כז. וַיִּגְדְּלוּ הַנְּעָרִים וַיְהִי עֵשָׂו אִישׁ יֹדֵעַ צַיִד אִישׁ שָׂדֶה וְיַעֲקֹב אִישׁ תָּם ישֵׁב אֹהָלִים:
Raban Shimon ben Gamliel says: I did not serve my father even a 100th as well as Eisav served Yitzchak. We learn in Parshat Toldot that Eisav is a bad person. He is a hunter instead of a learner like his father would have liked him to be and disobeyed his mother and father by marring two caaninite women.
Why is Eisav given the schar of kibud av va’am if he disrespected them?
Esav is still given schar for Kibud Av since he really did fulfill this mitzvah during his life. A suggestion is made by Rav S.R Hirsch quoting Rav Zalman Sorotzkin of Lutzk, who says that had Yitzchak not been so consumed with pride of his son, he would have noticed that his son was heading down an unrighteous path. He liked that his son could support himself and was a "man's man," and because of this he ignored the signs of unrighteousness. Therefore, Rav S.R Hirsch suggests, Esav still receives schar because he is not neccessarily responsible for the unholy decisions he makes later in his life.
ReplyDeleteArielle Samuel- Torah.org teaches us that perhaps the Kibud Av Vaaim that Eisav had is perhaps even greater than his brother, Yaavok. We learn in the Parsha that Yitzchack wanted to bless Esav before Yaakov. Yitzkach loved the meat the Esav prepared for him, and Esav ran to prepare the food because he knew that Yitchak loved it. On the other hand, Yaakov could have been more careful with honoring his parents. Although Esav was not a Torah learner, he was always committed to helping his parents and always ran to do whatever they asked for.
ReplyDeleteThe Lekach Tov says that Yitzchak knew that Esav was evil, but he loved him anyway because of his Kibud Av. But is it really possible that cooking was enough to make Yitzchak love his evil son? We learn in this weeks parsha that his Kibud Av extended beyond that. When Yitzchak gives the bracha to Yaakov, Esav says that he will wait until his father dies and then he will kill Yaakov. This shows a lot of self control because we know that Esav is a rasha and might not have waited otherwise.
ReplyDeleteRabbi's teach us that although Esav was wicked, we still learn one valuable lesson from him- Kibud Av v'am. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel gives a midrash about when HE would visit his father, how he never put on fancier clothes. He then realized afterwords- that he should have for kibud av v'am. He then took it a step further and said "if Esav, such a wicked man, would even go that extra step to put on nicer clothes for his father, so should i!!" He said that Esav would put on royal clothing because in his mind, his father was a king. Therefore, its not the actual CLOTHES that made Esav so impressive with this mitzvah; its the clothes that represent the praiseworthy mitzvah Esav constantly did.
ReplyDeleteSefer HaChinuch says that the mitzvah of respecting one's parents is directly linked to one's biological parents, and showing respect, let's say to your adoptive parents, would not be the same mitzvah. Kibud av va'am is to respect the ones who put you on this earth and who are responsible for your future.
ReplyDeleteRav Moshe Feinstein points out that Esav had no interest in respecting G-d the way he respected his parents, because he wasn't interested the world to come. Esav respected his father, because he understood that it was Yitzchak who put him on this earth, and it is Yitzchak who, with the birthright blessing, will give Esav a bright future.
rabbi shimon says how when he served his father he would serve him in his regular clothing but Esau would only serve his father in his finest clothing as if his father were a kind
ReplyDeletewhy didnt rabbi shimon just change his clothing?
he explains because it wasnt just about the clothing it was about Esau's attitude towards his father, he viewed his father as a king and thought he should treat him as one aswell
Onkelos Bereishit 25:28 and Bereishit Rabba 63:10 tell us that we can learn a lot from Esav. He would prepare a great meal for this father on daily basis and he recognized the value in his fathers Bracha. Though Esav is known as a huge Rasha, we must not forget about the great way he honored his father.
ReplyDeleteChaim Ozer Shulman tells us that Eisav was indeed very respectful of his parents and not disrespectful like the post above suggests.There are many examples of Eisavs kibud av in this parsha. One is when we are told that that Yitzchock loved Eisav because he enjoyed the meat that he hunted for him. (25:28) It seems strange that a tzadik as great as Yitzchak would love his son just because he provided him with food, rather chazal tells us that he really loved him because Eisav was so zealous in kibud av.
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