אָר֗וּר עֹשֶׂ֛ה מְלֶ֥אכֶת יְהוָ֖ה רְמִיָּ֑ה וְאָר֕וּר מֹנֵ֥עַ חַרְבּ֖וֹ מִדָּֽם׃
Terkutuklah orang yang melakukan tugas dari Yang Mahakekal dengan curang, dan terkutuklah orang yang menahan pedangnya dari menumpahkan darah!
Rabbeinu Bahya
Our sages in Tanchuma Toldot 8 have said that Esau used to ask his father such questions as “does salt have to be tithed?” This would impress Yitzchak favourably and he would wonder how careful Esau was with the performance of all the commandments. When he used to ask Esau: “my son where have you been today?” Esau would reply that he had been in the house of study. He would proceed to tell his father what he had learned on that day. The Holy Spirit, when hearing such lies, would proclaim: “When he speaks graciously, do not believe him; for there are seven abominations in his heart.“ (Proverbs 26,25) Furthermore, the sages in the same Midrash derived from this wording that the reason Esau went hunting and was feeding the venison he hunted to his father was only in order to secure the blessing for himself. This is the mystical dimension of the Torah writing in Deut. 16,19 “for the bribe blinds the eyes of the wise.” In connection with Yitzchak, the Torah had written “his eyes had become weak from seeing” (Genesis 27,1). Just as Esau was a man paying bribes, so his descendants were willing to receive bribes. The Torah (25,30) reports Esau as saying to Yaakov הלעיטני נא, “please feed me, etc.” Concerning this David said in Psalms 68,31 מתרפס ברצי כסף , “till they come cringing with pieces of silver.” They (Esau’s descendants) derive their power from their celestial counterpart (the scapegoat mentioned in Leviticus 16 offered to Azzazel) who accepts this offering as a bribe by the Jewish people on the Day of Atonement. (compare commentary on Leviticus 16,7). In a similar manner every single nation derives whatever power sustains it from its celestial representative at the court of the angels. It is the same source from which the original serpent had derived its power and ability to seduce Eve. Once it was able to seduce, it was capable of spilling the blood of its victims. Such seducers became the cause of all those who choose to eat blood. Such forces are diametrically opposed to the Israelites who are circumcised (i.e. had given up their blood for G’d instead of consuming it), and who therefore abstain from eating any kind of blood. When an accuser of the Jewish people wants to seduce us, one of the first laws he wants us to break is that of circumcising our male children. Once this law has been broken the consumption of blood is only a small step. [It appears that the author refers to philosophical attempts at converting Jews to Christianity seeing that the Moslems abide by circumcision. Ed.] Adhering to these two laws (circumcision and the prohibition to eat blood), is therefore cardinal in our effort to stave off conversion and this is why the prophet said of the descendants of Esau (Ezekiel 15,6) אם לא דם שנאת, ודם ירדפך, “surely you have hated blood (the prohibition of it) and blood will pursue you.” The prophet predicted Esau’s (Edom) eventual destruction because as descendants of Avraham they rejected the commandment of circumcision as they hated to lose blood (instead of consuming it) This is also the mystical dimension of Jeremiah 48,10 וארור מונע חרבו מדם,”cursed be he who withholds his sword from blood.” (The prophet speaks of the blood of circumcision).