Esau Ambushes

A theme of Esau (via Titus) "ambushing" his brother Jacob was first noticed in a previous code reported here (refer to that page for more background on the deep historical significance of this theme). We copy this code again below:

The code seems to be referring to the destruction of the holy Temple in Jerusalem by the Roman Emperor, Titus, a descendent (and a kind of agent) of Esau, according to the Gemara. The Temple is portrayed in the Bible as the source of blessing for all of Jacob's (Yaakov's) descendents and ultimately for the world.

According to the Torah, the origin of Esau's enmity to Jacob was the bitter rivalry over their father Isaac's blessings. When Esau realized that the blessings were given to his brother Jacob and not to him, "Esau raised his voice and cried." (Genesis 27:38). According to the Zohar, these tears have had an enormous impact on human history ever since.

The follow-up to this code is actually just a comment that we recently noticed by Rashi, one of the most important Torah commentators of the past 1,000 years. He comments on Genesis 27:36, a few verses prior to the weeping just described. Rashi notes therein that when Esau complains to his father Isaac that Jacob "outsmarted me", he means this in the context of an "ambush" (the same Hebrew word used in the above code). This is an unexpected nuance of meaning that matches the theme of not only this code, but it also matches some very interesting additional codes about the Temple's destruction which Professor Rips is currently studying. It seems that the ambush against the Temple by Titus was an attempt to "pay back" the original ambush that Esau felt came from his brother Jacob.