It may have been 30 years in the making, but it was well worth the wait! Ari Goldberg, City Director of Pittsburgh NCSY, uses his beloved Kansas City Royals to teach us an important lesson from this week’s parsha, and how not to let the present distract us from future opportunities.
The story of the twins – Jacob and Esau – has been deemed by many the literary prototype describing the struggle between good and evil. Jacob represents the “good”; Esau represents the “evil.” The Sages hinted to this in several places: The verse describes Rebecca’s pains during pregnancy: “And the children struggled in her womb.”
How should siblings treat each other? In this week’s parsha, Esau demands a portion of soup from his brother Jacob while the family is mourning the death of their grandfather, Abraham. By requiring this instant gratification, Esau put himself before his family, disrupting the solemn mood and eventually forsaking his status as the first-born son.