Chazal tell us that the showdown between Yaakov and Eisav predated their competition for Yitzchak's berachos. In fact, the two brothers were entrenched in conflict from the womb (Rashi, from Medrash Rabbah on Bereshis 25:22), indicative of a deeply-rooted schism. This conflict was destined to endure throughout the ages (Rashi ibid. v. 25), and it deserves some thought.

Eisav is portrayed as having maintained a bifurcated attitude toward the spiritual and the material. Eisav's essence was that of passion for a physical and earthy lifestyle (ibid. v. 30), and he perceived religion in terms of asceticism and harsh punishments. (Rashi on 25:32) This is precisely why Rome is the prime progeny of Eisav (v. Targum Yonasan ben Uziel on 36:43), for Rome became the embodiment of lust and hedonism, as well as the seat of the world's most pervasive ascetic religion.

Yaakov, however, represents the sanctification and elevation of the material world, such that the physical universe is dominated by and infused with holiness, expressive of Hashem's reign and mastery over all (as explained in detail in the divrei Torah on Parshas Veyeitzei). Thus, the cataclysmic clash between Yaakov and Eisav for control of the physical world (v. commentaries on Bereshis 25:22) was really a struggle over how the world is to be utilized - shall it be sanctified and used for service of Hashem, or shall its pleasures be exploited for their own sake, leaving spirituality and kedushah (holiness) divorced from the physical, in the form of contorted, ascetic-monastic religion?

In light of the above, we should really wonder about Eisav's interest in Yitzchak's berachos. Eisav spurned the Bechorah (Birthright, which represented Divine Service - Rashi on ibid. v. 32, from Medrash), and Eisav's commitment to religious observance and faith was sorely deficient, to say the least. Why, then, did he feel a need for Yitzchak's blessings? Did Eisav even believe in them?

Perhaps the answer to this question can be gleaned from the death of Eisav. Targum Yonasan ben Uziel (ibid. 50:13) elaborates, in line with a Medrash, that Eisav's head was buried in the lap of Yitzchak, whereas the rest of Eisav's body remained outside of Me'aras Ha-Machpelah, the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. The message of this interpretation is that Eisav did not deny or blind himself to Hashem's existence; rather, Eisav's bifurcated approach, whereby the physical reigned supreme and the spiritual was ousted to a cloistered corner, where it was neglected and distorted, resulted in a lack of association with Hashem and His Presence. When it came down to the wire, though, Eisav recognized that the world is governed by the Divine; it was Eisav's earthy passion and downward thrust which did not normally allow any focus on Hashem. Thus, Eisav valued Yitzchak's berachos when Eisav was compelled to face the moment of truth, as his mind was able to perceive Hashem, even though he did not normally give Hashem any serious thought. This is the message of Eisav's head meriting burial in Me'aras Ha-Machpelah and his body remaining outside - bifuraction of the spiritual and the physical, with a primary, underlying awareness of the ultimate truth of Hashem.

In the same vein, we may now understand better how the story of Dina and Shechem fits into Parshas Vayishlach. Shechem was interested in Dina solely as a vehicle for his lust. Neither Dina's status as Yaakov's daughter nor her connection to the Mesorah (Divine Tradition) were factors for Shechem's desire to marry her. (In light of Shechem's utter lack of interest in religious truth or the Mesorah, it is fascinating that he and his entire nation were willing to undergo Bris Milah (circumcision) for the sake of Dina's betrothal - but such is the nature of those driven solely by lust and physcial cravings, who are willing to do literally anything to fulfill their carnal desires.)

We are presented in our parshah with a radical contrast between Shechem and Yaakov, the latter of whose identity is "Yisroel", indicative of the holy suffusing and elevating the physical, such that the entire universe sings Hashem's praise. Shechem is also contrasted with Eisav, whose intense appetite for hedone overrode his innate capacity for true commitment to Hashem - in Whom Eisav believed and with Whom he felt that he maintained a latent connection. Shechem was inferior to both Yaakov and Eisav, for Shechem's essence consisted exclusively of a craving for material pleasures. In fact, the name "Shechem ben Chamor" connotes Shechem's entirely base, earthy being, similar to a chamor (donkey), which, unlike cattle, is comprised of complete, impure (tamei) chumrius (physicality - hence the name "chamor"), whereas a cow or bull can be elevated from its earthy status in the form of a korban (sacrifice), as it is a pure (tahor) animal. Shechem was of the stock of Canaan, son of Cham, who embodied unbridled passion and material, animalistic greed. Shechem's total spiritual void was thus well understood.

Immediately subsequent to the encounters with Eisav and Shechem, the Torah presents Hashem's command to Yaakov that he travel to Beis-El and build a mizbeach (altar) there. (ibid. 35:1) This process, in which Yaakov insisted that his household dispose of any idolatrous relics from Shechem and purify itself, constituted the affirmation of the spiritual identity of Beis Yisroel, the House of Israel, which was crafted at Beis-El and remained unscathed by its encounters with Eisav and Shechem. The return to Beis-El was a spiritual homecoming for Yaakov's family. (In fact, the siman of the parshah is "K'litah", which reflects finding refuge - an allusion to Beis Yisroel reuniting with its holy identity after years of incredible challenges thereto.) It is for this reason as well that Yaakov's name was transformed to Yisroel (ibid. 35:10) on this very occasion at Beis-El, for this locus, as its name ("House of God") attests, represents the spiritual spheres entering and governing the physical universe.

The secular and materialistic society which surrounds us makes it frighteningly simple to lose our spiritual drive. Although we do not expect to descend to the debasement of Shechem, we are very much able to constrict our connection with Hashem by reserving it for a quick session of davening, bentching or minimal learning - and then return to "normal" life. If our connection with Hashem and our drive to be close to Him end when we close the sefer or leave shul or the beis medrash, we are surely emulating the approach of Eisav, for whom spirituality was confined to specific limits and could not enter the realm of the "real world". May we successfully counter this influence and pursue the path of Yisroel, such that the spiritual suffuses and elevates us and the world around us.