קול רם
28:9 “וילך עשו אל ישמעאל ויקח את מחלת בת ישמעאל בן אברהם אחות נביות על נשיו לו לאשה” – “And Eisav went to Yishmael and took Machlas, the daughter of Yishmael son of Avrohom, sister of Nevoyos, in addition to his wives, as a wife for himself.” Rashi says that the Torah tells us this to teach us that Yaakov Avinu was hidden away in the house of Eiver for fourteen years, and only after that, he went to Charan. We learn from this that Yaakov Avinu was learning in the Yeshivah of Eiver for fourteen years. It is perplexing why the Torah needs to write about Eisav in order to teach us about Yaakov. Why couldn’t the Torah just say explicitly, that Yaakov Avinu learned in the Yeshiva of Eiver for fourteen years, and then it would not have had to write about Eisav? The Torah is coming to teach us that even when we are involved in matters of Gashmiyos, if it is done L’shem Shomayim, that also creates Kedusha. Similarly, when other nations of the world are busy with things, it is also for the sake of Yaakov, and can bring about Kedusha. We find this concept in the Gemara in Avodah Zara 2b, that the nations of the world are going to claim that they are entitled to a portion of Olam Habah for all the help they gave to Klal Yisroel. Their words are not false, for they in fact did help Klal Yisroel at times. However, the answer given to them will be that they did not have the proper thoughts in mind – they were not trying to help Klal Yisroel; it came about that they did without their intent. Had they performed their actions that benefitted Klal Yisroel for the benefit of Klal Yisroel, then they would indeed be entitled to Olam Habah.
