This morning, I was in Shul and heard two boys learning Torah together. They were talking about Yitzchak and Esav, and asking how it was possible that Yitzchak wanted to give the blessings to Esav and not to Yaakov. They were looking at different ideas. How was it possible that Esav fooled Yitzchak so easily, and that Yitzchak did not realize at all that the good one was Yaakov and Esav was the bad boy? They were talking about this, and at one point I couldn't take it anymore. I said, “Guys, just come here; let's talk.” I sat them down where I give shiur (lesson), and I said, “Guys, with all due respect, I think it's too simplistic to just say that Yitzchak believed Esav was good and that Rivkah knew the truth, that Yaakov was the good one. It's too simple. I would like to share a thought with you.”
Actually, I think it's quite the opposite. Yaakov was a good person. He's like this kid in school who is what I'm going to call a goody-goody. He's a good person. He does his homework. He studies. Yaakov, ish tam (a mild man). Yoshev Ohalim (dwelling in tents) is a great person. Yoshev Ohalim naturally is going to succeed in life. That's one path. Now, most of us are not Yaakovs. Most of us are not naturally goody-goody. He was. Esav is more of a representation of who we are. He's somebody who is challenging—a child who is challenging in school. Somebody who is thinking differently. Somebody who thinks outside the box. Somebody who may bring challenges to the teachers, to the parents.
And there, Yitzchak looked at it as an opportunity and said, “Hold on. In the immediate way of looking at this situation, he would say, ‘Of course, Yaakov is guaranteeing that Klal Yisrael is good, will be good. He's the head of the nation. But Esav, who makes wrong choices, for sure has much more potential. Maybe he's even smarter. Maybe he's more challenging because he has more potential to use that intelligence for something good.’” He believed in Esav. He believed Esav could turn himself around and channel his intelligence and his challenges into something good. And that's why he believed in Esav. He believed that by giving him kavod (honor), by giving him berachot (blessings), and by showing him, “We expect from you. We know you could do it. You have more potential even than Yaakov to become an incredible Av HaUmah (father of the nation).”
In the end, Esav made his choices, and his choices were the wrong ones. And it ended up that Rivkah was right. At the end of the day, Yaakov was more stable. And he is the Av HaUmah. But Esav could have been the Av HaUmah. And Yitzchak perceived Esav as somebody with more potential even than Yaakov. And this is incredible.
Today, Baruch Hashem (Blessed is Hashem), we know that schools and education are different than before. Years ago, when I was growing up—and before that, for sure—a troublemaker in a class was eliminated. It was a kid who cannot sit for a whole hour. It's a kid who is a troublemaker. And you would think that because he has low grades, that means he's not as smart or he's not capable, et cetera. He would just have low grades and move on in life. Today, we know that it's not an indication of that. It's an indication of the potential that the kid has.
Actually, all the great thinkers are people who are not looking at the center, at the middle, but are looking outside. They push the boundaries. All the great creators, all the great thinkers—even, I would venture to say, the great thinkers in Judaism, the great roshei yeshiva (heads of yeshivas) and the great Rishonim (early authorities), who were looking for different ideas, et cetera—they probably were not goody-goody kids. I would think. I don't know. They were people who looked at things differently. They didn't come just to repeat. They were able to take their innovation or innovative nature that comes as a package for something positive. And that's what Yitzchak was betting on. That's what he was betting on.
In the end, it didn't work, not because Yitzchak was wrong, but because Esav was wrong. Esav did not take this potential and do something with it in a kedusha (holiness) way. And this is so important for us parents. Challenging kids are challenging. But I think the more challenging they are, the more potential they have to be incredible, great, great people. Not within the norm. Maybe they go, pushing the boundaries. But those are the Elon Musks of the world. And those are the innovators of the world in whatever areas they decide to try to excel, whether in the secular world or the Kodesh (holy) world. These are the ones who, because they are challenging, will transform the world into a better place. It's more challenging. It's more rewarding.