Parshah

R Pesach Siegel

Parshas Toldos 5773

After twenty years of marriage, Yitzchok and Rivkah are blessed with the birth of twin boys. During her pregnancy Rivkah was puzzled. When she passed a Beis Haknessess, Yaakov fluttered and attempted to leave the womb. Upon passing a Beis Avoda Zara, Eisav did the same.

She went to the Yeshiva of Shem Va’Ever and was told that she is carrying twins. There are exalted ones in her womb, and from the moment they exit the womb, they will each go their own distinct way.

Rashi tells us that this is a reference to Rabi Yehuda HaNasi, a descendant of Yaakov Avenu, and Antoninus, the Roman Emperor, a descendant of Eisav HaRasha. They were exalted and their tables lacked nothing.

Eisav was born first with Yaakov literally on his heels.

Rashi compares the order of their birth to a straw. When one inserts two peas into the straw and then turns it over, the one that was inserted last will emerge first. So too, Yaakov was the one who was “inserted” first. He was formed before Eisav. Therefore it was only natural that he would emerge last.

Eisav is a man of the field, while Yaakov was a man of the tent.

Hoping to curry favor in his father’s eyes, Eisav presents his father with halacha queries. He asks, “How does one take ma’aser from straw? How does one separate ma’aser from salt?”

Questions

The gemora tells us that the Yetzer Hara enters a person upon emergence from the womb (Sanhedrin 91b). How is it that Eisav was possessed of an inclination to worship Avoda Zara while still in his mother’s womb?

The posuk states that Eisav and Yaakov were in Rivkah’s womb. How is it understood that Chazal say that Rabi and Antoninus were in her womb? Is Eisav the same being as Antoninus?

When dealing with a straw and peas the analogy of Rashi holds true. But a womb is not a straw. There is nothing physically blocking the emergence of Yaakov from Rivkah’s womb despite the fact that he was formed first.

Eisav asks how ma’aser is taken from straw and from salt. The answer is ma’aser is not taken from these materials at all. They are only taken from produce that grows from the ground. Eisav should have known this.

Analysis

Mori VeRabi, Rav Moshe Shapiro explained that Eisav and Yaakov were not ordinary twins. Twins are two distinct beings who are formed at the same time.

Eisav and Yaakov were meant to be one entity, somewhat akin to spiritual Siamese twins. They were meant to be bonded for life, one functioning alongside the other.

The world we live in is a dark place. In order for the light of the Creator to be revealed, the forces of evil must be overcome. Only then can Hashem’s presence fill the world.

In order to defeat evil, one must be intimately familiar with the nature and the tactics of evil.

Perhaps a mashal would be in order. For one to combat missionaries one must have a familiarity in the writings of the so called “New” Testament. It takes a special strength. Not everyone is capable of immersing in such darkness and emerging intact. Not everyone has the desire or attraction to divining the secrets of the powers of evil.

Eisav was such a person.

He was born with a natural attraction to gain an intimate understanding of the workings of evil. There is nothing evil with this type of attraction. It is what one does with it that matters.

Yaakov Avenu harbored no such desire. His desire was solely to unearth and reveal the secrets of the Torah.

Thus, they were meant to function as one. Eisav, if he would choose to do so, would expertly rid the world of its impurities and clear that way for the Torah of Yaakov to take root.

They are one. They are like the fruit and its peel. The peel emerges first to protect and clear the way for the fruit to emerge.

Answers

There is no decision making in the womb, but there is natural instinct. When Rivkah Imeinu passed a Beis HaKnessess, Yaakov Avenu’s essence cried out to be released to the four amos of halacha. The same held true for Eisav. His entire being was possessed with the natural urge to connect with the Beis Avoda Zara, not in order to worship idolatry, chas veshalom, but to connect with it.

This is Eisav’s essence. He was brought into this world to connect with Avoda Zara and destroy it. When he came out of the womb Eisav made choices. He was not true to his essence. He departed from his role as a second half to Yaakov Avenu.

But that is when he emerged from the womb. Inside the womb, Eisav’s essence was holy and pure. Of all his descendants, the emperor Antoninus was the one who personified the essence of Eisav. He secretly studied Torah from Rabi Yehuda Hanasi. He was subservient to the Torah of Rabi Yehuda HaNasi, as he bent over to allow Rabi Yehuda to climb on him in order to reach his couch. He viewed himself as only a vehicle, a channel to enable Rabi Yehuda to spread the light of Torah.

Antoninus was truly in the womb of Rivkah. He was the true Eisav.

The mitzvos as we know them are only given to us in their form because Eisav made the decision not to be a shomer mitzvos. Had Eisav chosen to be loyal to his destiny he would have been given his own mitzvos. His mitzvos would differ from those of Yaakov Avenu. Yaakov Avenu takes ma’aser from the “fruits” of the land. His Torah is the mainstay of the land, the fruit. Eisav’s ma’aser would have been from the straw and from the salt. Salt is not a food, it is a preservative. Straw is not fit for human consumption. The grain grows upon it.

The analogy of the straw and the pea is not meant to be understood on a physical level. Just as it is impossible for the pea that went in first to come out first, it is equally impossible for the child who was formed first to emerge first.

What would happen to a fruit that emerged from its tree prior to the formation of its protective peel? It would shrivel in the rays of the sun.

Yaakov’s role in creation is primary. Eisav’s role is to make the world a “safe” place for Yaakov. Thus Yaakov was formed first, but Eisav, the peel, the protector, must emerge first.