The earliest midrashic commentaries on the story of Jacob and Esau portray Esau as thoroughly wicked. Since Jacob does not seem to emerge from the deception of his father with much credit, the ...

Parashat Toldot includes one of my favorite parts of the Torah — specifically, the stealing of the blessing. We can see the warm relationship between Isaac and Esau. We see the comfort in their ...

In Parashat Toldot we are told that at the age of 40 Esau took two Hittite wives: Yehudit Bat Beeri and Bosmat Bat Ailon (Gen, 26,34). Yet in Vayishlach we are told that they were called Ada Bat Eilon ...

Years ago, a college classmate provocatively announced that he planned to name his first son “after the most maligned figure in the entire Torah: Esau.” Let’s consider Esau’s defense. After we are ...

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When famed Russian director Pavel Lungin first read Esau, the 1994 novel by celebrated Israeli author Meir Shalev, its unexpected familiarity struck him. As Pavel explains, it is a “novel speaking ...