Page 27 - DAAT-HAIM-2

Rabbi Chaim Walkin

Sefer Da’at Chaim

33rd ma’amar

36:6-7) “Eisav departed from the Land because of his brother Yaakov,
because their possessions (livestock) were too numerous to permit
them to stay together and the pasturing land was inadequate to sustain
the livestock belonging to both of them.” The text is explicit that
of his own free-will Eisav abandoned Eretz Canaan to return to his
own land since there was not enough grazing land to sustain the large
herds of livestock belonging to Yaakov and Eisav. And so on what
basis do Rebbe Elazar and Rebbe Yehoshua Ben Levi argue about the
reason that provoked Eisav to escape from Yaakov, given that their
explanations seem to contradict the simple text of the Chumash?!

The real hidden underlying reason why a
person does something, which is separate and
distinct from the obvious superficial reason.

We can attempt to explain this topic based on the words of the Gra in
his commentary on the pasuk (in Beresheet 29:32) “…and she (Leah)
named her son “Reuven” \ ‫“ ראה‬see” \ in her saying – “Hashem saw
my suffering \ my emotional pain and now my husband will love
me.” The Gemara in Masechet Berachot (7b) – Rebbe Elazar said:
Leah said – See the difference between my son (Reuven) and my
father-in-law’s son (Eisav)…that even though the son of my father
in law willingly gave up his first-born right and sold it to Yaakov for
a bowl of lentil soup…see what is written about that – (Beresheet
27:41) “Eisav hated Yaakov.” But in contrast my son, even though his
first-born right was forcibly taken away from him and given to Yosef,
even so my son was not jealous of Yosef, as it says (37:21) “Reuven
heard, and saved Yosef from their hand.” One must understand this
since the text clearly explained the reason why Leah named her son
Reuven (29:32) “…because she said Hashem saw my suffering,” why
did Rebbe Elazar look for a different reason since the text already
told us why she named her son Reuven. Even more study is needed
to understand why Rebbe Elazar did not explain the reasons for the
names given to the other tribes, (as he only explained the reason Leah
called her firstborn son “Reuven”) and so by force we must say that
this was because the pasuk itself states the reason for all their names,

423