Toldos

“Vayisrotzitzu habanim bikirbah”, Rivka’s children were “rotzitzim.”  Rashi explains this means running, from lashon ritza.  When Rivka passed by the entrance of the beis hamidrash of Shem and Aver, Yaakov wanted to come out.  When Rivka passed by the entrance of avoda zara, Esav wanted to come out.  Another pshat that Rashi brings is that they fought for the inheritance of the two worlds.

Asks the Griz Al HaTorah: The Gemara says that a child inside its mother’s stomach has a malach teaching it Torah.  Why then would Yaakov want to come out?

The Griz answers: Even with a malach as a teacher it wasn’t worth being with Esav harasha.  One’s environment and the people around have an effect on a person.  By just being together with a rasha one can receive bad influences which affect him the wrong way.

I heard another pshat: We see how important one’s own ameilus b’Torah is.  Yaakov had a malach as a teacher, however he wanted the ameilus of working on things himself.  The Gemara says “adam rotze b’kav shelo yoser m’tisha kabim shel chaveiro,” one wants and loves a small amount of his own fruit although they are getting ruined more than a lot of someone else’s fruit.  One who works the ground, plants, and harvests has much more of a connection with the fruit than when someone buys in a store.  This is because he invests his own effort to produce his own fruits!  So too by ameilus b’Torah; if one brings out his own peiros it is more chaviv to him and more special than if one received an easy dvar Torah on a silver platter!

May we all be zoche to always be amongst proper neighbors and be zoche to grow in our ameilus b’Torah!