INSIDE AND OUTSIDE

“Esau was forty years old and he took as a wife Yehudit, daughter of Be’eri the Hittite, and Basmat, daughter of Eilon the Hittite.” (Bereishit 26:34)

When Esau reached his fourth decade, he married two women from the Hittite tribe. The Torah discloses the age of his nuptials because it was the same age his father, Yitzchak, married Rivkah (25:20): “Yitzchak was forty years old when he took Rivkah, daughter of Betuel the Aramean, from Padan Aram, sister of Lavan the Aramean, to be his wife.” Esau tried to imitate his father, at least on a superficial level. Rashi explains further (commentary on 26:34): “Esau is compared to a boar, as it is said, (Tehillim 80:14) ‘The boars from the forest destroy it…’ The boar when it lies down stretches forth its cloven hoof as if to say, ‘See, I am a clean animal’”. In the same way these [descendants of Esau] rob and extort and pretend to be honourable. For the whole forty years Esau enticed women from their husbands and ill-treated them; when he reached the age of forty he said, “My father took a wife when he was forty and I shall do the same” (Bereishit Rabbah 65:1).

Esau was obsessed with appearances. He wanted people to believe that he was righteous and upright. Of all people, he craved the approval of his father the most. Earlier in the parsha we are told (26:27-28), “The lads grew. Esau was a man who knew hunting, a man of the field and Yaakov was a guileless man, living in tents.  And Yitzchak loved Esau because of the game [hunted animals] in his mouth and Rivkah loved Yaakov.”  Rashi notes: “Esau was a man who knew hunting – understanding how to entrap and deceive his father with his mouth. He would ask him, “Father how should salt and straw be tithed?” (Bereishit Rabbah 63:10). Consequently his father believed him to be very punctilious in observing mitzvoth.” Esau was the quintessential chazir, the pig, which displays its “kosher” trotters whilst concealing the fact that it has no internal sign of kashrut, namely the ability to chew the cud.

In the times of the Mishna, the empire of Rome came to be associated with Esau (see, for example, Avoda Zara 10a where a verse from the prophet Ovadia concerning Esau is understood as referring to Rome).  Indeed, the Romans viewed themselves as the descendants of Esau and celebrated this fact in a special festival that took place once in a generation (see Avoda Zara 11b): “Rav Yehuda says that Shmuel says: They have another festival in Rome: Once every seventy years they bring a man who is whole and free from any defect and have him ride on a lame man, [to symbolize the healthy Esau ruling over Yaakov, who walked with a limp after his fight with the angel]. And they dress him in the garments of Adam the first and place on his head the scalp of Rabbi Yishmael, [which the Romans flayed when they executed him]. And they hang gold on his neck weighing two hundred dinars, and cover the markets with onyx, and announce before him: The calculation of the master [Yaakov with regard to the time of the redemption] is fraudulent; the brother of our master, [i.e., Esau], is a forger. They further announce: One who witnesses this festival witnesses it, and whoever does not witness it will not [witness it ever, as it was celebrated only once every seventy years]. What purpose does deceit serve for the deceiver, and forgery for the forger? And they conclude in this fashion: Woe unto this one, [Esau], when that [one, Yaakov], will arise, [as this will cause Esau’s downfall].”

Esau and Yaakov, Rome and Jerusalem, the Western World and the Jewish people are in a constant state of struggle. This had already begun when Rivkah was pregnant with her twins (Bereishit 25:22-23), “The children were agitated within her. She said: If so, why am I like this? And she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her: Two peoples are in your womb, and two nations shall be separated from your innards. One nation will prevail over the other nation and the elder shall serve the younger.” Esau represents materialism, physicality and extremal appearances, whereas Yaakov identifies with spirituality, morality and one’s internal values (“dwelling in tents”). Rome excelled at projecting an image of honour and integrity. But this image concealed a very dark underbelly. Unlike the Greeks who would erect a temple using marble throughout, the Romans would use a cheaper material and clad the outside of the building in marble. The Romans were famous for their legal codes and jurors (their system of law is the precursor for many Western legal systems) but they were infamous for their savagery and cruelty, which included gladiator shows where innocent people were thrown to the lions. 

Their duplicity and obsession with externalities has outlived the Romans and is very much alive today. The internet in general and social media in particular has given rise to a world of falsehood in which people have one persona online and another in the real world. Photographs are retouched, facts are changed and history is rewritten so that people can appear the way they want the world to see them. The BBC was recently exposed for doctoring video footage and inventing facts. Two top executives resigned in disgrace. On the outside they gave the impression of a fair, even-handed and impartial news-provider, while on the inside, they were tampering with facts to create their own narrative of events. This is not a victimless crime. The BBC has a lot to answer for in the face of rampant anti-Semitism in the United Kingdom. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has taken this to a new level. A person who possesses very little creative ability can now “author” a book, “write” the lyrics and music to a song and even “produce” a film with minimal effort. The sages were concerned with one’s internal values. They warned )Avot 4:27), “Rabbi Meir said: Do not look at the container but at what it contains, for a new flask may contain old wine, and an old flask may not contain anything, even new wine.” In that case they were referring to Torah knowledge. One might meet a distinguished-looking elderly gentleman with a long, white beard and assume he is a Torah scholar, yet he knows very little. On the other hand, one might meet a young, clean-shaven man who looks “normal” but is a phenomenal Torah scholar. Looks are deceptive and one should not judge a book by its cover.

The sages of the Talmud (Yoma 72b) ask why the Holy Ark of the Covenant had gold on the outside and gold on the inside (Shmot 25:11). Would it not have been sufficient to merely cover the wooden box with gold on the outside, after all no one ever saw the inside of the Ark? They respond: “Any Torah scholar whose inside is not like his outside, is not a Torah scholar.” It’s easy to act the part, to dress up like a scholar and appear to be pious. It’s another thing entirely to actually be a Torah scholar. The external presentation and the internal values must match. If not, the person is a counterfeit and no different to the swine-like Esau.

Lee, Chani Merryl & Naomi join me in wishing you Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Liebenberg.

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