One might be a natural athlete, with great physical prowess, an outgoing personality and the killer instinct of a hunter. Another might be more introverted, with a brilliant mind, the strength of a weight lifter and a spiritually sensitive nature. Both are members of the same family, with the same parents and yet they are so different. What are parents to do?

In this week’s Torah reading, the Bible’s lessons are not so much about what should be done; but rather, what should not be done, in this kind of a situation. Our Patriarch, Isaac and Matriarch, Rebecca were blessed with fraternal twin sons. However, even during pregnancy, Rebecca realized that each boy was very different from the other. Indeed the Bible reports that they were at odds in the womb.

The Midrash explains that this was because of their opposing natures. As the Yalkut Shimoni clarifies, Esau’s aspirations were totally focused on the material world, including eating, drinking, success in business and other earthly delights. He had no interest in the world to come. Jacob aspired to earn his place in the world to come, which, albeit devoid of these earthly pleasures, has its own abundant spiritual rewards. This did not mean that Jacob totally abdicated his role in this world. Rather, it was a matter of what was primary and what secondary. As the Bible reports and Esau himself later observed, Jacob also enjoyed material success.