Machshavot HaLev - Yeshivat Lev HaTorah

45
בלה תובשחמ
Yaakov followed the ways of his father Yitzchak and grandfather Avraham and
devoted his life to Torah. Rashi (25:27) tells us that at 13-years-old, Yaakov went
to the yeshivas of Shem and Ever, while Esav went off to worship idols. Rashi tells
us that for the first 13 years of their lives, they were alike in their actions. From
13 on, the younger brother went on to realize his G-dly potential, while the older
brother gave up on his potential completely.
Rabbi Avigdor Miller (In the Beginning) has an interesting thought on this topic.
Later in the parsha, we read that Yitzchak intends to bless Esav. Rivka, who
understood better than Yitzchak that Esav would never use the blessing for good,
helps Yaakov dress up in Esav’s clothes and pretend to be Esav and, in this way,
get the coveted blessing. She puts goat hair on the smooth arms and neck of
Yaakov, so that when Yitzchak (who was old and blind) would touch his son, he
would assume it was the hairy Esav. Rabbi Miller says the goat hair is a hint to
the choices that Esav had in life. Had he chosen well, Esav could have been as
bold as a goat in terms of serving Hashem. Just like the goat is ready for battle
and goes ahead of its flock, so too, Esav could have been a defender of Torah
and lived a life full of Torah. But instead, Esav chose to simply behave like an
animal – following its eyes to fulfill its desires. Esav continually chose wrong – he
focused on the now, the material world, what his eyes saw immediately ahead of
him – instead of keeping his eyes on the prize – the birthright. Like an animal, he
followed his lower instincts and gratified his body at the expense of what Hashem
wanted of him. Interestingly, Yaakov had no hair and was smooth – very unlike
an animal. He became our role model because he chose the service of Hashem
over his physical desires.
It’s interesting that, later in the parsha (27:45), Rivka asks Yaakov, “Why should
I be deprived of both of you on the same day?” (She was afraid they would fight
and kill each other). We know that Rivkah knew well the evil path Esav had
chosen for himself. But she also knew that he had greatness within him, and she
knew that his greatness would one day be revealed in some of his descendants.
Rabbi Yitchak Zev Soloveitchik, the Rabbi of Brisk, says that even though Esav
did exactly the opposite of what he was supposed to do, he produced some of
the world’s most illustrious descendants, some of whom converted and became