Author: Editor

When Yaakov was sending to Eisav his gift of 580 animals to appease him, the passuk tells us ויקח מן הבא בידו מנחה לעשו אחיו that he took from which came in his hand. The description of מן הבא בידו is a little cryptic. Rashi brings the Chazal that the gift of Yaakov included also gems that one ties in a purse and carries it in his hands to which the Baal Haturim adds מנחה is gematriah אבנים. Another interpretation is that this gift of Yaakov only contained items from which Maaser has already been separated. Let us present a new interpretation to the meaning of these words by which we will be able to define clearly the different roles of Yaakov and Eisav. Chazal tell us that even in the womb Eisav and Yaakov had split ideologies. Eisav pursued this world and Yaakov the next. They made a deal between themselves that Eisav would inherit this world and that Yaakov would have the next world. This deal brings us to a big dilemma of how then, can AmYisrael partake from this world and yet it should still not be considered stealing from Eisav’s portion? One answer that’s given is based on the Halacha that if one buys a house in the middle of the field but not the land surrounding it, and he did not stipulate that he is buying the path leading to the house’s entrance, the sale automatically includes the pathway to the house. For...