Highs and Lows

We learn another important message from the interaction between Yakov and Eisav. We see the extremes that a Jew can choose when deciding how to live one’s life.

A Jew is different from a Gentile in that the spiritual heights that a Jew is capable of achieving, cannot be matched by anyone but a Jew.

And if, G-d forbid, one goes to the other extreme, a Jew can sink to a lower level than any other human being.

This was seen in the behavior of Yakov and Eisav. Yakov chose the path of holiness and his whole essence was to get closer and closer to Hashem. Eisav, on the other hand, epitomized evil. Five years were taken from Avraham’s life so that he would be spared from seeing his grandson for what he was. Eisav raped and murdered, was an idolator, and rejected the G-d of his father.

Some held that despite how far a person fell, his Pintele Yid, his flicker of Jewishness would come out. Others held that there was a point of no return where one would never be able to pick himself up.

The choice is ours as to which path we take in life. It is not always easy to make the right choices. But we say in Pirkei Avot, לפום צערא אגרא, according to the pain, is the reward.