In Toldot, this week’s Torah portion, we read the story of Rivka who after struggling to conceive is blessed with twins. During her turbulent pregnancy she sought out God and talked with an oracle. There she learned:

Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from your bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. ( Genesis 25:23)

She learned that the disruption was not just that she was going to have twins, but also that they was already antagonism between her unborn children. In explaining “shall be separated from your bowels” Rashi writes:

As soon as they leave your body they will take each a different course — one to his wicked ways, the other to his pure life (Genesis 5:27)

What do we make of this image of her carrying wicked and pure fetuses? Why is it important that this lifelong rivalry start in utero?

And sure enough the prophecy of the oracle came true. Soon after the twins are born. Esav the older one is favored by Yitzhak while the younger son Yaakov is Rivka’s favorite. Well this clearly did not help the emergent issue between the twins. This tension between the brothers is a throw back to Cain and Abel. While this does not end with one brother killing the other, it is not a model of fraternal love.

Soon after their relationship gets even worse. There we read:

Once when Yakov was cooking a stew, Esav came in from the open, famished. And Esav said to Yakov, “Give me some of that red stuff to gulp down, for I am famished”—which is why he was named Edom. Yakov said, “First sell me your birthright.” And Esav said, “I am at the point of death, so of what use is my birthright to me?” But Yakov said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Yakov. Yakov then gave Esav bread and lentil stew; he ate and drank, and he rose and went away. Thus did Esav spurn the birthright. Genesis 25:29-34

There is a lot going on in this story. But for now I am most interested in why Esav sold the birthright for food.

The life long struggle between Esav and Yakov reminds me of old story. As it goes an old Cherokee Indian chief was teaching his grandson about life. He said, “A fight is going on inside me,” he told the young boy, “a fight between two wolves. The Dark one is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The Light Wolf is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you grandson…and inside of every other person on the face of this earth.” The grandson ponders this for a moment and then asked, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee smiled and simply said, “The one you feed”.

Like the Cherokee story, Rivka was also carrying two creatures in her body. According to Rashi, one was dark and evil ( Esav) and the other was light and good ( Yaakov). According to the oracle, Esav the elder will serve his younger brother Yaakov. It stands to reason that along with this should come the birthright, but things are never simple. To get it Yaakov needed to feed his brother. Reading our Torah portion along with the Cherokee story we get an interesting twist. What happens when the Good Wolf feeds the Bad One? In many ways this defines the rest of Yaakov’s life of wrestling with the wolves inside himself. Isn’t that the story with all of us? Even if for good reasons, we all find ways to sabotage ourselves.

*Also see: A Side of Bread: On Toldot & Temperament and a piece on the  Marshmallow Experiment