Midrasch zu Bereschit 36:6

(Gen. 37:1:) NOW JACOB DWELT IN THE LAND WHERE HIS FATHER HAD SOJOURNED, < IN THE LAND OF CANAAN >. This text is related (to Deut. 33:27): THE ETERNAL GOD IS A DWELLING PLACE. R. Jeremiah said: We do not know (from the Hebrew text of Scripture) whether a DWELLING PLACE is GOD or whether GOD is a DWELLING PLACE. ¹Gen. R. 68:9 states the problem more clearly: “We do not know whether the Holy One is the place for his world or whether the world is his place.” Similarly, M. Pss. 90:10. When it says (in Ps. 90:1): A PRAYER OF MOSES, THE MAN OF GOD: O LORD, YOU HAVE BEEN OUR DWELLING PLACE, [here the Holy One is the dwelling place for his world and the world is not his place]. Although the Holy One created his world, he did not dwell in the land but a righteous one;²Cf. MS 1240 from the De Rossi library in Parma: “He did not dwell in the land with < the > righteous.” Perhaps the text should read: “He did not dwell in the land but with the righteous. So Y. Elman in a private communication. and by their merit < such righteous > ones sustain the world, as stated (in Deut. 33:27, cont.): AND UNDERNEATH ARE THE ARMS OF THE WORLD.³English translations generally render ARMS OF THE WORLD as “everlasting arms,” but here the midrash views the merits of the righteous as supporting the world like the arms of the mythological Atlas. Come and see how, during all the time the wicked are in the world, the righteous never appear. And so you find that, during all the time Esau was in the land of Israel, Jacob was unable to appear. Esau passed on, as stated (in Gen. 36:6): THEN ESAU TOOK HIS WIVES, < AND WENT INTO A LAND AWAY FROM HIS BROTHER JACOB >. Immediately (one reads in Gen. 37:1): NOW JACOB DWELT < IN THE LAND >. Therefore, (according to Deut. 33:27, cont.): SO HE DROVE OUT THE ENEMY FROM BEFORE YOU. At that time (according to vs. 28): THUS ISRAEL DWELT SAFELY ALONE.

“The heart of the wise is to his right, and the heart of a fool is to his left” (Ecclesiastes 10:2).
“The heart of the wise is to his right…” – Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa said: [This is analogous] to two people who had two kor, one of wheat and one of barley. One of them said to the other: ‘If yours is of barley mine is of wheat, and if mine is of wheat yours is of barley. In any case, I am taking the one of wheat.’ So, Abraham said to Lot: “If to the left, I will go to the right, and if to the right, I will go to the left [asme’ila]” (Genesis 13:9). Rabbi Ḥanina ben Rabbi Yitzḥak said: It is not written here “esmola,” but rather “asme’ila.”⁵Esmola means, “I will go to the left.” Asme’ila can mean, “I will cause to go to the left.” Even if you are impertinent, I will cause you to go to the left.⁶Abraham told Lot: Ultimately, I will go to the right, the direction of the wise, and you will go to the left, which is the direction of the fool. Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi], when a person would enter for judgment before him, if [the party that lost the case] would obey the ruling that would be fine, and if not, [Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi] would say to a member of his household: ‘Cause him to go left’;⁷Cause him to understand that he is wrong. and he would signal and show him that he should strike him from the other side.
Another matter: “The heart of the wise is to his right” – this is Jacob, as it is stated: “Jacob arose and placed his sons and his wives [upon the camels]” (Genesis 31:17).⁸Jacob understood that the main objective of marriage is producing the next generation. Therefore, he tended first to his sons and then to his wives. “And the heart of a fool is to his left” – this is the wicked Esau, as it is stated: “Esau took his wives, his sons, [and his daughters]” (Genesis 36:6).⁹Esau prioritized his own pleasure; therefore he tended to his wives and then to his sons. It was not because he was concerned with his wives’ safety that he tended to them first, as he tended to his daughters, who were even more vulnerable, last.

[(Gen. 37:1:) NOW JACOB DWELT < IN THE LAND >.] This text is related (to Is. 57:13): WHEN YOU CRY OUT, LET YOUR ASSEMBLED ONES SAVE YOU. What are they? These are the angels who were placed to guard him when he went away to go to Aram-Naharaim, since the angels who minister in the land of Israel do not minister outside the land, nor do those who belong outside the land < minister > in the land of Israel.⁴So above, 8:3. So (in Gen. 28:12) Jacob saw < some > ascending and others descending to go abroad with him. Then, when he came to return, the Holy One summoned those angels who had ministered to him in the land. He said to them: Here is Jacob returning. Come on and let us go out for a meeting⁵Gk.: apante, according to the metathesis suggested by Buber and assumed in the Jastrow lexicon. On apante used for apantesis, see Jud. 4:22 (LXX). with him {i.e., to the border}. To what is the matter comparable? To a king whose son went away overseas to take a wife. After some time he came to return to his father's house. The king said to his court⁶’PSYQYN, which probably represents the medieval Latin word for “court,” i.e., obsequium. {i.e., to his army}: Come and let us go out for a meeting with my son. So, when Jacob came to return to the land of his father, the Holy One called the ministering angels. He said to them: Come and let us go out for a meeting with Jacob. As soon as Jacob raised his eyes, he saw the angels, as stated (in Gen. 32:2 [1]): SO JACOB WENT ON HIS WAY, AND THE ANGELS OF GOD MET HIM…. When Jacob saw them, where is it shown that they ministered to him in the land of Israel? Where it is stated (in vs. 3 [2]): WHEN JACOB SAW THEM, HE SAID: THIS IS GOD'S HOST. It is therefore stated (in Is. 57:13): WHEN YOU CRY OUT, LET YOUR ASSEMBLED ONES SAVE YOU. These < ASSEMBLED ONES > are the angels. (Ibid., cont.:) BUT THE WIND SHALL CARRY THEM ALL AWAY.⁷Gen. R. 84:1. These are Esau and his lords, as stated (in Gen. 36:6): < THEN ESAU TOOK HIS WIVES >, AND WENT INTO A LAND AWAY FROM HIS BROTHER JACOB. (Is. 57:13, cont.:) YET THE ONE WHO TAKES REFUGE IN ME SHALL INHERIT THE LAND. This ONE is Jacob, as stated (in Gen. 37:1): NOW JACOB DWELT < IN THE LAND >.