Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Esav the Villain?
When we were younger, we were always taught that Yaakov is the good twin and Esev is the bad twin. Yaakov studies all day and is devoted to Hashem while Esev is a wild hunter. This is the classic story that we have learned which makes it all too simple: Yaakov is good and Esev is bad. However toay when we saw the text of the pessukim, I began to have difficulty with the classic tale that we have learned. No where in the pessukim does it state that Esev was evil or wild; he is called a man of the field, and it even says that Yitzchak loved him. Unlike the stories we were taught when we were little, Yaakov does not seem to be learning all day or intensely dedicated to Hashem. He is only described as an Ish Tam who sat in his tent. How did this show that he was a serious learner and therefore making him the good twin?
Furthermore, one can even see Yaakov as the "evil" one in these pessukim. He seems to be trying to deceive Esev in order to take the Bechorah, and he seemingly takes advantage of Esev's fatigue from the field and his hunger. Where do these ideas that Esev was evil came from? How can we say that Esev was the bad one when it does not seem to say explicitly in the pessukim that Esev ever did anything wrong? The midrashim that discuss Esev seem to present a conflict to the actual text of the pessukim.
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This is too true. I also think it is important that you pointed out that Yaakov was not necessarily good. He learned but we do not see enough of his character yet to determine whether or not he was so great and feared Hashem. It is also true that it seems like he was trying to deceive Esav and take the Bechora even tho Esav was technically older. This makes him seem bad too. They seem to both have good and bad qualities but I guess we need to learn more about each of their characters to really see the truth!
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