Earning The Holy Birthright

by Shlomo Riskin

Candlelighting, Readings:
Shabbat candles: 4:11 p.m.
Torah reading: Genesis 32:4 -36:43
Haftarah: Ovadiah 1:1-21
Shabbat ends: 5:14 p.m.

“You have mastered over Divine forces and human powers; you have won.” (Gen 32:29)

We left Jacob last week leaving Laban and Laban-land behind, heaven-bent on returning to the land of Abraham and to the house of Isaac. Jacob understands that his inner self has been overtaken by the deceitful and aggressive hands of Esau, that he must return to his ancestral home in order to recapture the Abrahamic birthright.

But what exactly are the building blocks of this birthright? Is it possible

that Esau is at this point even more deserving, or is at least as deserving, as Jacob?

The very first prerequisite is a strong Hebrew identity, a powerful familial connection that contributes — and defines — the link to a specific heritage and ancestry. Abraham established his commitment to this identity when he insisted upon purchasing a separate gravesite for Sarah, when he was willing to spend a small fortune in establishing his own cemetery. He defines himself as an “alien resident” (ger v’toshav), sees himself as living among the Hittites but certainly not as being existentially a Hittite, and therefore refuses an “of right” burial for Sarah in any Hittite plot of land [Genesis 23:3-20].

Esau certainly has a strong sense of familial identity. He demonstrates filial respect and devotion; the Bible even records that Isaac loved Esau because he made certain to provide his father with the venison meat [Gen. 25:28]. He even has strong sibling ties to his brother, despiteJacob’s deception surrounding the blessings. In this week’s reading, the Torah tells us how Esau first seemed to have set up a brigade of 400 warriors to “welcome” the return of the prodigal brother [Gen. 32:7], but once Esau actually sees his younger brother and his family, his heart apparently melts with brotherly love: “Esau ran to meet him; he hugged him, fell upon his neck and kissed him....” [Gen. 33:4].

Esau even wishes for the two of them to travel together and to settle down together. It is Jacob who politely refuses [Gen. 33:13-14]. Yes, Esau has strong familial identity. However, Abraham had two other crucial characteristics that Esau lacks: continuity and destiny. Continuity is most meaningfully expressed in marrying a suitable mate: from our modern perspective, taking a Jewish spouse so that the children will be Jewish, and from the biblical perspective, not marrying an immoral Canaanite. Esau takes Hittite wives [Gen. 26:34], “Yehudit the daughter of Be’eri and Basmat, the daughter of Elon.” Perhaps he comforted himself with the fact that one had a Jewish name (Yehudit) and the second had a name that means “sweet-smelling perfume.” Esau’s mentality is apparently as superficial as the name “Edom” he acquired from his exterior red complexion as well as the red colors of the lentil soup he exchanged for his birthright, and the venison meat he gave his father. Moreover, when he realizes how upset his parents are with his marriages, he nevertheless chooses a daughter of Ishmael, the “wild as of a man,” and he takes this wife not instead of but in addition to his Hittite wives.

Another test for continuity is the unique daily lifestyle, the ability to delay gratification and act with discipline, especially in the sexual and gastronomical realms. Kashrut has always been a powerful tool in keeping us a “nation set apart” that didn’t fall prey to assimilation. Esau sells his birthright for soup that he wants “poured into his mouth” as one would feed a camel [B.T. Shabbat].

To have one’s eyes on an historic mission, to realize the goal of having “all the families of the earth blessed by us” [Gen; 12:3] through our vision of a God of justice, morality and peace requires a commitment to an ideal, to delayed gratification, something foreign to Esau. When Jacob tells Esau that he will meet up with him in Seir, our Midrash connects this rapprochement to the messianic period when “the saviors will go up to Mt. Zion to judge the mountain of Esau” [Gen. 33:14, Ovadiah 1:21, and Bereshit Rabbah 78:14]. Jacob then continues to travel to Sukkot, which implies the Tabernacle and the Holy Temple, the place in Jerusalem from where our message to the world will eventually emanate. But before Jacob can affirm his covenantal continuity and begin to achieve his destiny, he must first disgorge the grasping hands of Esau, the desire for immediate gratification that seems to have overtaken his personality.

This is the purpose of that mysteriously eerie nocturnal struggle with an anonymous assailant, a wrestling match with the characteristics of Esau that have invaded his personality and which must precede the brothers’ confrontation. Jacob is all alone [Gen. 32:25]; his struggle is an inner battle, to rid himself of the Esau within his soul. And he wins, both over Divine forces and over human powers [Gen. 32:29]; he has seen God Elohim face-to-face, and restores his own Divine image by exorcizing his inner Esau, the real “heel-sneak.” He now proudly stands as Yisrael, the righteous (yashar) representative of God, and the fitting recipient of the Abrahamic birthright.

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the chancellor of the Ohr Torah Stone institutions, and chief rabbi of Efrat.