One of my favorite stories in Torah is in this week’s portion about Jacob and Esau. As a twin, I’ve always thought about this portion with respect to my brother and me. We’re identical mirror-image twins. It means that we’re stranger than first appears. I’m right-handed and he’s left-handed; growing up I was musical and he was athletic; I married a brunette and he married a blonde. Well, even the orthodontist told us we had the same mouth, only it was a mirror-image. In Torah, Jacob was a man of the tent and Esau was a man of the field. Their differences showed up early as they sought different things for themselves in their future. Ultimately, each one found his way and each was promised a world that would be, at once, of their own making and blessed by God.
Ultimately, we discover that whether or not we are a twin, all of us have competing interests within us. Like Jacob, who favored being home to study (and cook), and Esau, who favored being in the field to hunt, we can struggle between our inclinations, too. Judaism teaches that we have two “yetzers” in us: yetzer haTov, the good inclination, and yetzer haRa, the evil inclination. Notice that these so-called energies are within us. We possess them. They were created in us. Evil is not external to us like some tempter; we are capable of both good and evil. Judaism further teaches that while the good inclination is obvious and leads us to do all kinds of mitzvot (good deeds), the evil inclination isn’t as clear.
The evil inclination could surely lead us to do deeds that are simply awful. Don’t. But, the evil inclination could also lead us to pursue certain desires, such as building a career, a house, and a family. These fine things could be evil if the career served only us or created a challenge to the environment or the community. Our house could be evil if it contributed to crime in the neighborhood or stood out as an unkempt eyesore. And, our family members could be evil if we raised them to be thoughtless members of the community. But, when it is combined with good, the evil inclination can motivate us to produce something for ourselves, namely that career, that home and that family. It’s a tension that we grow to understand when we temper our inclinations, both good and evil, and our outward behavior becomes an expression of moderation in all things.
My circle of family and friends are fairly inclined to good, but I can understand personal desires to build a dream home, to give children the best the family can afford, and to pursue a passionate career. It’s the manner in which we harness the energies within us that are the best measures of who we are, and how others understand us. In the end, Esau would not be the model of our Jewish future; one that would be built on a “taste for the hunt.” Our future as a people would be built on the “taste for Torah,” led by Jacob’s passionate desire to obtain the birthright and be the father of nations.
Jacob and Esau were born together but each one became an individual who pursued his personal passion and inclinations. It’s true for you and me, too. As descendants of Jacob, we share a taste for Torah, and all that it commands and commends us to do and to be.
From my desk to yours, Shabbat Shalom.
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