In this week's Torah portion, Vayeitzei

In this week's Torah portion, Vayeitzei, Jacob escapes from his deceitful father-in-law, Laban. "Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels." Surprisingly, Jacob attends to the needs of his children before ensuring the security of his wives. Later, when Jacob meets his brother Esau, his wives take precedence over the children. "And he took his two wives and his two concubines and his eleven sons."The Torah demands that a husband puts his wife's welfare before his children, and he enjoined to honour his wife even more than himself. Without her, obviously, the children would never have been born. In addition, putting one's wife first sets a positive example for the children, who see their father treating their mother with respect. Why then, did Jacob tend to his sons before his wives in the first instance?According to Rashi, the great Torah commentator, one characteristic of Esau was that he always "placed the females before the males." The end result, therefore, was that both Jacob and Esau put their wives before their children, but for reasons that were diametrically opposed.Esau lived a life entirely dictated by his uncontrollable desires. Women were of great importance to Esau, but not because he sought to honour and respect them. His children were therefore of secondary importance.To Jacob, however, his children represented the continuation of the Jewish people and their G-dly service. Jacob put his wives before his sons as an expression of respect for the woman's role and also to properly educate his children.In general, the terms "male" and "female" are used as symbols for the intellect and the emotions. "Male" stands for hard logic, untempered by compassion, whereas "female" refers to the heart and the capacity for warmth. In his personal life, Jacob placed the "male" before the "female," that is, his emotions were ruled by his intellect and were not subject to his personal desires. Esau, on the other hand, was dominated by his desires, unable to control himself in the endless search for self-gratification. Esau employed his intellect only as far as it could further the fulfillment of his passions.Yet, in certain instances, the heart has an advantage over the intellect, which may sometimes be overwhelmed by a difficult challenge. Man's intelligence is limited, but his emotions can reach beyond the limits of our understanding. Esau could have attained spiritual greatness, had he properly developed and utilized his superior emotional range.In fact, when Moshiach comes, speedily in our day, the "heart" will be in ascendance over the "intellect," for the "female" quality of emotion will be fully revealed, taking precedence over the "male" quality of cold intellect.Adapted from the works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe