Commentary: Toldot  Genesis 25:19 - 28:92

There is another side of the Esau story. There is the tradition that paints him in dark colors. But there is a rationale that sets him in a more positive light.

First, Esau was blessed by Isaac. In fact, his blessing came about long before Jacob's did. The Torah emphasizes the point: "These are the kings of Edom [i.e. the descendants of Esau] who ruled before any king reigned over Israel" (Gen. 36: 31). Esau's descendants were settled in their land while Jacob and his children were enduring exile.

Second, Moses commands the Israelites: "Do not hate an Edomite, for he is your brother"? (Deut. 23: 8). GOD too commands the people: "You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful. Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own" (Deut. 2: 4-5) Esau?s children and their territorial integrity were to be respected. The word 'respect' is synonymous with admiration, reverence, esteem . . . not hate.

Third, the sages admired Esau's intense love and devotion toward Isaac. Gamliel said: "No man ever honored his father as I honored mine, but I found that Esau honored his father more than I honored mine." The Midrash (commentary) states that "No one in the world honored his father as Esau honored his." When we look beyond the obvious, it is apparent that Esau 'perceived' that his fathers love was superficial, and desired to achieve an acceptance by his father as the 'one most loved.' All that he did centered upon living a life fulfilling the projections of Isaac  searching for ways to please his father. What is the more accurate portrait of Esau, the son Isaac loved?

How do we blend this concept with that revealed by the prophet Malachi in 1:2-3? "'I have loved you,' says the Lord. 'But you ask, How have you loved us? 'Was not Esau Jacob's brother?' the LORD says. 'Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated . . .'" The question is fundamental. The answer is, firstly, that the verb senuah which usually means 'to hate,' has a different meaning in biblical Hebrew when contrasted with the verb 'to love.' It means not 'hated' but 'loved less intensely, less intimately.' That, as Ramban points out, is what it means in the passage: "Jacob cohabited with Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah . . . When the Lord saw that Leah was hated [senuah] . . ." Leah was not hated; she was less loved. That too is its meaning in Deuteronomy: "If a man has two wives, one loved, the other hated [senuah] . . ." Here again, the meaning is not 'hated' but 'less loved.'

Second, there is the remarkable statement made by an early commentator that the phrase, "Esau I have hated" refers only to 'the peripheral part of Esau' not his essence. What was 'hated' were the outward actions of Esau -- his ways. He was coarse, common, and crude. He was a man who regarded the 'ways of GOD' in a frivolous or superficial way. He was one who 'fit in with the crowd' of unbelief. His neshamah, the GODly nature imparted to him, was loved, cherished and treasured by GOD. The verse in Malachi refers to particular a historical circumstance, and an overview of the 'life' lived by Esau.

During the First Temple period there were conflicts and wars between the Israelites and Edomites. The prophet Amos attributes particular cruelty to Edom: "He pursued his brother with a sword, stifling all compassion, because his anger raged continually and his fury flamed unchecked" (Amos 1:11). Malachi is therefore speaking about a specific historical era, not an eternal state as we see that the continuance of vs. 3 " . . . I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals." This comment by Malachi identifies and 'dates' a very specific period of time, and cannot be seen as an across the board condemnation or eternal curse upon Esau/Edom. If it was an eternal and on-going expression of hatred, it would be adversarial to the blessings promised by GOD to Esau/Edom in Deuteronomy 2 & 23.

The issue has larger significance because Esau/Edom symbolize the Roman Empire and then (after the conversion of Constantine), the Christian gentile world. Ishmael was the Arab world and later, Islam. On the basis of the date specific comments above, Rav Kook (the 1st Chief Rabbi of Israel in 1948) wrote this about the relationship between Judaism and these two other faiths: The statement "but Esau I hated" refers to the peripheral or non-essential part of Esau, but the essential part of him, as his head, was interred with the patriarchs.

It is for this reason that the man of truth and integrity, Jacob, said [on his reunion with Esau], "I have seen you, and it is like seeing the face of GOD" (Gen. 33: 10). His word shall not go down as a vain utterance. The brotherly love of Esau and Jacob, Isaac and Ishmael, will assert itself above all the confusion that the evil brought on by our bodily nature has engendered. It will overcome them and transform them into eternal light and compassion. (Letters, 1, 112) Rav Kook believed that just as in the Torah, Jacob and Esau, Isaac and Ishmael, were eventually reconciled, so will Judaism, Christianity and Islam be in future. They would not cease to be different, but they would learn to respect one another. "And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths." Zechariah 14:16.

What does it mean when we call Jews 'the chosen people'? Does it mean that in choosing Jacob, GOD rejects Esau/Edom? Or that in choosing Abraham, GOD rejected humanity? GOD forbid. In the Torah, GOD appears to several non-Jews, among them Abraham's contemporary, Malkizedek, described in the Torah as "a priest of GOD most high."

Also, one of the great heroines of the Bible, the woman who saves Moses' life, was an Egyptian, Pharaoh's daughter. The Messianic seed comes forth from the incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughter "from which comes forth Moab", and Ruth, the Moabite woman. As a matter of principle "the righteous of the nations have a share in the world to come." GOD hates no person or race. What He 'hates' is the actions and lifestyles that are lived and practiced outside of the wondrous ways of His Torah.

Chosenness means two things: intimacy and responsibility. GOD holds the Jew (Jacob) close and make special demands on him. Beyond that, GOD is the GOD of all mankind "the Author of all, who cares for all, and is accessible to all." And these are truths we must never forget. When Jacob was chosen, Esau was not rejected. GOD does not reject. "Though my mother and father might abandon me, the Lord will take me in" (Ps. 27: 10). Rather, GOD 'hated' (loved less) Esau not because He displays partiality, bur rather, because he (Esau) chose a course of wickedness.

Radak explains this further: "For their wickedness had become exceeding great before the LORD, in that they dealt treacherously with the sons of Jacob whereas GOD commanded Israel, 'Thou shalt not abominate an Edomite for his is thy brother.' But they dealt evilly with them with the maximum of their spite and rejoiced in their destruction and exile.?"

The text in Malachi therefore says of their (Esau/Edom) land . . . "They (Edomites) shall be called the border of wickedness." 1:4 (For they have chosen the course of wicked rebellion).

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