What It Means that Esau Was Called “A Man of the Field,” in the Work

Article No. 8, 1990

The Zohar says (Toldot, Item 75), “It is written here, ‘A skillful hunter, a man of the field,’ and it is written there (about Nimrod), ‘He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.’ As there, it means that he was hunting the minds of people and misleading them to rebel against the Creator, so here, ‘A man of the field’ means to rob people and to kill them. Esau said that he was in the field to pray, like Isaac, as it is written, ‘And Isaac went out to stroll in the field,’ and hunting, and he deceived Isaac.”

We should understand what are the two things said about Esau, meaning what is the difference between “a skillful hunter” and “a man of the field” in the work. We should also understand why The Zohar says, “a man of the field, since his lot is not in an inhabited place, but in a desolate place, in the desert, in the field, and this is why he is called ‘a man of the field.’” But Noah, too, was called “a man of the earth,” as it is written, “And Noah, man of the earth, began.” Also, it is written about Isaac himself, “And Isaac went out to stroll in the field,” and it is also written that Isaac said about Jacob what is written, “And he said, ‘See, the scent of my son is as the scent of the field that the Lord has blessed.’” Thus, from where is it implied that with Esau, “a man of the field” means robbing people and killing them? We should interpret this in the work.

It is written, “Which God has created to do.” That is, the Creator created the world with the aim to do good to His creations. For this purpose, He created something new called a “desire to receive delight and pleasure.” As we learned, in order to enjoy the delight and pleasure that He wants to give, the pleasure is according to the need and the yearning for the thing, since the yearning determines the measure of the pleasure that one can derive from the matter.

Therefore, first emerged this will to receive existence from absence. This is called “which God has created.” “To do” is the correction of creation, since by this there is a difference between the Bestower and the receiver. Therefore, there is the matter of the bread of shame, namely shame. This is why we can have an aim to bestow, meaning not to receive despite the great yearning to receive the delight and pleasure. Still, in order not to feel shame, work was given to the created beings.

It is called “work” because it is against the nature with which the Creator created creation, since the matter of the purpose of creation to do good to His creations means that anything that can be said that a person receives, meaning that he has a desire to receive, comes from the Creator, who created this nature. Conversely, not receiving the delight and pleasure that the Creator wants to give, this we attribute to the creatures. For this reason, this correction not to receive the delight and pleasure unless we have the aim to bestow is called “doing,” and the creatures must do this although it is against nature.

This will to receive is called Malchut, as it is known that the Kli [vessel] to receive the lights is called Malchut. As we learn, there was a Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment on this Malchut, and Malchut, with respect to the will to receive for herself, remained without light. Only when it is possible to place on her a desire in order to bestow, to that extent the Tzimtzum and concealment depart and she can receive the abundance. Otherwise, Malchut is called a “vacant space” from light. From this, it extends that afterward, two systems were made, as in “God has made one opposite the other.” In other words, just as there is ABYA of Kedusha [holiness], opposite it there is ABYA of Tuma’a [impurity].

Malchut has several names: “land,” “earth,” “sea,” and “dust,” depending on what she receives. In this Malchut, called “earth,” the man is extended, as it is written, “And the Lord God created the man dust off the earth.” This is the Malchut of whom it was said, “All was from the dust.” It was said in The Zohar (Tzav, Item 173), “All was from the dust, even the wheel of the sun.” This means that when we speak, we speak only of lights clothed in the Kelim [vessels], as it is known that there is no light without a Kli, and all the Kelim extend from Malchut, who is the will to receive.

This means that all we speak of is only of Malchut, who is the will to receive, which is either in Kedusha or in Klipa [shell/peel]. The only difference is that the Kedusha does not use the will to receive unless it can place on it a desire that works in order to bestow, or it restricts itself from using the will to receive. Conversely, the Klipa wants to use the will to receive in order to receive. This means that when it is said that a person is using vessels of bestowal, it does not mean that the vessels of bestowal are doing something, since there are no vessels of bestowal in the will to receive, as all of creation is regarded as only a desire to receive, as it is known that other than the will to receive, we attribute everything to the Creator.

Creation is called “existence from absence,” and this pertains specifically to the lack that the Creator created. However, when we say that a person is using the desire to bestow, it means that the will to receive is not using its own quality, but the Creator’s desire, Whose wish is only to bestow and not receive anything.

According to the above, we can understand the meaning of the “field” that was said about Esau, who is called “a man of the field.” We see that Isaac, too, went out to the field, and it is also written about Jacob that Isaac said, “See, the scent of my son is as the scent of the field that the Lord has blessed.” This means that a “field” means Malchut, which is the will to receive, and there, there is the matter of the choice whether to correct it into working in order to bestow, which is called Kedusha. It is about this that Isaac said, “as the field that the Lord has blessed.”

If we do not correct it into working in order to bestow, but engage in receiving in order to receive, this is called “a man of the field,” which is a Klipa, as was said, “a man of the field, in order to rob people and kill them.” This pertained to Esau. But concerning Isaac, it is written, “And Isaac went out to stroll in the field.” He went to correct the field, which is Malchut, to correct so that the quality of Malchut, which is a desire to receive, will work in order to bestow. This is called “correcting the world with the kingdom of Shadai.” It is known that the name Shadai means Yesod, and Yesod is called Yesod Tzadik [righteous], who is the Bestower. The intention is to correct Malchut, who is reception, so she becomes like the quality of Yesod, meaning aiming to bestow. This is the meaning of “Isaac went out to stroll in the field.”

It is written likewise about Jacob, that Jacob said, “See, the scent of my son is as the scent of the field that the Lord has blessed.” In other words, Isaac saw that Jacob corrected Malchut, so it was possible to see the blessing of the Creator on the field, which is Malchut.

However, we should understand why The Zohar speaks of the field in a reproving manner with respect to Esau. We should interpret that it is because it is written, “a skillful hunter,” and then it is written, “a man of the field.” It interprets that “a skillful hunter” is from Nimrod, for Nimrod was “a mighty hunter before the Lord.” The Zohar interprets that it means that “he was hunting the minds of people and misleading them to rebel against the Creator.”

We should understand the difference between a skillful hunter and a man of the field. According to what we learn, there is a difference between the mind and the heart. The mind, Baal HaSulam explains, refers to faith above reason. The heart means the desire in the heart, which works only for its own sake. That is, for its own sake means that a person is willing to do any work in the world as long as he sees that the reward he will receive in return for his effort is worthwhile. It follows that when it says “a skillful hunter” or “a man of the field,” they are two things, which in the work, are called “mind” and “heart.”

Now we can understand that if the writing says about Esau that he was a skillful hunter, and we learn from Nimrod what hunting means, that he hunted the minds of people and misled them to rebel against the Creator, this is a flaw in the mind, meaning in faith. From this we know how to interpret “a man of the field.” It means that as he flawed the mind, he also flawed the heart. This is why we interpret “a man of the field” to mean self-love, meaning that his field was about robbing people and killing them. He was supposed to choose the good for the field, so there would be blessing there. Yet, he did the opposite, extending death and killing into that field.

In the work, we should interpret that since man was created with a desire to receive, and must correct it into working in order to bestow, in order to be able to correct, meaning to have a choice, meaning that a person will observe Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] in order to bestow and not for his own sake, a Tzimtzum and concealment were made, where man must begin the work in the form of faith above reason, since within reason, the concealment has been placed.

This is when the work on the choice begins, meaning that a person must accept the burden of the kingdom of heaven, which is a burden, as in, “as an ox to the burden.” In other words, although the body does not agree to do anything unless it sees what is done with its work, since this is the nature with “God has created to do,” that man must see what he is doing, meaning what is done with his work. He must see who enjoys the work he is doing.

Therefore, when a person engages in Torah and Mitzvot, he wants to see who received his work. Since a concealment and hiding were made, for the purpose of correction, a person does not see or feel who receives his work, and he must believe above reason that the Creator receives his work. But the body does not want to believe.

For this reason, we were given this work “as an ox to the burden.” In other words, as the ox works by coercion and must obey what its owner wants, man must not ask the body if it wants to take upon itself the burden of Torah and Mitzvot. Rather, he must force it and believe in the sages that such is the path of truth.

Also, there is the discernment of “and as a donkey to the load,” meaning it is the quality of the heart. In other words, a person must work not in order to receive reward. Therefore, when the body is told to work without any reward, this work is a load to it and the body wants to take off this load, which man wants it to suffer. In other words, the body understands that it can carry a load even for a doubtful reward for this work. But if it is told, “Work and carry loads without any reward,” it wants to get rid of this work every moment. Then it was said, “as a donkey to the load.” That is, a person must walk in this direction even though the body disagrees.

It follows that the labor is in two manners: 1) as an ox to the burden, 2) as a donkey to the load. If a person walks on the path of Esau, the person is called “a skillful hunter, a man of the field.” That is, he lacks faith, which is called “a skillful hunter,” like Nimrod, when the body wants to rebel against the faith in the Creator, which blemishes the quality of “mind.” Also, he is “a man of the field,” meaning he robs people. This means that he robs the “man” in him and he remains as a beast, knowing only himself and not others.

It is written, “a man of the field, to rob people and to kill them.” This means that if he robs the man in him and enters the state of a “beast,” which is the desire to receive for oneself, then he is in a state of “The wicked in their lives are called ‘dead,’” since they are separated from the Life of Lives. This is called “heart.” Baal HaSulam said that in truth, the quality of the heart is man’s primary quality, meaning that this is the root, that he does not want to believe because man has more pleasure when he sees and feels. Therefore, he does not want to degrade himself and walk with his eyes shut and believe all that our sages said.

Yet, the primary basis is faith in the sages, as it is written (Shabbat 31), “There is a tale about a foreigner who came to Shammai and said, ‘How many laws [Torah] do you have?’ He replied, ‘Two, the written Torah and the oral Torah.’ He said to him, ‘I believe you about the written Torah, and I do not believe you about the oral Torah. Convert me, so as to teach me the written Torah.’ He rebuked him and ejected him with a rebuke. He came to Hillel: ‘Convert me.’ On the first day, he said to him, ‘Aleph, Bet, Gimel, Dalet.’ The following day he reversed [them] to him (such as Tav, Shin, Reish, Kof). He said to him, ‘But yesterday, did not say them to me thus?’ He said to him: ‘Do you not trust me? So trust me with the oral too.’” RASHI interprets “Do you not trust me?” as “How do you know that this is Aleph and this is Bet? But since I taught you and you trusted me, ‘trust me with the oral too.’” From this we see that Hillel told him without faith in the sages there is nothing.

However, faith is an argument of the intellect. That is, a person says, “If I did not have to believe above reason, but everything would be within reason, I would progress without any breaks.” But Baal HaSulam said that in truth, the will to receive—that a person wants to work only for his own sake, like a beast—is the reason why he cannot believe. This means that when a person claims that it is difficult for him to go above reason, it stems from self-love, which is the beast in man. This is all that interferes. For this reason, two forces are required, the mind and the heart, as it is written, “As an ox to the burden and as a donkey to the load.”

Hence, if we correct the field, meaning Malchut, who is called “will to receive for oneself,” whether in mind or in heart, it is called “the field that the Lord has blessed,” which was said about Jacob. And likewise, it is written about Isaac, “And Isaac went out to stroll in the field,” which is the correction of Malchut. But Esau, who is called “a man of the field,” in the action, it seems as though he is going to correct the field, but in the intention, which is called “in order to bestow,” which is the whole correction of Malchut, there is room for one to deceive oneself, since this is something that is given to the heart, and it is not apparent from the outside that it is possible to monitor.

This is not so with actions, which are revealed outwards, a person can check whether or not he is deceiving himself. This is why The Zohar interprets, “And Esau said that he was in the field in order to pray, like Isaac,” as it is written, “And Isaac went out to stroll in the field, and hunting, and he deceived Isaac.” This means that he went into the field in order to pray, meaning he entered the field in order to correct it, like Isaac, but “hunting,” meaning that he hunted, like Nimrod, who misled people’s minds to rebel against the Creator. By this, Esau misled himself, as well, and from this extends the robbing, too, as it says, “to rob people.”

This is as our sages said about Adam HaRishon. They said that he was a thief in that he ate from the tree of knowledge, meaning took it out from the singular authority, meaning the authority of the Creator. In other words, everything must be for the sake of the Creator, and by eating from the tree of knowledge, he fell into his own authority, meaning wanted to receive everything for his own sake.

It is likewise with Esau, who entered the field, meaning to correct Malchut. Externally, it did not show that he was not working in order to bestow. Externally, Esau said as it is written, that he entered in order to pray, like Isaac, meaning to correct the field, which is Malchut.

Yet, he deceived himself, meaning that the intention that should have been for the singular authority, for the sake of the Creator, was “in order to rob people.” That is, as Adam HaRishon stole and was a thief, so did Esau do everything for his own sake. This is called “robbing people.”

Therefore, a person who begins to do the holy work, meaning to turn everything into Kedusha, must be careful with the externality, so he does not deceive himself while performing the actions, which is work Lo Lishma [not for Her sake]. He must tell his body, “I am engaging in Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma, and by this I want to come to aim Lishma [for Her sake].” He believes in the words of our sages, who said, “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma, and from Lo Lishma,” I want to come to Lishma. He believes with faith in the sages, who said, “The light in it reforms him,” and he will be rewarded with it.

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