How Could he be Blamed?
This week’s Torah reading tells us about the birth of Yitzchak (Isaac)’s two sons, Yaakov (Jacob) and Eisav (Esau). While Yaakov excelled in his spiritual growth, and was chosen to be patriarch of the Jewish Nation, Eisav followed a path of evil. Rashi (Bereishit 25:22) says in the name of our Sages that Eisav was attracted to idol worship already from the time he was in the womb, while Yaakov was attracted to studying Torah from the onset. Already before they were born, Yaakov had a righteous nature, while Eisav had a wicked one.
This would seem to be unjust. Seemingly, Yaakov did nothing to accomplish his greatness, since that was his nature even before he had any free will. Eisav, on the other hand, was seemingly predisposed to follow a life of wickedness. How can Yaakov be credited for his accomplishments, and how can Eisav be blamed for his evil conduct?
It’s all About How we Channel our Tendencies
Rabbi Chaim Friedlander (Siftei Chaim, p. 284) explains that Eisav could have overcome his evil tendencies and used his negative traits for only good things, and Yaakov could have abused his righteous tendencies and used them the wrong way. We find that King David was born with a tendency for killing, but he used it only in the right way, according to God’s will, and he rose to be very righteous. On the other hand, King Shaul was born with a good and gentle nature, but he misused his tendency of compassion in the wrong way, in a way which contradicted the will of God. This caused him to commit a great sin which cost him having his kingship to be taken away from him.
Every person was created with certain natural tendencies, and granted free will to shape them and utilize them according to God’s will. Every person was born with the nature tailored for his unique role in life. For some people, their job is to preserve the good nature they were born with and make sure they don’t misuse their good traits in the wrong way. For others, their job is to overcome their evil aspects of their nature, and to channel their negative tendencies to be used in a positive way. Every person has his own role which God wants him to accomplish in life with his unique nature. We should not bemoan our bad tendencies and negative aspects of our nature. On the contrary, we ought to realize that God has given them to us with the purpose of contributing to our specific course of life, with which we can achieve the unique greatness destined for us.
A Couple of Jokesters
We cannot underestimate how much one can accomplish with character traits which on the surface would not seem to be especially virtuous, as demonstrated in the following story:
The Talmud relates (Taanit 22a) that Rabbi Broka asked Eliyahu Hanavi (Elijah the Prophet) if there was anyone in the marketplace where they were, who accomplished being considered a man of Paradise. Eliyahu pointed to two people and said, “They are.” Rabbi Broka approached them to find out what special merit they had to have earned this status. The people answered, “We are jokesters. When we see someone is sad, we go over to him and cheer him up with good humor. And if we see people quarreling, we use our talents to make peace amongst them.”
Let’s Find a Way to Utilize our Traits
For most of us, it’s not all black and white. While some of us may be naturally more spiritually inclined, and some of us more attracted to material pleasures, every person has naturally some traits that are better than others.
We may dread at times our inclinations for unethical behavior. But we should realize that they are there for a specific purpose. We were designed with all the traits we need for our unique job in life. It is up to us to overcome our negative inclinations, and find a way to utilize them properly for our service of God. Every negative trait has a time, place and way with which it can be used in a positive manner.
At the same time, we must be careful to avoid neglecting our positive traits. We cannot take them for granted. Good inclinations may also be misused in a negative manner. We must be on guard to ensure our positive traits are developed further and kept in line, reserved for only the right things.
By Rabbi Yitzchok Aryeh Strimber torah4every1@gmail.com
