Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888), Talmudist, scholar, philosopher, prolific author and Rabbi of Frankfurt am Main, passed away on this date. He was instrumental in revitalizing German Jewry, bringing thousands back to the teachings of the Torah at a time when assimilationist trends threatened to extinguish Jewish life in Western Europe.
Esau said, “I have a lot.”
Jacob said, “I have all.” As in “all I need.”
Esau had a family of six. They were called “six souls.” Plural.
Jacob had a family of seventy. They were called “seventy soul.” Singular.
Esau lived in a granular, tossed-together, fragmented world in which he collected a lot of things and many people. A noisy world.
Jacob lived in a universe, a singular whole, in which all he encountered was only another manifestation of an essential oneness. Wherever he was, he had everything.
And you? Do you have many things? Or do you have much light?