Ilustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
Here’s what happens when Yitzhak tells Esav that Yaakov came first and got his בְּרָכָה (berakhah, blessing).
כִּשְׁמֹ֤עַ עֵשָׂו֙ אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֣י אָבִ֔יו וַיִּצְעַ֣ק צְעָקָ֔ה גְּדֹלָ֥ה וּמָרָ֖ה עַד־מְאֹ֑ד וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לְאָבִ֔יו בָּרְכֵ֥נִי גַם־אָ֖נִי אָבִֽי׃
When Esav heard his father’s words, he cried out in a great and bitter outcry, and said to his father, “Bless me too, Father!”
The language of Esav’s cry sounds familiar. Where do we know it from?
אָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא כָּל מִי שֶׁהוּא אוֹמֵר שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וַתְּרָן הוּא יִתְוַתְּרוּן בְּנֵי מְעוֹהִי, אֶלָּא מַאֲרִיךְ אַפֵּיהּ וְגָבֵי דִּילֵיהּ.
זְעָקָה אַחַת הִזְעִיק יַעֲקֹב לְעֵשָׂו, דִּכְתִיב: "כִּשְׁמֹעַ עֵשָׂו אֶת דִּבְרֵי אָבִיו וַיִּזְעַק זְעָקָה," וְהֵיכָן נִפְרַע לוֹ? בְּשׁוּשַׁן הַבִּירָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: "וַיִּזְעַק זְעָקָה גְדוֹלָה וּמָרָה" (אסתר ד:א).
R. Hanina said: You can’t say that the Holy Blessed One is lenient with justice! Sometimes it takes a long time, but God ultimately collects what is due.
Yaakov made Esav cry out one time, as is written: “he cried out…” — and where was the payment for this? In Shushan, where it says that Mordekhai “cried out in a great and bitter outcry (Esther 4:1).”
Throughout the Tanakh and the Talmud, we are given the sense that Esav and his descendants are villains or enemies of the Jewish people (for example, see the first few pesukim of Malakhi, which is also the beginning of this week's haftarah). And there are a lot of reasons why it may have been ok for Yaakov to take this berakhah (see פַּרְשָׁנוּת / Commentary).
But despite all that, R. Hanina believes that these pesukim are teaching us that Yaakov still should not have caused Esav so much pain. As a punishment, Mordekhai (one of Yaakov's descendants) will one day suffer the same pain because of Haman (thought to be one of Esav's descendants).
- Why is it important that God isn’t too lenient about justice? Why should God always collect what is due?
- According to this midrash, it was wrong for Yaakov to cause pain to Esav. Why was that wrong in this story? What should have been done differently?
- It can sometimes be hard to treat people nicely and care about how much pain we are causing them, especially when we think we have good reasons not to like them. Can you think of some examples of this from your experience? How do you think we should treat people in those situations?
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