[Avodah] Lessons From Jacob and Esau (Collected Writings VII)

Professor L. Levine llevine at stevens.edu
Mon Nov 5 09:22:56 PST 2018


The following is from part of  RSRH's commentary on Bereishis 25:27


27 When the lads grew up, Esav was a man who understood hunting,
a man of the field, and Ya’akov was a totally dedicated man, living in tents.

Our Sages never hesitate to point out to us the errors and
shortcomings, both great and small, of our forefathers, and precisely
thus they make Torah great and glorious, heightening its instructiveness
for us (see Commentary above, 12:10).

On our verse, too, an observation made by our Sages indicates that
the sharp contrast between the two grandsons of Avraham was caused
not only by their natural tendencies, but also by mistakes in their upbringing
(Bereshis Rabbah 63:10). As long as they were little, no one
paid attention to the differences in their hidden natures (see v. 24); they
were given the same upbringing and the same education. Their parents
overlooked the cardinal principle of education: 'chanoch lanar al pi darco,
“Bring up each child in accordance with his own way” (Mishlei 22:6).
Each child should be guided in accordance with the path intended
especially for him, the path that suits the qualities and tendencies latent
in the depths of his personality, and thus he should be educated, both
as a man and as a Jew. The great Jewish task is basically one, but the
ways of its fulfillment are manifold and diverse, as human character
traits and paths of life are manifold and diverse.

<Snip>

Precisely for this reason, each child must be brought up al pi darco;
educate him to the one great goal, according to his own unique way,
in keeping with his potential. To attempt to educate a Ya’akov and an
Esav together in the same classroom, in the same routines and in the
same manner, to raise both of them for a life of study and contemplation,
will inevitably mean to ruin one of the two. A Ya’akov will draw
from the well of wisdom with ever-increasing interest and desire,
whereas an Esav will hardly be able to wait for the day when he can
throw away the old books and, together with them, a great life-mission,
of which he was taught in a one-sided manner, totally unappealing to
his nature.

For much more on this topic see

Lessons From Jacob and Esau<https://web.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/lessons_jacob_esau_col_vii.pdf> (Collected Writings VII)

YL


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20181105/4f7581c9/attachment.html>


More information about the Avodah mailing list