggle honestly and with integrity to obtain the truth, your life will be full and qualitatively it will be long.  Let us hope and pray that we will all do so the Mashiach will come quickly in our day.  Amen.