Two Approaches To Evil

Last year this blog mentioned that their are conflicting views between the midrash and Zohar if Yaakov's greeting of Esav is to be viewed in a positive or negative light.  These two paths way be reflective of how our view of the yetzer harah/evil should be.  As discussed on this blog here  there are two ways to view the evil forces.  The simple approach is to say that it should be avoided at all costs, not touched with a 10 foot pole.  If we take that view, one indeed would be critical of Yaakov for starting up with Esav.  The other approach is a more complicated rout and that is to find the light even within the evil forces.

According to the Kabbalists, Esav was an example of an evil that contained inside of him tremendous light.  As mentioned a few weeks ago, Esav was the ancestor of many of the scholars that were converts.  Rebbe Akiva was indeed one of those descendants.  This blog discussed in the past that Rebbe Akiva is of the view that there is no true evil, one just needs to pry free the hidden good from within.  In light of his roots, it is no wonder then that Rebbe Akiva is of that school of thought for that is where he came from!  The Gemorah in Chagigah (14b) says that Rebbe akiva warned those entering the Pardes, אָמַר רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא: כְּשֶׁאַתֶּם מַגִּיעִין לְאַבְנֵי שַׁיִשׁ טָהוֹר, אַל תֹּאמְרוּ מַיִם מַיִם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: דֹּבֵר שְׁקָרִים לֹא יִכּוֹן לְנֶגֶד עֵינָי  When you approach pure marble stone, do not say, “Water! Water!” as it is said (Psalms 101:7), “He who speaks falsely will not be sustained before My eyes.”  Rebbe Nachman (Likutay Moharan #51) explains that warning was not to separate between the מים עליונים ותחתונים, between the realm of טמא פסול ואסור and the realm of טהור כשר ומותר.  In the Pardes one must see the truth that there is no difference, they all stem from the same place.  The other members that entered the Pardes weren't able to hold onto this message and stumbled along the way.

It is Rebbe Meyer, a student of Rebbe Akiva that internalized this message.  It is Rebbe Meyer that had written in this Torah כתנות אור in place of עור (Berashis Rabbah 20:12.)  In the world of Rebbe Meyer, the עור can be stripped off and the אור revealed. ר' מאיר דייק בשמא (Yoma 83b,) it is ר' מאיר (light) that sees the light in everything (see idea from Maggid on this Chazal here.)  That's why it is Rebbe Meyer that can take the good from inside Acher and bring it to fruition.  Acher's fault was in his inability to distinguish between the his outside self which had become tainted and his inner core which remained the talmid chacham.  Just as he got confused in the Pardes, so too he was confuded about himself.  The Bavli records that Elisha ben Avuyah told Rabbi Meir he can’t do teshuva because he heard from a bas kol everyone should do tesuva except for Acher.  If the bas kol said that he can't do teshuva, what was to be expected from Acher and how is it possible that his teshuva wouldn't be accepted, teshuva always works?  The answer lies in a slight change between this story and the version of the Yerushalmi (Chagiga chapter 2 law 1 pg. 9b.)  There it says Elisha heard everyone can do teshuva except Elisha ben Avuyah.  Why the switch from Acher as is recorded in the Bavli to his name, Elisha in the Yerushalmi?  Furthermore, what’s the debate, which one did he hear, Acher or Elisha ben Avuyah?  Rav Solevetchik (5 deroshes, derush 5 part 9, pg. 124-129 in Hebrew edition) explains that Elisha really heard except for Acher.  This event, the Yerushalmi says, occurred on Yom Kippur that coincided with Shabbos when he was riding a horse behind the Kodesh Hakadashim.  Elisha felt hirhuray teshuva on this day of Yom Kippur and the bas kol came to aid him.  Elisha thought the Dr. Jekyll side of himself and the Mr. Hyde side of himself were one and the same.  He couldn’t differentiate between Acher, the apostate and Elisha, the holy Tanna.  The bas kol was saying Acher can’t do teshuva but Elisha can, it was a reminder that at his core he remained that holy Tanna.  The Bavli is recording what was actually said.  The Yerushalmi on the other hand is recording the perception of Elisha.  Elisha didn’t get the message.   He failed to make the distinction between his two personalities and understood the bas kol to mean that Elisha can’t do teshuva.  Rebbe Meyer on the other hand was able to make this distinction and took the holy Tanna, Elisha ben Avuyah part from out of its husk of Acher.     

According to the Kabbalists, Yaakov was quite aware of the great power that existed within Esav and by meeting him he was attempting to extract this power and bring it forward.  By accomplishing this, joined together with Yaakov, the final redemption would be brought.  This view of attempting to take out the good from within the evil is championed by the Zohar that looks at the inner dimension.  The peshat goes with the straight view that the evil is bad and must be avoided at all costs and hence is critical of Yaakov.