Bereishit 25:22
וַיִּתְרֹצְצוּ הַבָּנִים בְּקִרְבָּהּ
Vayitrotzatzu habanim bekirbah
the children quarreled inside her.
This particular pregnancy was totally different from all the pregnancies experienced by women up until that time. It was quite unknown for women who gave birth to twins to experience turbulence within their wombs during their pregnancies. The fact that these fetuses had begun to behave in such a manner already while inside the womb made Rivkah very distraught. She had her worst fears confirmed when G-d told her through His prophet Shem (Bereishit Rabbah 63:7) that she was going to give birth to founders of two nations whose outlook on life would be totally different from one another. He assured Rivkah that she personally, had not cause to worry about the physical phenomenon of that tumult within her.
The Midrashic opinion (Avodah Zarah 11) draws attention to the unusual spelling of the word גיים (goyim - nations) (25:23). The correct spelling should have been גוים. This prompted Rabbi Yehudah to see a hint that there would be two individuals belonging to these two nations, i.e. Emperor Antoninus and Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi, whose wealth would be such that all manner of vegetables which were not in season would nonetheless be served on their tables all year. At first glance such a statement is difficult to reconcile with the statement made by the same Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi on his deathbed (Ketuvot 104), that he had never permitted himself to use his wealth to indulge himself or to otherwise enjoy the pleasures of life on earth, but had made do with absolute necessities only. It is understood that the Midrash in Bereishit Rabbah as describing what Rabbi Yehudah served his guest, not what he himself partook of.
Antoninus was a descendant of Esav. He had studied Torah secretly with Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi so that his servants and other members of his Empire would not become aware of this. According to tradition (also in Avodah Zarah 10), Antoninus, while governor in Yisrael, had a subterranean room which was linked by a passage to the home of Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi. He would take two slaves with him every day. He would kill the first one at the entrance to the house of Rabbi Yehudah, and the second one at the entrance to his own palace so that there would not be any surviving witnesses to his visits at the home of Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi. He requested of Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi that at the prearranged times when he would visit, Rabbi Yehudah should not have anyone else present at the house. It happened that on one occasion Rabbi Chanina bar Chama happened to be at the house of Rabbi Yehudah when Antoninus arrived. He became very agitated and complained, "Did I not tell you not to have anyone present when I come?" Rabbi Yehudah replied that the apparition in the guise of Rabbi Chanina was not a human being. Thereupon Antoninus said to Rabbi Yehudah, "Tell this man to get me the slave who stands on guard at the entrance." Rabbi Chanina, aware that this slave was going to be killed, deliberated what to do. When he came to the place from where he was suppose to gt the slave he found that the slave was already dead. He meditated on what to do, saying to himself that if he told Antoninus that the slave was already dead, he would accuse him of having murdered him. At the same time there is a rule that one need not return to the sender in order to bring bad news. On the other hand, he reasoned, if he were simply to leave the dead man and not go back to the house of Rabbi Yehudah at all, this would be a disgrace, and an insult to the Roman Empire. So he decided to pray. As a result of his prayer the dead guard came to life again and he sent him to his master. Thereupon Antoninus said to Rabbi Yehudah, "I am aware that even relatively insignificant Jews possess the power to bring the dead back to life. Nonetheless, I wish that when I come here no other living soul shall be present." Antoninus used to provide Rabbi Yehudah with a variety of personal services as well as feed him if necessary on a daily basis. He even expressed a wish to be able to serve Rabbi Yehudah in the hereafter as his mattress. One day he asked Rabbi Yehudah if he could expect to be granted life in the hereafter. Rabbi Yehudah answered in the affirmative. Antoninus questioned this, quoting Ovadiya 18 "There will not be anyone remaining of the house of Esav." Rabbi Yehudah replied that this verse speaks only of people who live in accordance with the principles of Esav. Thereupon Antoninus quoted another verse, this time from Yechezkel 32:29 "There are Edom, her kings and her princes" (The entire passage deals with the descent to Gehinom of all these Gentile people). Rabbi Yehudah replied that the verse referred to "her kings," but not to "all her kings." He added that Yechezkel had specifically excluded Antoninus as well as a certain Ketiah bar Shalom from his perdiction.
25:24
וְהִנֵּה תוֹמִם בְּבִטְנָהּ
vehineh tomim bevitnah
and here there were twins in her womb.
The word תוֹמִם (tomim) "twins," is spelled defectively, with the letters י (yud) and א (alef) missing. The reason for the defective spelling is that one of Rivkah's children was going to be a wicked person. The next time the birth of twins is mentioned in the Torah, i.e. the sons of Tamar and Yehudah, Peretz and Zerach, the word is spelled properly, i.e. תאומים, seeing that both the sons Peretz and Zerach were going to be righteous.
25:25
וַיֵּצֵא הָרִאשׁוֹן אַדְמוֹנִי
Vayetze harishon admoni
the first one emerged all reddish looking.
According to Bereishit Rabbah 63:8 the performance of the commandment to take the Lulav and Etrog on the first day of Sukkot (VaYikra 23:40) and to give thanks to G-d for His bounty is the reason taht G-d appeared to the Jewish people first, demands payment (for their sins) "from the first one," "builds for them first," "brings them (to the Holy Land) first". The fact that G-d appeared to the Jewish people first is derived from Yeshayahu 44:6; the fact that G-d enacts payment from the first one, i.e. Esav first, is derived from Bereishit 25:25. "He builds for them first," is a reference to the Holy Temple as we know from Yirmeyahu 17:12 "O Throne of Glory exalted from the first." The fact that G-d brings the redeemer to the Jewish people first, is attested to by Yeshayahu 41:27 "the things predicted to Tziyon originally, behold they are here! And again I send a herald to Yerushalayim." This Midrash demonstrates that the word rishon "first," does not necessarily imply an advantage, such as when G-d demands an accounting for his sins from Esav first because he emerged first from Rivkah's womb.
כֻּלּוֹ כְּאַדֶּרֶת שֵׂעָר
kulo ke'aderet se'ar
all of him looking like a fur coat.
The meaning is as if the Torah had written, "his entire body covered with hair, just like a mantle." Seeing he was born with this much hair, people called him אִישׁ שָׂעִר (ish sa'ir) "a hairy man" (27:11). The word שעיר is an all encompassing expression which includes the demonic qualities which are attributed to the deities called שעירים, which the Torah enjoins us from offering sacrifices to (VaYikra 17:7). According to Midrash, the strength of that demonic power is concentrated in the hair which covers its heart. At the time of the Redemption, arrival of Mashiach, G-d will make the demonic power collapse when he blows the Shofar heralding the Redemption, "and HASHEM Elokim will sound the ram's horn, and advance in a stormy tempest" (Zecharya 9:14)
25:27
וַיִּגְדְּלוּ הַנְּעָרִים
Vayigdelu hane'arim
the lads grew up
According to Bereishit Rabbah 63:10 after Esav attained the age of 13 he frequented houses of idolatry while Yaakov frequented Torah academies. Chazal in the same Midrash also said that Rivkah had experienced similar experiences during her pregnancy. Whenever she passed either one of the aforementioned institutions one of the fetuses within her seemed anxious to emerge. There is a verse in Yirmeyahu 1:5 "even before I formed you in the womb I already appointed you (as a prophet)." From this verse we see that distinct pre-natal tendencies are not mere figments of Chazal's imagination. Tehillim 58:4 "the wicked are defiant even while in the womb," confirms this piece of psychological insight.
וַיְהִי עֵשָׂו אִישׁ יֹדֵעַ צַיִד אִישׁ שָׂדֶה וְיַעֲקֹב אִישׁ תָּם יֹשֵׁב אֹהָלִים
vayehi Esav ish yode'a tza'id ish sadeh veYa'akov ish tam yoshev ohalim
Esav became a hunter, a man of the field, whereas Yaakov was a straightforward man, a dweller in tents.
This verse conveys the fact that though the brothers were twins they had totally different interests in life. Esav pursued the material pleasures available in life whereas Yaakov was of a philosophical bent. This is why the Torah characterizes the difference in the two phrases that Esav was a man of the field, i.e. a man dedicated to the earth, the physical. This is why later on he is called אדום (Edom), a word closely reminiscent of אדמה (adamah) "earth." It is a well know fact that if man dedicates himself to the pursuit of the pleasures which life has to offer, this estranges him to G-d and makes it difficult for him to serve Hashem at the same time as he is busy pursuing his major concerns. Making earthiness a priority must result in making godliness a secondary concern. This is reflected when Esav sold the birthright and the Torah (25:34) describes this in a few words, "he ate, he drank, he arose and went of his way; thus Esav demonstrated his disdain for the birthright." Anyone who is characterized by this negative virtue will eventually find himself deceived. In the case of Esav we find him describing himself as deceived twice when he said to his father (27:36) "and he [Yaakov] has tricked me twice, he took my birthright and now he has taken my blessing." Whatever pleasures and satisfactions such people do experience are only temporary and the time will come when they rue their former lifestyle and they cry out bitterly when they realize that "life" has deceived them. This is what Shlomo had in mind when he said in Mishlei 5:3-4 "for the lips of an immoral woman drip honey; her mouth is smoother than oil. But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword." This is precisely the lifestyle of Esav and all those who support him. The philosophy and lifestyle of Yaakov are diametrically opposed to this, for someone characterized as אִישׁ תָּם (ish tam) "simple man" and as יֹשֵׁב אֹהָלִים (yoshev ohalim) "dweller in tents" is the antithesis of someone described as יֹדֵעַ צַיִד אִישׁ שָׂדֶה (yode'a tza'id ish sadeh) "a hunger, a man of the field." Not only this, whatever Esav was willing to give up, i.e. to sell, Yaakov was anxious to buy. When the Torah speaks about the dish of lentils, something round, always returning to is beginning, this merely illustrates the concept of the pursuit of the pleasures of this world. This physical unverse and all the phenomena in it are constantly being recycled, as Shlomo said already at the beginning of Kohelet "there is nothing new under the sun." What is perceived as progress, eventually is seen to be merely a retread of something old. Yaakov who had perceived this was therefore anxious to sell such "merchandise," in return for something which promised enduring progress. The instrument of securing the spiritual progress is the birthright, as it represents the privilege of performing service for Hashem in sacred precincts.
Seeing the Torah had described both Esav and Yaakov already as איש (ish), i.e. adult, mature in years, it is clear that they must have been at least 13 years of age at the time Yaakov bought the birthright from his twin brother. If, as the Midrash says, Avraham died five years early in order not to experience how Esav disdain for spiritual values, this means that the brothers were 15 years old at the time the sale of the birthright took place. Avraham was 160 years old at the time Yaakov and Esav were born. He died at the age of 175, i.e. at a time when his grandchildren were 15 years of age. There is also an allusion in the verse that people such as Esav are slated for Gehinom whereas people such as Yaakov are destined for Gan Eden.
In Bereishit Rabbah (65:22) we read that when Ya'akov entered Yitzchak's room in order to receive the blessing, Gan Eden entered with him. On the other hand, when Esav entered the same room a little later, Gehinom entered with him. Midrash Tanchuma Parshat Tzav 2 expresses a similar sentiment when the author writes that the words היא העולה (hi ha'olah) "it is the burnt-offering" (VaYikra 6:2), are a reference to a nation which is totally wrapped up in earthly concerns, and which eleveates itself as is written in Ovadya 4 "even if you rise as high as the eagle I will bring you down, על מוקדה, on the site of the altar where the fire is burning." The word is a reference to the fires of Gehinom in the hereafter. The words of Daniel 7:11 apply to such people, "and consigned to the fires burning."
וְיַעֲקֹב אִישׁ תָּם
veYa'akov ish tam
and Ya'akov was a straightforward man.
Actually, the Torah should have written "and Ya'akov was a man of truth." His principal characteristic was אמת (emet) "truth." This is what Michah was at pains to point out when he said "Grant truth to Yaakov, kindness to Avraham..." (7:20). Instead the Torah added the word תָּם (tam) to describing Yaakov as "a dweller in tents," a student of Torah, in order to already hint at that quality אמת (emet) by attributing to him two of the three letters in that word.
Continued asap...
-Chazal
Parashat Toledot
