There is a joke about a clever man who worked with simple folk. Every morning, he would call to hear the weather forecast, and when he arrived at work, he would inform all his colleagues about the upcoming weather. When his friends asked how he knew what the weather would be, he replied, "Ruach HaKodesh." One day, the phone was out of order, and he could not make his call. That day, he did not know the weather forecast. His friends asked him, “What happened today?” He answered, “Today, the ‘Ruach HaKodesh’ did not work.”
There is a big question in our parsha. Rivka Imeinu learned through Ruach HaKodesh that Eisav was thinking to himself (27:41), 'יקרבו ימי אבל אבי ואהרגה אחי' - ‘The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’ Because of this, she sent Yaakov away to Charan. But we must understand: why did she send Yaakov immediately? If she had Ruach HaKodesh, surely she knew that Yitzchak would live many more years. So Eisav's threat to kill Yaakov was not immediate! On the other hand, we all know the story of Eliphaz, Eisav’s son, who pursued Yaakov to kill him at his father’s command. This shows that Eisav did not actually wait until his father’s death to act on his threat!
The truth is that Rivka’s Ruach HaKodesh was accurate. As the Torah testifies, Eisav indeed thought about killing Yaakov after their father’s death. But Rivka understood that Eisav’s anger could change his plans, as indeed happened. Therefore, she hastened to send Yaakov away before it was too late.
We all know how terrible conflict can be, and we are well-acquainted with the teachings of Chazal about the dangers of anger. One does not need Ruach HaKodesh to predict what might happen when conflict and anger combine. This is what Rivka Imeinu teaches us: if, chas v’shalom, conflict arises, the first thing to do is to distance oneself—far, far away. As the Mishnah teaches (Avos 4:18), “Do not attempt to placate your friend in the moment of his anger.” Perhaps later, one can try to make amends, but not in the heat of anger—even if you are right. May Hashem protect us from falling into such trials and disgrace.
-Tiv HaTorah - Toldos
