HaRav Dov Begon is Head of Yeshivat Machon Meir.
“And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, ‘The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob’" (Genesis 27:41).
Our forefather Jacob believed that the reason for Esau’s hatred stemmed from the blessing of his father Isaac: “Be master over your brothers, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you" (Genesis 27:29). Indeed, upon returning from Haran, Jacob tries to convince Esau that there is no longer any reason to hate him, since Isaac’s blessing, “Be master over your brothers," had not been fulfilled.
As Rashi explains: “I have not become a prince or an important person, but rather a stranger. It is not worthwhile for you to hate me because of the blessings with which your father blessed me" (Rashi, Genesis 32:5).
However, Esau hates Jacob without any logical reason. As Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said: “It is a known halakhah that Esau hates Jacob" (Rashi, Genesis 33:4).
From this we learn that it is impossible to persuade the antisemites of the world through logical arguments to abandon their hatred. Every such attempt is destined to fail, and a heavy and bitter price is paid for it.
At present, the thought, “Then I will kill my brother Jacob," continues to dwell in the hearts of the descendants of Esau and Ishmael. Throughout the generations, from then until today, they have made efforts to carry it out, whether through the murder of millions of Jews, as occurred in the terrible Holocaust, or through the declarations and terrorist attacks against Jews that we witness in Israel and throughout the world. Jews are murdered simply because they are Jews, for only through murder and Jewish blood do their enemies find consolation (Rashi, ibid.).
The enemies of Israel and the anti-Semites of the world must be deterred. They and those who send them must be struck until they become afraid and abandon the thought of harming Jews and destroying the State of Israel, God forbid.
The military and economic strength of the State of Israel must be reinforced. The spirit and unity of the nation must be strengthened through a return to the Jewish roots that unite us. Above all, the communities and settlers who cling tenaciously to the soil of our Land of Life must be strengthened.
Today, they are the spearhead of the entire nation in its struggle to continue the national revival, confronting all those who resent the revival of the Jewish People and seek to weaken us and pressure our country into surrendering, making concessions, and retreating through plans whose purpose is to weaken and destroy us, God forbid.
We must beware of those dreamers, filled with fantasies and illusions, who have already caused us bitter suffering through the unfortunate and accursed Oslo Accords, and who have not learned their lesson.
But the Jewish People, who have known suffering and affliction, the Eternal Nation, will know how to defend itself, with God’s help, for the words of our mother Rebecca stand before its eyes: “Behold, your brother Esau consoles himself concerning you by planning to kill you" (Genesis 27:42).
The only way, therefore, to eliminate Esau’s hatred of Israel, in the past, present, and future, is through the fulfillment of the verse: “And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau shall be stubble" (Obadiah 1:18).
A spark goes forth from Joseph and burns and consumes the chiefs of Esau (Rashi, Genesis 37:1). For only when we defeat our enemies and those who hate us will the verse be fulfilled: “And I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will become known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 38:23).
May His great Name be magnified and sanctified.
"For the Eternal One of Israel does not lie (Samuel 1,15)."