Eisav’s Departure and the Legacy of Shame

ויקח עשיו את נשיו ואת בניו ואת בנותיו ואת כל נפשות ביתו... וילך אל ארץ מפני יעקב אחיו
Eisav took his wives, his sons, his daughters and all the members of his household ... and went to a land because of his brother Yaakov. (36:6)

Among the reasons which Chazal (Bereishis Rabbah 82:13) present for Eisav’s moving on, separating himself from Yaakov, is that he left in humiliation over having sold his bechorah, firstborn birthright. Horav Gershon Liebman, zl (Rosh Yeshivah, Novarodok in Armentieres, France), notes that we are raised with a skewed perspective of Eisav, the man.