From the very outset of today’s parsha we follow the development of two brothers, Esav and Yaakov, and learn of their different behaviors and personalities. Together with that, we are also told of the strong emotions of love and hate that accompany the relationships of parent to son and brother to brother. Yitzchak, we are told, loved Esav while Rivka loved Yaakov. Esav, however, hated his brother, Yaakov. Therefore, the navi, in these first and second chapters of Malachi, reassures Israel that, despite the punishments they had suffered, and the ensuing doubts they had, Hashem still retains His love for them: “Ahavti etchem, amar Hashem—I have loved you, says Hashem.” The haftarah continues with a clear contrast to our Torah reading by adding “V’et Esav saneiti—but I have despised Esav.”
Malachi, the last of the prophets, lived some one hundred years after the destruction of the first Temple and remembered the perfidious behavior of Israel’s “brother” nation, Edom, descendants of Esav. It was they who, as mentioned in Tehillim, encouraged the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem: “Z’chor Hashem lv’nei Edom et yom Yerushalayim ha’omrim ‘aru, aru ad heyesod bah’—Remember (the behavior) of Edom on the day (of the destruction) of Yerushalayim when they said: ‘Destroy it! Destroy it down to its foundations!’” For this reason, the navi describes God’s feelings toward the nation of Esav as those of hatred and enmity, much as the feelings Esav had toward Yaakov in our parsha. In doing so, Hashem repays Esav’s hatred of Yaakov with His own hatred toward Edom, and answers Edom’s plea to destroy Jerusalem with His destruction of Edom’s own land.
Our haftarah, however, makes it clear that the two destructions are not identical, for, whereas Jerusalem would be rebuilt, Edom will never be restored (“If Edom says: ‘…Let us return and rebuild,’ Hashem declares: ‘If they build—I will destroy’”). In effect, therefore, our haftarah presents the blessing awaiting Israel when she repents and the curse to befall Edom. By doing so, this selection contrasts with the parsha where we read of the blessings given to both sons, while the haftarah actually speaks of two curses that would befall the descendants of the sons. The difference, however, would be that Israel’s repentance would bring her redemption while Edom’s destruction would be irreversible.
The crucial message expressed by Malachi is a very important one. God’s blessings of redemption and restoration are contingent upon our behavior—whether we deserve God’s blessings or not. Complete redemption is in our hands. If, unlike the behavior of Esav, we apply the parental relationship of love to our brothers, we can feel confident that our redemption will be completed soon.
By Rabbi Neil N. Winkler
