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Toldos - Eisav's Battle

“And his wife Rivka conceived. The children clashed inside her”  Genesis 25:21

“When she would pass the doorways of Torah study of Shem and Eiver, Yaakov would agitate and rush to come out. When she would pass doorways of idol-worshipers, Eisav would agitate to come out.” Rashi

On the surface, it seems that Eisav got a raw deal.  Even before he was born he was created with an out-sized Yetzer Hara, a strong desire to do bad.  He developed a reputation for killing, raping, and stealing. The Rabbis call Eisav a Yisroel Mumar, a wayward Jew..  The Hallachas of a Yisroel Mumar are interesting.  It is Ussar for a Yisroel Mumar to bring a Korban Pesach, even though for all other Jews this is chayiv Korase.  If a woman falls in Yibum to a brother who is a Yisroel Mummar, according to many opinions the obligation of Yibum disappears, and she can marry anyone else without either Yibum or Chalitza from the brother who is a Yisroel Mumar. 

Tradition associates Eisav with the Roman Empire.  The Gemorah in Megilla says that the fortunes of Yaakav and Eisav are the opposite to each another.  When Eisav rises, Yaakov falls, and when Yaakov rises, Eisav falls. 

So the big question is, why did Hashem stack the odds against Eisav and put inside him such a colossal Yetzer Hara?

The answer is that this wasn’t Hashem’s plan at all.  Hashem expected great things from Eisav.  He was supposed to conquer the physical world, and provide the finances and safety for his brother Yaakov’s Torah learning, leaving Yaakov free to conquer the world of spiritual matters.  It was to be a true Yissacher-Zevulun partnership. 

Hashem put an over-sized Yetzer Hara inside Eisav because he wanted Eisav to overcome and conquer it, and then be able to do truly great things in the world.  A person with a small Yetzer can accomplish relatively small things, both good or bad.  Hashem gave Eisav a monumental challenge, hoping that he would be able to overcome it and become a great partner for his brother Yaakov, to give Yaakov the freedom to continue learning in the tents of the Bais Medresh.

But alas, Eisav failed this great challenge.  He succumbed to the negative force of his Yetzer Hara.  However it is crucial to emphasize that this did not have to end badly in this way for Eisav.  Just the opposite, Hashem gave Eisav the potential for true greatness to accomplish good. 

This has amazing implications for us.  A young man once wrote to the Steipler that he felt within himself such a strong Yetzer Hara that he felt incapable of a life of Torah.  The Steipler wrote back that just the opposite is true.  The fact that he has such a strong Yetzer Hara shows that he is capable of truly great heights as a Talmud Chacham, if he could only harness that energy within him and turn it around and use it in a positive direction.

Rabbi Beryl Wein relates that when he opened his Yeshiva in Monsey, he went to Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky for advice.  Rav Yaakov gave him two pieces of advice.  First, don’t make for his students a ‘Sedom bed’, a one-size-fits-all regimen of learning.  Second, he said, “Watch out for the trouble makers.  They have the potential for becoming the Godolim”.

A Medresh says that a person from a distant land shook when he saw a picture of Moshe Rabenu.  He saw in Moshe’s face the face of a murderer.  According to this medrash, Moshe overcame his negative Yetzer to achieve true greatness, to become one of the most righteous people in history.

This principal is called Ze Leumat Ze.  The greater the negative potential something has, the greater is its positive potential, in an equal and opposite direction, and vice versa.  A steak knife can do more good and more bad than a butter knife.  The internet has tremendous power to do good – you can instantly listen to thousands of Shiurim, and it has an equal and opposite power to do bad. 

In the ancient world a great deal of bad was associated with wine. Dionysis was the Greek god of wine, associated with all kinds of debauchery.  However we elevate that wine and use it for Kiddush on Shabbos.  It’s precisely this power of wine to do bad that we use to help raise the Kiddushah of Shabbos. 

Perhaps Moshiach himself had to come from such off-color acts involving Lot and his daughter and Yehuda and Tamar, because Moshicah needs  the tremendous power inherent in negative acts to transform the world for the good.

A minus 5 has only the potential of becoming a plus 5, but a minus 50 can become a plus 50.  When we see within ourselves negative qualities, we should redouble our energy and commitment to turn that energy around, to elevate it, and use it for good and even greatness.

Yitzchak recognized this fact, and that is why he intended to give the physical Brocha to Eisav.  He didn’t see the energy in Yaakov who was quietly learning in the tent. He thought it was more likely for Eisav to do Tshuva and then use that power to do good, than for Yaakov to develop the energy from scratch. 

That is why, when he saw that Yaakov was capable of using the power of lying and cheating for good, that he realized that Yaakov had more true grit than he had realized. Ironically, this act of trickery showed to Yitzchak that Yaakov, though learning quietly, had the inner power to transform the world, and that is why Yitzchak had no more Brochas for Eisav when Eisav returned from hunting.

A great example of this power of turning the Yetzer Hara into the Yetzer Tov is Reish Lakish.  Though he had been raised Frum, he had gone off the derech, and had become the head of band of robbers.  As described in Baba Matzia 84a, one day when Reb Yochonon was swimming, Reish Lakish was about to steal Reb Yochonon’s clothes and money.

Wait, Reb Yochonon called out to him.  If you have such a power to do bad, imagine the heights of greatness you are capable of if you use that power to become a Talmud Chachim.  Reb Yochonon offered his beautiful sister as an incentive, and Reish Lakish turned himself around to become one of the greatest Talmidei Chachamim of this generation.  Brochos 31a says that through his total diligence he soon attained so complete a knowledge of the Torah that he stood on an equal footing with Reb Yochonon.

Given this insight, we can give a new interpretation to what Reish Lakish says in Messechet Yuma, 86b.  He says, Look at how great is the potential of Tshuva.  It can turn Zidonos (intentional negative acts) into Shigogos (unintential negative acts).  The Gemara clarifies this is the result of Tshuva from Yira (fear).

But, continues Reish Lakish, Tshuva has an even great transformative power, to turn sins and Averos  into Zchuyos (mitzvoth of great merit).  The Gemorah says that is the result of Tshuva of Ahava (love).

The second half of this statement is often quoted with amazement – Tshuva of love can transform evil acts in the past – such as killing and stealing – into Mitzvot!  The Marshah, for one, says he finds it hard to understand how this is possible, and he interprets the Gemorah as saying that Tshuva will turn his future acts into such merit that it eventually will totally outweigh his negative acts of the past.

But given the principal of Ze Leumat Ze that we’ve discussed, and looking at the life of Reish Lakish as the prime example, we can come to a new interpretation of this famous Gemorah. Tshuva of fear has only the power of squelching and suppressing the Yetzer Hara.  Because the person is afraid of Hashem, he can change his outward behavior though the still feels the pulling of the Yetzer Hara within him.  That is why it is transformed into Shegagos.  Sometimes he won’t be able to suppress it completely, and he may slip up and sin by mistake, be Shogeg.

But Tshuva of Love has the ability to totally transform the bad into good, Ze Leumat Ze.  What was before a great Yetzer Hara is now an equally great Yetzer Tov.  The minus 50 becomes a plus 50.  The greater the Koach of bad beating within a person’s breast, a person should be confident and assured that he can turn that into an equal and opposite power to do good.  Then the power that would have led to terrible sins can miraculously be transformed in the future into  tremendous mitzvot. 

Let us be inspired to take any negative stirrings within us into a commitment propelling us in a positive direction.  The greater we feel pulled down, we should realize that we can take that power and be motivated upwards towards Shamayim, and transform ourselves and the world for good.