After Yaakov’s body is returned to Eretz Yisrael for burial in the Cave of Machpela, suddenly up pops Eisav and voices his opposition to Yaakov being buried there. The Gemara (Sota 13a) tells us that Eisav claimed that since he is the firstborn of Yitzchak, it is he who should be buried there and not Yaakov.
As we well know, Eisav sold the birthright to Yaakov for a bowl of lentils and the sale was formalized in writing. The Twelve Tribes did not bring this deed of sale with them from Egypt, where Yaakov’s home had been for the previous 17 years, not imagining they would need it. Since Eisav had objected, the twelve sons reached an impasse and sent Naftali, who was fleet of foot, to return to Goshen to retrieve the deed of sale.
Meanwhile, the son of Dan, Chushim, who was a deaf-mute, didn’t hear or understand what was going on. All he saw was that his grandfather Yaakov was lying there in disrespect and that Eisav, the source of the furor, was standing and gloating. Chushim seized a sword and decapitated Eisav. According to Pirkei d’Rebi Eliezer (chap. 39), Eisav’s head rolled into the cave of Machpela and landed in Yitzchak’s lap, where Yitzchak embraced it and prayed to Hashem to forgive Eisav. The remainder of Eisav’s body was sent to Se’ir for burial.
Our Sages tell us that when Hashem creates something or someone, at the same time He creates their opposite. Avraham and Nimrod were opposite poles. They were born on the same day and they died on the same day (the day of Eisav’s sale of the birthright to Yaakov). Similarly, Yaakov’s opposite pole was Eisav. They were born on the same day and Eisav died just over a week after Yaakov’s death.
We tend to focus on the “pairs” that occupy the Cave of Machpela (derived from the Hebrew word meaning “double”) – Adam and Chava, Avraham and Sarah, Yitzchak and Rivkah, Yaakov and Leah. However, there are not eight people buried there but eight and a half – including Eisav’s head. The fact that Eisav’s head is buried there, and not simply anywhere in the cave but in Yitzchak’s lap, indicates that there was something special about Eisav’s head.
The Sages tell us that Eisav was a man of two parts, his head and the rest of him. They say that the “head” part was good while the remainder was rotten.
This is hinted at in the verse, “And Eisav was a hunter (ish yodei’a tzayid) and a man of the field (ish sadeh)” (Bereishit 25:27). The word “ish” is written twice, indicating that Eisav was actually two people.
What is the meaning of “ish sadeh,” a man of the field? When Rivka first met Yitzchak, the verse says, “And Yitzchak went out to pray in the field” (Bereishit 24:63), from which the Sages learn that Yitzchak instituted the Mincha prayer. Chizkuni says that Yitzchak had just returned from Gan Eden and was radiating a Divine light, and when Rivka saw him, she fell off the camel in awe. The word to describe Gan Eden is “sadeh,” field.
Later, when Yitzchak blesses Yaakov, disguised in Eisav’s clothing, the verse says that Yitzchak smelled the scent of “Yaakov’s” clothes and that the smell was like that of Gan Eden (Bereishit 27:27) – again using the word sadeh as a synonym for Gan Eden.
Therefore, when the verse tells us that Eisav was an ish sadeh, it implies that a part of Eisav belonged to Gan Eden. When the verse tells us that “Yitzchak loved Eisav …. and Rivka loved Yaakov” (Bereishit 25:28), it means that Yitzchak loved the “Gan Eden” part of Eisav – his head.
With Eisav, there was dissonance between his “head” and the rest of him. There was a disconnect between Eisav’s head, the possibility to reach great heights, and the rest of his body, whose natural tendency was to descend to the lowest depths of depravity. Eisav never managed to reconcile the two.
On the other hand, Yaakov is described as “A simple man (ish tam), a dweller in tents (yoshev ohalim)” (Bereishit 25:27) – only one ish, not two like Eisav. There was no disparity in Yaakov, he was consistent throughout.
Eisav was the “head”; he was born before Yaakov and his descendants reigned as kings before Yaakov’s descendants became kings. Yaakov was the “heel,” the tail end. Yaakov’s name in Hebrew means “heel,” referring to the fact that Yaakov was born clutching the heel of Eisav. However, if Yaakov’s name were to mean “heel,” his name should not have been Yaakov, but rather Akeiv, literally “heel.” But Hashem added a letter yud before Akeiv, making it Yaakov. Why? By adding the yud, you change the word to future tense, literally meaning “will be the heel.” In other words, Yaakov’s essence is not in the “head” part of history, but rather will be in the “heel,” the tail end of history, when Mashiach comes.
Eisav precedes Yaakov in the timeline of history, but the story ends with Yaakov gaining control forever more. Eisav has a “minor” role to play in history. The “head” part of Eisav had a purpose – to elicit a few “sparks” who were converts from Edom. The ultimate player, however, is Yaakov. This is why only Eisav’s head is buried in the Cave of Machpela, in Yitzchak’s lap, while all of Yaakov is buried there.
Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: Yaakov, in his blessing to Shimon and Levi, chastises them for their anger, and says that they will be divided and dispersed in Israel. How was this applied when Yehoshua conquered the land?
Answer to Last Week’s Trivia Question: When Yehuda approached Yosef, he did so intending to attack him with a “secret weapon.” What was it? The Midrash (Tanchuma, Vayigash) says that Yehuda had a hair on his chest that, when he got angry, would bristle up; it was as hard as a spear and could impale one in an instant.
