Toldos

After the parsha commences with the birth of Yaakov & Eisav, we learn how they grew up & went their separate ways. Then, the Torah informs us which child was each of the parent’s favorite: ויאהב יצחק את עשו כי ציד בפיו & Yitzchok loved Eisav for trapping was in his mouth ורבקה אהבת את יעקב, but Rivka loved Yaakov.  

The Targum translates “Yitzchok loved Eisav because he ate from his trappings”  about which Rashi brings the Midrash that says,  “because of the mouth of Eisav , because he used to fool him with pious questions.”

Both of these reasons for Yitzchok's love of Eisav need explanation. First, according to Targum, how could the fact that Eisav gave Yitzchok food cause him to love Eisav more than Yaakov  who sat & learned all day. Even according to Rashi’s reason that Eisav fooled him with pious questions, how could he love Eisav more when all he did was hunt all day while Yaakov sat & learned. 

‎Rav Yosef Tzvi Salant in his sefer באר יוסף explains based on a Rambam ‎that ‎discusses what's better, a person who was born with an inclination for good, who doesn't even have a desire to do bad and who sits & does good all day or someone who was born with the desire to do bad but works on himself to do good. He determines that one who has the desire for bad & wants the worldly pleasures but works on himself, abstains & does good is better than the Tzaddik who never even had a bad thought. 

 

Yitzchok applied this understanding to his two sons. Yaakov, he thought, was a natural tzaddik who never even entertained the thought of sinning, whereas Eisav was naturally bad. However, Yitzchak thought that Eisav was working on himself & that's why he went hunting all the time, to get out the evil so that he wouldn't murder.  Even more so, he brought his father food & asked questions, so Yitzchok thought he was really better than Yaakov because he had to work on himself whereas Yaakov didn't.  

Why wasn’t Rivka fooled?  Reb Naftali of Ropschitz explains that since Yitzchak grew up in the home of Avraham & Sara, he never saw any trickery or deceit so when Eisav asked questions he had no inkling that they weren't truthful.  However, Rivka who grew up in the same house as Lavan, saw plenty of deceit & was able to see right through Eisav's facade of righteousness. As well, Hashem had already explained to her the cause of the disturbance within her womb.

As the gemara relates, when Reish Lakish would talk to someone in the marketplace, one could feel comfortable trusting him with money. Why didn't they say that about Reb Yochanan or any of the other sages of that time? Since Reish Lakish was a bandit when he was young, when he talked to someone, he could tell immediately if he was honest or not; but the other rabbis, who grew up pious, weren't able to tell. 

This instills in us a powerful lesson.  Most of us weren't created with the desire only to do good; we tend to have to work on ourselves to get rid of the natural inclination for bad & push ourselves to do good. However, we see that that's really the goal, the one who was born with the desire to only do good isn't as great as the one who has to work on himself. As well, just like Reish Lakish & Rivka who had a better sense of what people were all about, we, too, could learn not to be fooled by phonies.

When Reb Shlomo Wolbe & Reb Moshe Shmuel Shapiro started a yeshiva in Be'er Yaakov they asked the Chazon Ish to speak to the Roshei Yeshiva to send them "good" students. “Good bachurim”, the Chazon Ish replied, “don't need a yeshiva. It's your job to help others become good.” 

Instead of letting your desire for bad get you down, know that to overcome it is the ultimate!