MUSSAR D’ORAISA

Parshas Toldos 5765

 

ויצא הראשון אדמוני כלו כאדרת שער ויקראו שמו עשו. (בראשית כ"ה: כ"ה)

סימן הוא שיהא שופך דמים. (רש"י שם)

The first one emerged red (admoni), all of him was like a hairy mantle; so they called him Esav. (Beraishis 25:25)

This is a sign that he would be a spiller of blood. (Rashi ibid.)

 

The Gemara (Niddah 16b) says that when a child is conceived, a malach asks HaKadosh Baruch Hu, "Master of the World, what will become of this embryo? Will it (the person to be born) be strong or weak, wise or slow-witted, rich or poor?" But the malach does not inquire about whether the child will be righteous or wicked, for as R' Chanina said, 'Everything is in the hands of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven, as it is said (Devarim 10:12): ועתה ישראל מה ה' א-לקיך שואל מעמך כי אם ליראה וגו'. Now, O Israel, what does Hashem, your G-D, ask of you? Only that you fear Hashem…

What does Rashi mean in saying that Esav being admoni was a sign that he would be a murderer? Could it be that Esav lacked the free will to be a good and righteous person? Such a concept completely contradicts our Gemara—a person's deeds being good or evil are not predetermined. It is within everyone's individual capability to become a tzaddik or rasha. Rashi obviously means, then, that Esav had the propensity to become a murderer; he had within him a lot of inherent traits that were conducive to him committing a lot of bloodshed. By telling us that Esav was admoni, the Torah informs us that the earliest apparent signs of that propensity, which in fact came to fruition, were seen here.

We see a similar physical trait in Dovid HaMelech. When Dovid was to be anointed by Shmuel HaNavi, the pasuk says:

 

וישלח ויביאהו והוא אדמוני עם יפה עינים וטוב ראי ויאמר ה' קום משחהו כי זה הוא. (שמואל א ט"ז: י"ב)

He sent and brought him (Dovid). He was ruddy (admoni) with fair eyes and a pleasing appearance. Hashem then said, "Arise and anoint him, for this is he!" (I Shmuel 16:12)

 

Chazal say that when Shmuel HaNavi saw that Dovid was admoni he became frightened, because he realized that Dovid had similar inherent traits as Esav. So Hashem pointed out to him that he also had fair eyes—a symbol of good traits, portending that he would eventually kill on behalf of Hashem—which would match the propensity for murder. We see that Dovid HaMelech did, in fact, shed a tremendous amount of blood, but he did it for the sake of Hashem, with the approval of Sanhedrin, as a King of Israel engaged in holy wars. He did not merely engage in senseless murder to satisfy his own whims. He used even the basest traits found in his character for a positive cause—to the benefit of Klal Yisroel.

            Every person has certain character traits or aspects of their personality which he may view as negative. He also may have a greater propensity than others to engage in various deeds. However, none of these traits are objectively negative. They are only negative when put to use to commit deeds which go against the Torah. If one would change his perspective regarding those traits and channel them for a constructive purpose, he would find that they are hardly bad at all, but completely useable in the service of Hashem. Just as the great propensity to shed blood was misused by Esav yet properly used by Dovid HaMelech, so too can all aspects of one's character and personality, when viewed in the right perspective, be channeled correctly and used for a constructive measure of serving Hashem.

 

Yitzchok Pinkus

Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim