עשו בן יצחק

Esau son of Isaac is the twin who chose the field and not the tent, and whose figure became in the Torah the root of a path opposite to Jacob. 'And Esau was a man knowing hunting, a man of the field, and Jacob was a wholehearted man dwelling in tents' (Genesis 25:27). Two brothers from one womb, two worlds: power and hunting against wholeheartedness and study.

Esau sold his birthright for a pot of lentils, 'and Esau despised the birthright' (Genesis 25:34), for he saw in it no spiritual value but grasped at the present. And yet, the Torah teaches that Esau fulfilled one commandment with astonishing devotion: honoring one's father. The Sages say that no one honored his father like Esau, and by this merit he received reward in this world.

Tradition holds both sides: Esau is 'the father of Edom,' the root of the cruel power that would pursue Israel through the generations, 'it is a law, it is known that Esau hates Jacob.' Yet he is not painted as a one-dimensional monster: he had a genuine honoring of his father, and also tears when he lost the blessing. Evil and humanity are interwoven in him.

What do we learn from him, from the contrast? That the choice of the immediate present, 'and he despised the birthright,' over the eternal value, shapes destiny. Esau teaches that even in one whose path is opposite there can be one shining good trait, honoring one's father, and that tradition does not paint a flat evil but a complex person who chose wrongly at the decisive crossroads.