In this week’s Torah portion, Toldot, we begin to read the story of Esau and Jacob. To summarize, Esau traded his birthright to Jacob for lentil soup, and then regretted it later on. Rebecca helped Jacob trick Isaac into giving him the birthright, further angering Esau, who, upon returning from his hunting, discovered that his birthright had been “stolen”, even though he had previously sold it to Jacob, and threatened to kill his brother. Many people tend to read this story and assume that Esau was simply stupid or violent, but just as with every human being, there is more to his story. Esau is widely misunderstood. He is generally perceived as a savage and a murderer, but there is a story behind Esau that we never hear. Much of the way we think about Esau is due to how the rabbis portrayed him through midrashim. A prevalent midrash was formed at the time of the destruction of the second temple, when Edom had come to represent Rome. The Romans had destroyed the temple and the rabbis connected some blurry dots, concluding that because Esau was the ancestor of Edom, he must be a bad person. However, we forget to look at the written text in order to see how Esau actually acted, separate from his descendants.
From the womb, throughout his life, Esau wrestled with his brother Jacob. When his mother Rebecca was pregnant with her twins, she received the prophecy that the older twin (Esau) would serve the younger twin (Jacob). Throughout his life, Esau received this prophecy multiple times. Another instance of this prophecy was when Isaac blessed Esau with “an abundance of grain and wine” and prophesied that עַל־חַרְבְּךָ֣ תִֽחְיֶ֔ה וְאֶת־אָחִ֖יךָ תַּעֲבֹ֑ד וְהָיָה֙ כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר תָּרִ֔יד וּפָרַקְתָּ֥ עֻלּ֖וֹ מֵעַ֥ל צַוָּארֶֽךָ׃. “...yet by your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother” (Genesis 27:40) This seems unfair to Esau because it shows that it was not his choice to serve Jacob, so naturally he may have been sour about this prophecy. The prophecy of “on your sword you shall live” comes up in a midrash created by the rabbis. The midrash states “בתחילה הלך אצל בני עשו ואמר להם: מקבלים אתם את התורה? אמרו לו: מה כתוב בה? אמר להם לא תרצח… אביהם רוצח הוא שנאמר על חרבך תחיה.” “In the beginning God went to the people of Edom and said to them, ‘will you receive the Torah?’ They said, ‘what’s in it?’ and God said to them, ‘Do not murder.’ [They said] ‘our father lived on the sword, and so do we.’” When God gave the Israelites the Torah, God asked other nations too, including Edom. Edom asked what the Torah said and God replied, “Do not murder”. Edom refused the Torah because they were murderers and could not abide by the laws. The rabbis conclude that because the nation of Edom are the descendants of Esau that Esau must be a murderer and a savage. This is just one instance in which we see Esau portrayed this way.
Let’s look back at the original text for another factor playing into Esau’s mis-portrayal. Esau’s relationship with his family is clearly broken. His father only favored him because he fed him game, his mother helped cheat him out of his birthright, and his twin brother took his birthright, which resulted in Esau threatening to kill him. Jacob flees, but after many years Esau and Jacob reunite. Esau runs toward Jacob, and kisses him on the neck. וַיָּ֨רׇץ עֵשָׂ֤ו לִקְרָאתוֹ֙ וַֽיְחַבְּקֵ֔הוּ וַיִּפֹּ֥ל עַל־צַוָּארָ֖ו וַׄיִּׄשָּׁׄקֵ֑ׄהׄוּׄ וַיִּבְכּֽוּ׃ (Genesis 33:4) “Esau ran to greet him. He embraced him and, falling on his neck, he kissed him; and they wept.” On the word וַׄיִּׄשָּׁׄקֵ֑ׄהׄוּׄ in the Torah, there are dots above the each letter. There are many interpretations of these dots. One interpretation by the rabbis is that rather than Esau kissing Jacob, he bit him, and the dots are the bite marks. In the midrash it says, “Rabbi Shimeon ben Elazar said in every place you find a lot of text with dots on top, you need to interpret the dots; when you find a lot of dots on top of a few words you interpret the words…Rabbi Yannai said to him, ‘On the contrary, it teaches that [Esau] came not to kiss [Jacob], but to bite him…’” (Bereishit Rabbah 78) Yet another way the rabbis try to convince us Esau is a beast. I personally disagree with the rabbis. Although the text might be trying to tell us something I would like to think that Esau has matured over these years. The rest of the description of the reunion describes Esau as having matured and being polite, so I’m not sure why this would change here. Rather, a more pleasant interpretation is that each dot represents one kiss that Esau gave to Jacob when they reunited.
Another thing that shows that Esau and Jacob have matured and put aside their differences is when Isaac dies and they bury him together. וַיִּקְבְּר֣וּ אֹת֔וֹ עֵשָׂ֥ו וְיַעֲקֹ֖ב בָּנָֽיו׃ {פ}“…and he was buried by his sons Esau and Jacob.” (Genesis 35:29) Both men have clearly matured enough to be able to work together. Isaac’s death was a reminder of the birthright incident, and the fact that Esau was able to put that behind him shows that he matured.
The story of Esau and Jacob is known throughout the Jewish world as a major family conflict in the Torah. Jacob is known as a savior and a hero, along with Rivkah for helping him steal the birthright. Esau is hated and thought of as an animal. But the truth is that Esau is only thought of this way because of how the rabbis portrayed him. The torah itself, which shows no emotion, describes Esau as hairy, red, and a man of the field. The rabbis are the ones that inserted the idea of Esau being savage or immature into our minds. Esau is just a misunderstood person in the shadow of his younger (twin) brother who is sadly misrepresented by violence through the eyes of Judaism and our rabbis.
