“And [Jacob] arose during that night, and he took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven children, and he crossed the ford of the Jabbok [stream].” — Genesis 32:23
“But where was [Jacob’s daughter] Dinah? [Jacob] put her into a chest and locked her in, so that Esau should not set eyes on her. Therefore, Jacob was punished for withholding her from his brother – [because had he married her,] perhaps she would cause him to improve his ways – and she fell into the hands of Shechem.” — Rashi’s commentary on the verse
Esau was reared in the most ideal household imaginable. His earliest childhood memories were of life together with his illustrious grandfather Abraham, the paradigm of kindness and purity, who personally oversaw the education of his twin grandsons and gave them the foundations for a meaningful spiritual life. With Abraham’s passing when Esau was fifteen years old, life for the young lad continued in the presence of Isaac and Rebecca and his brother Jacob. Seeing a tzaddik (righteous person) even once has an intense impact on a person, and Esau spent decades with none other than the three Patriarchs! One would be hard-pressed to find another person throughout the course of history who had a comparable upbringing, yet this had very little effect on a very thick-skinned Esau.
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Have a great Shabbos!
Rabbi Mendel Schusterman
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