We’re told that Yaakov and Eisav were different when they grew,

But weren’t their differences something that, from birth, everyone knew?

Chazal answer that only when they turned 13,

Did they each go in their own direction, their own scene.

It was when they ended childhood that they each chose their course.

They looked and acted the same until they followed their life force.

Rav Shimshon Rafael Hirsch wonders how Chazal can proclaim,

Given their natures, that they ever seemed the same.

He explains that their parents mistakenly put them in one frame,

They had them take the same classes, play the same games.

He says that the reason why Eisav didn’t do as he was told,

Is because Yitchak and Rivka tried to put two kids into one mold.

They lost sight of something that parents and teachers have to know:

Individualized education—“Chanoch lenaar al pi darko.”

Had they kept that rule the world today would be a different place,

As Eisav would have developed, as an Eisav with grace.

May we be blessed to remember always, every day,

To raise children well by respecting their way.

Rabbi Neil Fleischmann—an ordained rabbi from RIETS—has taught Torah for over 30 years, primarily at The Frisch School, where he coached the award-winning poetry team. As an integral part of the Yeshiva Poetry Society, Fleischmann is a passionate advocate for the arts within the Torah world. He was named New York’s funniest rabbi and has performed stand up comedy, as well as presenting as scholar in residence, across the city and country. His literary work includes the haiku collection In The Field, and he has contributed close to 20 poems to the “Stories of Our Lives” anthologies, parts 1 and 2. Currently, Fleischmann is working on a book of parsha poems that combines meaningful content with whimsical formatting. You can reach him at [email protected].