(2019/5780)
The twins born in this week’s Parashah are anything but identical. The Pasuk tells us that Ya’akov was a man of integrity (“Titein Emet LeYa’akov,” “Give truth to Ya’akov [Michah 7:20], implies that this was a defining characteristic of Ya’akov), while Eisav is described by the Torah (BeReishit 25:28) as sly and deceiving: “Ki Tzayid BeFiv,” “For entrapment was in his mouth.” Yet when we go through the Parashah and the various episodes relating to Ya’akov, we find his actions seemingly untruthful. He masquerades as Eisav in order to steal the Berachot away from him. Then, when fleeing from Eisav, he heads to the home of his uncle Lavan who was known to be the epitome of deceitfulness. What happened to the Ish Emet, man of truth, whom Ya’akov is supposed to be?
In order to better understand Ya’akov and Eisav and their respective roles, we need to go back to the beginning of Creation. Chazal tells us that before Adam sinned, man ideally would not need to be involved in the physical world. He would be free to enjoy connecting to Hashem and to be constantly involved in spirituality. The Nachash would act as his partner who would interact with the world for the sake of man. He would be the one with the task of providing Adam HaRishon with everything he would need to allow him to be free to serve Hashem in tranquility.
The Pasuk says, “VeHaNachash Hayah Arum,” “And the snake was cunning” (BeReishit 3:1). While the character trait of deceitfulness has a negative connotation, it is a necessity for anyone living in this world. In order to be involved in the physical world and not let physicality become one’s essence, one needs to know how to be deceitful. One’s actions may look similar to the actions of the world, but his intentions are on a higher plane. One eats and sleeps like everyone else, but his intentions in this world are LeSheim Shamayim. Man is what Chazal call “Echad BaPeh Ve’Echad BaLeiv,” “One thing in the mouth and another in the heart” (Bava Metzi’a 49a); his actions and his heart are not in sync with each other. The world we live in is just a Mashal, an allegory of sorts, and while we go about the actions necessary for the parable, our hearts are really connected to the Nimshal, the purpose of this world. Therefore, the snake, who was going to be the one involved in this world, was Arum – he was given the skill of knowing how to deceive the world.
However, the snake abused his deceitfulness and used it for his own objective. Instead of ‘fooling’ the world by being involved with physicality while maintaining spiritual intentions, he did the exact opposite. He spoke lofty, spiritual words, “ViHiyitem KEilokim,” “You will be like God” (BeReishit 3:5), but had lustful intentions. Chazal tell us that his real intention was to have intercourse with Chavah. In the post-sin world, Adam and Chavah lost their partner who would be involved in Olam HaZeh on their behalf. This role now fell on Adam’s shoulders: “BeZei’at Apecha Tochal Lechem,” “By the sweat of your brow you will eat bread” (BeReishit 3:19).
A similar collaboration was supposed to have taken place between Ya’akov and Eisav. Yaakov was going to be the “Ish Tam Yosheiv Ohalim,” “Pure man, dwelling in tents” (BeReishit 25:27), involved in spirituality, while Eisav would be the “Ish Sadeh,” “Man of the field” (ibid.), working the fields and elevating the physical world. Eisav also had this character trait of Ki Tzayid BeFiv, the ability to delude the world by doing physical acts with spiritual intentions. This is why Eisav inherited the clothing of Adam HaRishon (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 24), which was given to him only after he ate from the Eitz HaDa’at. The Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer tells us that this clothing was embroidered with beautiful pictures of animals. When the animals would see these images, they would be fooled into thinking they were real animals and would come close to the wearer of this coat. He would then have the ability to kill these animals without expending much effort. This coat symbolized the role of Eisav in this world: fool the physical world into thinking you are one of them, in order to capture them and use them for spirituality.
Eisav, however, made the same mistake as the Nachash, and used his cunning personality to do the exact opposite. He too spoke about spirituality, asking his father self-righteous questions (Midrash Tanchuma Toledot 8), while indulging in every whim of his Yeitzer HaRa. Instead of deceiving the world, he tried to fool his father.
Because Eisav misappropriated his role, Ya’akov now needed to be involved in this world. Like Adam HaRishon, he now carried a dual role. Because of this he needed to learn the trade of Rama’ut, deception, to be able to do what Eisav and the Nachash were supposed to do. This is why he took the clothing of Eisav and masqueraded as Eisav to receive the Berachot. Ya’akov was not supposed to have any part in the physical arena, yet he now needed to take on the role of being the Ish Sadeh as well. He therefore took the clothing of Eisav, symbolizing that he was taking over that role, and went to receive the Berachot. He then headed to the house of Lavan to perfect this trait, and became a “Sulam Mutzav Artzah VeRosho Magi’a HaShamaimah,” “A ladder planted in the ground with its head reach the heavens” (BeReishit 28:12), someone who is involved in this world while his head is engrossed in the next world.
May we all avoid the failures of the Nachash and Eisav and learn the secret of elevating the physical, being involved in this world while holding otherworldly intentions, in the tradition of Ya’akov Avinu.