There is a midrashic tradition that paints Esau in dark colors. But there is a counter-tradition that sets him in a more positive light. First, Esau was indeed blessed by Isaac. In fact, his blessing came true 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). G-d too commands the people to respect Esau’s children and their territorial integrity. Third, the sages admired Esau’s intense love and devotion toward Isaac. Rabban Shimon ben 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 Zohar states that “No one in the world honored his father as Esau honored his.”
One reader, however, asked Rabbi Sacks the following question: How could one say Esau was loved by God this in the light of the verse from Malachi: “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 Vilna Gaon comments that the phrase, “Esau I have hated” refers only to “the peripheral part of Esau” not his essence. The verse in Malachi refers to particular historical circumstances. 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 eternity.
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. Rabbi Sacks summarizes: ‘The point touches upon a fundamental of Judaism. What does it mean when we call Jews “the chosen people”? Does it mean that in choosing Jacob, G-d rejected Esau? Or that in choosing Abraham, G-d rejected humanity? G-d forbid. In the Torah, G-d appears to several non-Jews, among them Abraham’s contemporary, Malkizedek, described in the Torah as “a priest of G-d most high.” One of the great heroines of the Bible, the woman who saves Moses’ life, was an Egyptian, Pharaoh’s daughter. And so on. We believe as a matter of principle that “the righteous of the nations have a share in the world to come. When Jacob was chosen, Esau was not rejected. G-d does not reject. “Though my mother and father might abandon me, the Lord will take me in” (Ps. 27: 10). Chosenness means two things: intimacy and responsibility. G-d holds us close and make special demands on us. Beyond that, G-d is the G-d of all mankind – the Author of all, who cares for all, and is accessible to all. In an age of resurgent religious conflict, these are truths we must never forget.
Prepared by Devorah Abenhaim
