VAYISHLACH

"AND HE [YAAKOV] TOOK FROM WHAT HE HAD WITH HIM A PRESENT TO ESAV HIS BROTHER...AND ESAV RAN TOWARD HIM AND EMBRACED HIM..AND KISSED HIM..(Bereishis 32:14; 33:4)"


As the great confrontation between Yaakov and Esav was about to take place, the psukim relate how Yaakov tried to appease Esav. Yaakov sent actual angels (Rashi) ahead of him to his brother Esav and instructed them to address him as, "My lord Esav, your servant Yaakov says etc." The angels returned and reported that their appearance before Esav had no effect. They told him that Esav was headed toward him with four hundred men. Yaakov was frightened and distressed.


The psukim continue to relate how Yaakov then sent a magnanimous gift to his brother Esav. The gift consisted of goats, ewes, rams, camels, cows, bulls and donkeys. Yaakov instructed his servants to keep a space between each herd in order to magnify the size of the gift even more. When they were to reach Esav they were to say, "All this belongs to your servant Yaakov. It is a gift to my master Esav."


When the great moment finally arrived, "Yaakov looked up and saw Esav approaching with four hundred men." He went ahead in front of his wives and children and prostrated himself seven times as he approached his brother. Esav ran toward him, embraced him and threw himself on his shoulders. "Vayishakehu," Esav kissed Yaakov and they both wept. Thus Yaakov's strategy succeeded in transforming Esav into an altogether different person. Esav no longer hated Yaakov. He loved him.


Rashi, notes that the word "Vayishakehu - and he kissed him" is capped in the Torah with dots, and quotes two opinions in the Sifri concerning it's purpose. Some say that it indicates that Esav did not kiss Yaakov with all his heart. Rabbi Shimon Ben Yochai says, "It indicates that he did kiss him with all his heart."


This is mystifying. How is it possible for Esav's passionate hate for Yaakov to turn to love? Is it humanly possible for Esav, who was consumed with hate and a deep-rooted enmity toward his brother for many years, to now suddenly and instantaneously love Yaakov with all his heart? Can a human being, a composite of feelings, emotions, and sensitivities function like a mere inanimate light switch, shutting off and on at will?


Furthermore, what di Yaakov actually do that enabled him to transform Esav's intense hate to passionate love? This is especially puzzling, since even angels could not phase Esav's hatred! Was Yaakov able to do something that even angels could not?


It seems that Yaakov's insight into Esav's internal motivations enabled him to entirely expel Esav's burning hatred toward him. Yaakov assessed Esav's inward desires and temptations, concluding that desires for money and honor were well-rooted in Esav's psyche. Yaakov then proceeded to shower Esav with an endless barrage of monetary gifts, herd upon herd of assorted animals. Yaakov also extended to Esav repeated kavod by instructing his servants to address him as, "My lord Esav..from your servant Yaakov...," and by prostrating himself before him. Esav's full concentration was now directed toward the pursuit and attainment of wealth and kavod, for which he so deeply craved. Esav garnered all his energies and emotions, focusing them toward that one goal - to obtain and derive the pleasure of unlimited wealth and kavod. These feelings overpowered them and vanquished everything that stood in its path, including his sense of reason. His passions now predominated over all. The entire objective of his charge was no longer in his mind. There was no longer room in his heart for hatred of Yaakov. Not only did Esav cease to be the arch-enemy of Yaakov, bent on his destruction, but he now loved him with all his heart, for Yaakov was that person who was showering upon him what he craved and desired so much, wealth and esteem.


Thus we see the extraordinary capacity of Hashem's creation, the human being. Despite man's deep-rooted emotions and sensitivities, he can transform a fervent hate into an ardent love, in an instant of a second. We also see here exactly how Yaakov succeeded in turning Esav's hate into love. By placing Esav into a situation where his concentration and focus is directed toward the fulfillment of his heart's desires, he became oblivious toward his original designs and intentions1.


May we merit to recognize the marvel of creation, the human being, that enmity harboring deeply within our hearts toward our fellow man and neighbor can in a mere instant be changed to love. May we also realize that "Jealousy, temptation, and kavod, remove a person from the world" - not only from the future world, but also from this world. For when one is involved in the pursuit of these temptations his logic ceases to function. He journeys through life senseless, without a well-functioning mind. May we be zoche to journey through life with a loving heart and a clear and unbiased mind. Amen.

1    All that has been said until now is according to the opinion of Rabbi Shimon Ben Yochai that Esav kissed Yaakov with all his heart. Esav was so blinded in attaining his heart's desires that his hate toward Yaakov turned to love. Thus we see a vivid protrayal of how a person who submits to his temptations loses total control over his senses.


According to the other opinion in chazal that Esav did not kiss Yaakov with his full heart, but he was still in control of his senses, wanting to kill him, we see another remarkable revelation. Esav, even as he kissed Yaakov, still harboured animosity toward him and desired to kill him. Nevertheless, he uncontrollably kissed him because Yaakov showered him with kavod and wealth, and "blinded him." He was powerless to do otherwise. As Esav kissed Yaakov he surely thought to himself: "What am I doing? Why am I kissing him? I came here to kill him!" Thus we see here a portrait of an Esav, a baal taavah caught in the web of his temptations and shackled in its chains. He is unable to follow the dictates of his senses although he is still in control of his senses. He is completely subservient to his temptations...He falls upon Yaakov's shoulder's and kisses him against his own will.