RABBI NAFTALI REICH (Torah.org)
Honoring parents is considered one the most exalted commandments in the Torah. It occupies a position of primacy among the first five commandments on the Tablets of the Ten Commandments, along with the commandments safeguarding the honor of G-d.
One would expect that the ultimate practitioners of this commandment would be found among the most righteous people in the world. Paradoxically, however, the Talmud identifies Isaac’s evil son Esau as the greatest exemplar of a person who honors his father. The Talmud tells us that Esau had a set of special garments that he wore when he entered his father’s presence. Not even the great Sages of the Talmud penetrated so deeply into the essence of this commandment.
But a different profile of Esau emerges from the Biblical account. The Torah tells us that Esau married two women steeped in idolatry and that this caused great heartache and anguish to Isaac and Rebecca, his parents. It was not until he lost his father’s blessings that Esau married the more suitable daughter of his uncle Ishmael.
How do we reconcile Esau, the supremely obedient son who enters his father’s presence in absolute awe, with Esau, the rebellious son who marries women that are the antithesis of everything his parents represent? And why didn’t the righteous Jacob, Esau’s younger brother, rise to a similar level of honoring his parents?
The commentators explain that Esau held his father in the highest regard, viewing him as a veritable angel from Heaven. When he entered his father’s room, Esau felt as if he were stepping into another world, leaving his earthly existence behind and entering the celestial domain. He thought it appropriate to wear special garments, and he stood before his father trembling in submission and awe.
But what about his own life? Esau looked upon his father as an angel and respected him for it, but he himself was not yet prepared for the angelic existence. He was a down-to-earth man, and his lifestyle reflected it. When it came to marriage, he chose women that suited his own inclination.
Jacob, on the other hand, related to his father as a human being rather than some celestial creature. He saw his father as the symbol of how a man should live in this
