14 Nov PARSHAS TOLDOS: CLOTHING ALONE DO NOT MAKE THE MAN

This week’s parsha
contains the story of
Yakov and Eisav, the
two brothers who
went their different
ways. Yakov was
righteous and Eisav was wicked.
The Rabbis teach that although Eisav
was wicked, there was one thing that he
did extremely well. His performance of
the command to honor parents was
exemplary. He was a ‘chosid’ at
performing this mitzvah.
The Medrash Rabbah records that the
Tanna, Rabban Shimeon ben Gamliel,
bemoaned the fact that although he
served his father his entire life, his actions
did not measure up to even one percent of
what Eisav did for Yitzchak, his father.
“When I served my father, I served him
in my regular, dirty clothes; but when I
went out in public, I would wear clean
(e.g. — distinguished) clothing. However,

Eisav would only serve his father wearing
royal clothing as if he was serving a
king…”
Rav Shimeon ben Gamliel was
bemoaning his inability to serve his
father properly. The Succas Dovid asks a
simple question: there was an easy
solution — Rav Shimeon ben Gamliel
should have simply worn his good
clothing when he served his father!
The answer is that Rav Shimeon ben
Gamliel was not bemoaning his inability
to wear good clothing. He was bemoaning
the attitude difference between Eisav and
himself. He certainly could have worn
good clothing, but that would have been a
hollow act. Eisav wore royal clothing for
his father because he sensed that he was
dealing with a king when he dealt with
his father. Rav Shimeon ben Gamliel was
not bemoaning the fact that he was
missing the clothing — he was bemoaning
the fact that he was missing the sensitivity
and emotion that Eisav felt for Yitzchak.

We can, in fact, interpret the Talmud in
Yoma [47a] in the same way. The Talmud
records that Kimchas had 7 sons who all
became High Priests. She attributed this
merit to the fact that “all my life, the
rafters of my house never saw my hair”.
She was so modest that even in the
confines of her own home, she never
removed her hair covering.
The Talmud comments, “Many women
attempted to imitate Kimchas, but they
did not have her success”. Why? The
answer is the same.
It was not covering her hair per se that
produced High Priests. Modesty is a
reaction to an inner feeling that “I am in
the Presence of G-d”. If a [married]
woman would feel that she is always in
the Presence of the Master of the World,
then she would naturally never uncover
her hair. But the act of simply covering
the hair in the total privacy of one’s
home, when it is not because of the
feeling of “I have set Hashem before me

always…” [Tehillim 16:8] is merely a
hollow act which will not produce High
Priests.
This is a concept that we must
contemplate. Sometimes there are things
that we do that cause us to feel good and
right and religious. Yet, we must ask
ourselves — are we just doing the act, or
are we doing that which is behind the act?
It is not good enough to merely wear
clothes or to do things that perhaps make
us look more religious or feel more
religious. We need the emotions and the
feelings behind those acts to be the
inspiration for the feeling of religiosity.