Why Does Esav Hate Yaakov?
To Support our KIRUV and Torah Teachings work please DONATE at www.BeEzratHaShem.org If you'd like to invite Rabbi Yaron Reuven to give a lecture at your synagogue, home or office. Rabbi Reuven is based out of Florida but travels to give lectures to different groups. Join one of our interactive "Interesting Torah" Whatsapp groups to get daily updates and short Torah clips that can uplift your day by texting 1.917.468.2324 or +91 93236 69880 Click here https://soundcloud.com/yaronreuven/se... To Listen to our very popular "Daily Chidush" short audio series on SOUNDCLOUD or the Podcast Channel at https://beezrathashem.jewishpodcasts.... Born in Netanya, Israel, Rabbi Yaron Reuven began his American Dream as a little boy, when his family immigrated to the United States. He went from a newspaper boy at the age of 10, to a well-known self-made Wall Street multimillionaire by the age of 23. During his time in Wall Street, he owned his own private brokerage firm, a hedge fund, and an international insurance agency. He was featured on CNBC, Bloomberg and Chinese NDTV due to his success in the financial industry. At age 26 he faced a 7-year battle for his life when a simple surgery went wrong. From that moment his life would never be the same. This moment marked the start of a series of miraculous events and an exciting pursuit of truth, ultimately resulting in Rabbi Reuven renouncing his lofty position and success in Wall Street, after 16 years, to become a full-time KIRUV rabbi. His Teshuva story is sure to catch the heart of every listener. Rabbi Reuven’s shiurim are in English and Hebrew. His classes are focused on spreading the truth and divinity of the Torah through MUSSAR, scientific proofs, and many other methods to reach each individual listener. Rabbi Reuven is the leading educator on the topic of wasting seed in the English language with over 30 hrs of content published online. Rabbi Yaron Reuven is a proud member of the Igud HaRabbonim (The Rabbinical Alliance of America), a national rabbinic organization founded in 1942. Today, our 900+ members are congregational leaders, religious teachers, chaplains, heads of Jewish organizations and communal leaders united in their commitment to traditional Orthodox Judaism. For more information please visit: https://rabbinicalalliance.org/ 00:00:00 Intoduction 00:00:09 Esav and Yaakov: Love and Hate 00:01:01 Esav's Head: Knowledge vs. Action 00:01:22 Lineage Doesn't Guarantee Righteousness 00:01:52 Esav's Descendants and Rabbi Meir 00:02:20 Edom's Role: To Destroy Jews? 00:02:49 No Peace Between Esav and Yaakov 00:03:16 Historical Consequences of Seeking Peace 00:03:45 Permitted and Forbidden Business with Goyim 00:04:16 Halacha: Business and Spirituality 00:05:02 Idolatry and Hashem's Plan 00:06:42 Esav as a Tool: Reward and Punishment
Transcript
0:09Esav sonei et Yaakov. Esav sonei et Yaakov is a law that the Torah says. It's a very complicated law because, on one end, HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, "Et Yaakov ahavti ve'et Esav saneiti." "Et Esav, I hate him." Why do I hate Esav? They were both the sons of the same father, Yitzchak. Those are both the grandsons of Avraham Avinu. They are both sons of righteous people, both sons of righteous mothers and fathers. But one, Hashem says, "I love him, Yaakov." About the other, He says, "I hate him." Why? Yaakov followed my mitzvot. Hashem says, "I love him." Esav, he knew my mitzvot, but he didn't follow them. That's why, if you learn in the Torah, you see that Esav, only his head was buried in Ma'arat HaMachpela. But his body was thrown in the garbage. He wasn't buried in Ma'arat HaMachpela. Why? Because his head knew all the mitzvot. If he was in this generation, he would be the smartest rabbi in the world. But he was a rasha. Why? He knew all the mitzvot, but he didn't follow them.
1:22So from there, we see that there is a law here that it doesn't really matter whether your father is a rabbi or is not a rabbi, or your grandfather is a rabbi or not a rabbi; it doesn't make a difference. Your lineage doesn't make a difference. Additionally, we see that Esav is somebody whom Hashem allowed to exist, even though He hated him. And the reason why is because some of the descendants of Esav became some of the most righteous people that ever lived. And the Gemara says that Hashem was very careful at how He dealt with Esav because He did not want to destroy Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes. Because Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes was one of the six students that Rabbi Akiva used to restart the Torah world. He was a descendant of Esav. Another thing is... became some of the most righteous people that ever lived. And the Gemara says that Hashem was very careful in how He dealt with Esav because He did not want to destroy Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes. Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes was one of the five students that Rabbi Akiva used to restart the Torah world. He was a descendant of Esav. Another thing is All of the people in this generation and in previous generations, especially even during the times of today, but also in the times of the Beit HaMikdash, if you are a Jew, you have to understand you're part of the chosen people. Which means the job of Edom, the job of Esav, is going to try to destroy you; it's not going to be to help you. So for all of the people that like to be politically correct and...
2:49and like to make all types of nice deals with the goyim in order to make peace. Hashem says no matter what, eventually I will use Esav to destroy you, punish you, or simply to wake you up. No matter what, there is no such thing as peace between Esav and Yaakov; there never was and never will be. During the time of the Beit HaMikdash, some people wanted to bring peace, so they figured maybe we befriend the Greeks. Eventually, this led to intermarriage and eventually led to the whole ban on the Beit HaMikdash. The same exact thing happened many times throughout history, including World War II, and the same thing is happening right now. The same thing is happening right now where a lot of religious Jews are doing all types of deals and agreements with the goyim in order to Have unity, if you will, if you're going to simply do business, meaning for monetary purposes. No problem doing business with the Goyim, with the exception of three days before their holidays. You're not allowed to do business with Goyim three days before their holidays, which is another Halacha. The reason why is because if you do business with them three days before their holiday, they can use the money that you give them for their idolatry. The Gemara also discusses this in more detail.
4:16So that's another aspect of Shulchan Aruch that applies as far as how you're not allowed to do business with the goyim just on any day, but if you want to do business, you want to sell them something, you want to buy something, there's no problem. There's no problem buying and selling from them, except with the exception of those days. But if you're going to do something when it comes to spirituality, then you have a problem. Why? According to the Torah, if somebody was chasing a Jew, trying to kill him, and he has An option. One option is to hide inside a church. Not go pray in a church. Not go pray to Yeshu. Just hide inside a church. Or die. He has to die. Yesterday, instead of hiding inside a church, needless to say, no Jew is ever allowed to attend a church. Even if your best friend is getting married to the love of his life, it doesn't make a difference. Even if it's some president marrying another president, it doesn't make a difference. A Jew is never allowed to even attend a church. Why? It's a place of idolatry. So, this again, also, a lot of idolatry has a lot to do with self-serving Yaakov and...
5:28last but not least, it is also always important to remember that no matter what, a person needs to understand that Hashem runs the world. Anytime a Jew is doing good things, Hashem is going to use a slave in order to elevate the Jew even higher; He's going to use the slave to build the world. Develop the world and create a lot of good things for the world for the benefit of the Jew. Hashgacha Pratit to such an extent that Hashem will give some sheikh billions of dollars in order to build some huge tower. The Midrash says in the middle of the desert for no actual economic reason. Why? Because maybe 400 years later, Hashem is going to have one of His tzaddikim, one of His Jews, pass through that desert and... He's gonna get hot, so he wants to use maybe this, you know, a little bit of shade, a little bit of a tent. So he can use that billion-dollar building just for that, so he doesn't get so hot. Meaning he's gonna give the non-Jew, gonna give the Gentile billions of dollars just to build a building that will be used one time by a Jew for the Jew's benefit. So when the Jew is righteous, Hashem will use them. He's gonna use Esav and Ishmael in order to elevate the Jew even higher.
6:42When the Jew is wicked, then Hashem uses Esav and also Yishmael as a tool to hit the Jew. That's why throughout all of history, every single time the Jews were wicked for an extended period of time, Hashem used the goyim time and time again in order to hurt us. whether it's the Beit HaMikdash, the first one, getting destroyed with millions and millions of people, the second one, or the pogroms, the Inquisitions, Spanish Inquisitions, World War II, and so on and so forth. So there are different ways that you could apply this halacha across the entire Torah. I don't know exactly which specific ways or corners you're looking for, but I think in the last few minutes I mentioned at least a half a dozen halachot that you could apply it to.
