by Rabbi David Katz

In this week’s Torah Portion, we are reintroduced to the Brotherly Relationship between Jacob and Esau, or lack thereof. Jacob, approaches Esau, fresh out of a long extended stay at the numerous Academies of Learning instituted by Shem and Ever all over The Holy Land; Esau was a long tenured student at the Academy of Isaac his father, personifying his excellence in observing the great commandment of Honoring one’s Father. Esau having been rejected by Shem and his Academy, joined his father Isaac, in assumed superiority in scholarship, however Shem and Ever had their eyes on Jacob, the son of which the Torah calls: איש תם / The Wholesome Man. Jacob sought to learn the Torah of Truth from the ground up, exclusively from the original Teachings of Shem and Ever, whereas Esau displayed the pride of being the son of Isaac, and thus perceived that there was not a need for skilled learning in his eyes, believing that he had inherited greatness without toil in Torah, being the antithesis of the Teachings of Shem and Ever. It is here, that we find a schism between the Brothers. History would mandate, that The Torah would not be lost or uprooted from the Academy’s of Shem and Ever, and destiny would succeed in creating harmony amongst Brothers. If not now, as told in Genesis, then perhaps the future would be the arena of Brotherly Love, a saga that dates back to Noah and his sons. Jacob and Esau ironically play out the tale of the two Brothers, like Cain and Able and Ham and Shem before them. Through the Torah’s prophetic words via Esau, we are graced with wisdom of the future: “I will proceed alongside you.” It is with “this”, comes the truth embedded in relativity: The Noahide Nations and the Jewish People will fulfill the prophetic tale of Brothers under one Torah as established by Shem and Ever, alongside each other for the duration of time.

The charge of the Jewish People, are to receive the tradition and mission of Shem, as was instigated by Shem suppressing his own seed, in search for an Abraham that would produce an Isaac, that would eventually develop Twelve Tribes and a Kingdom of Priests (being the Priesthood of Shem, as a proper Nation). To accomplish this task, Hashem desired to craft a Nation in a particular way, according to the order of Creation of the World.

Once Abraham was chosen to succeed in  Shem’s mission of Torah on Earth, we are introduced to Isaac his son, but not until certain qualities of Abraham were produced in the coming of Ishmail. Isaac follows suit, with Jacob and Esau, thus reestablishing the ancient tradition of “Firstborn Rights”, going back not only to Noah and his sons, but to Adam himself. Finally Jacob produces the Twelve Tribes, as it is Jacob who earns the title of Israel, having merited the level of “Truth”, synonymous with having spent 50 years by Shem’s side in learning Torah from the foundation upwards, thereby producing a Firstborn son status of a Joseph, and ensuring the World’s rectification and Messianic age.

Yet with further investigation, one would see that this story is very flawed of Jacob/Israel: Joseph was not the Firstborn, and we see an antagonist develop surrounding the seed of Jacob, clinging to the seed of Esau in particular: This being the evil element of the World, the Erev Rav (Mixed Multitude / Intermingled Crowd). Through association with the Erev Rav, all great men had failed in their tests of overcoming this great challenge, yet it is Shem and his Torah and influence into Jacob, that the ultimate victory and expression of Mercy over the Erev Rav can be achieved, something that Moses himself was obligated to perform upon his commencement of bringing out the Erev Rav from Egypt. The Erev Rav have changed and made history dating back to Jacob and Esau in the flesh, attempting to imitate “Brotherly Love”, while posing as the single biggest threat to the Torah’s existence. Jacob’s task was to rectify this scenario; hence the Torah never mentions Jacob’s death – his life being an ongoing mission: the compelling nature of two brothers side by side. The fruition of Jacob’s success, would result in the Firstborn being rectified, evil finally being lost, and finding a long lost Brotherhood, paralleling an outstanding theme throughout the entire Torah.

With Esau fathering the evil aspect of the Erev Rav in a spiritual way, Jacob would have an adversary with the endurance and merit (from Isaac’s Academy) to last what would seem a lifetime. We see this depicted quite clearly in Jacob’s dream of the angels, the last of which were not seen to descend. The Edomite Exile would be the true test, not only for the Jewish People, but for Jacob’s True Brother, who also would undergo the test of time: The Noahide Nations.

The Jewish People became the Kingdom of Priests, but going back to the days of Shem and Ever, they (Shem and Ever) had instituted Academies of Torah all over the World, which even dates back to Adam! (Talmud Berachos 31a)

Thus coming out of exile, not only would Jacob emerge as Israel, but there would be a long lost Brother: In exchange of the Erev Rav, intermingling with the Jewish People in attempts to undermine their Torah, and thereby the tradition embedded from Shem and Ever, another nation would be present and accounted for, seeking the inverse! There would be a Prophesied Nation of Noahide Nations, grabbing the TzitTzit (in the merit of Shem) whose mission is to witness, learn, and experience the Torah of The forefather, Shem! Through the Erev Rav, the Noahide Nations would capitalize on their association with the Jewish People and “swap” locations, establishing a working relationship in Torah, only with evil being eradicated from existence. Within the passage of time, The Jewish Nation digested the Torah, evil came and went, the World received its development, everyone went their way of survival, and in the end, Good prevailed. The Jewish People survived to teach Torah. Shem and Ever proved to be true through the test of time. And there would be a Noahide Nation to complete the Torah’s story.

Instead of a nation intermingling with the Jewish People to seek its destruction, there would be a People who would intermingle to speak of its salvation. Instead of a mockery of the Torah’s Laws, there would be an observance that would preserve both Heritages. Rather than assimilate, the two would thrive as Brothers, unique Men, that would endeavor to learn the Torah of Moses, one that was founded on the bedrock of truth that is called, “The Torah of Shem.”

Esau may have spoken about traveling alongside Jacob, and what he may or may not have known, (after all he learned from Isaac his father, the father of the Jewish People) is that there would be a time of Jacob having that Brother that the Torah dreamed of. These Brothers were thought of from the time that Esau shunned Shem’s Torah, and as Jacob saw Torah as the gateway to Salvation and Redemption.

History may have taken the long route, and there are more questions present than answers. Yet one thing can be clear: The Jewish People have a partner in Torah. The Torah goes back to Shem and Ever, even to this day. And there are two Peoples to learn and lay witness to the Truth: Noahides and Jews. They were created for their Destiny.

And there is the story of Two Brothers, one that is still being told; yet perhaps it was alluded to many years ago…with the meeting of two old foes who claimed to be Brothers – Two Men that would  personify The Truth of Torah while on two distinctly different paths, yet in the end, Prophetic Truth reigns supreme.