Rabbi Jeremy Rosen: Enemies Can Become Friends; Until Then, We Must Defend Ourselves | Algemeiner.com

In last week’s Torah portion, we read about how Isaac and Ishmael came together to bury their father. And in fact, they lived together at the same place, Be’er Lechai Roi. Their coming together seems to have been complete.
This week we are introduced to the rivalry between Esau and Jacob. The character of Esau is complex. He is a hunter; his father prefers him to stay-at-home. Esau betrays character faults that hint at why Rebecca thinks that Jacob would be the better heir. It is true that Esau honors, respects, and serves his father, but he is impulsive, demanding what Jacob is eating when he could so easily have turned to the other tents where at lunchtime his and other mothers were serving up lunch. He marries the first time against his parents’ wishes, even if he tried to make up for it the second time. When he realizes he will not get his father’s blessings, he weeps and yet follows this by swearing he will kill his brother. We know that in due course he will make peace with Jacob. Even so, in rabbinic literature, Esau is described very negatively as the everlasting enemy of Israel.