As the entire entourage carrying the bier of Yaakov Avinu to his final resting place solemnly approached the Mearas Hamachpela to perform a final act of kindness for their holy Patriarch, the scene was suddenly interrupted. Esav, Yaakov’s nefarious twin brother, showed up and insisted that the burial plot belonged to him! He refused to let his nephews bury their father. The children of Yaakov began arguing with Esav until it was decided to send Naftali, who was swift as a deer, to run down on foot to Egypt and procure the necessary documents proving that Yaakov was indeed entitled to this auspicious plot next to his wife Leah. 

     Chazal relate that throughout this entire argument, one person - Chushim the only son of Dan - became extremely agitated at the tremendous lack of respect, even disgrace, that was afforded his holy Zaida Yaakov. Chushim was deaf, and it took him some time to understand what was going on. But when he finally did, he took matters into his own hands. Literally! He grabbed a club, hit Esav over the head, and killed him on the spot.

     Why was Chushim, the deaf son of Dan, the only one to stand up for the honor of Yaakov Avinu? R’ Henoch Leibowitz zt”l answers that often in life people lose sight of the עיקר because they get wrapped up in the טפל! Families or friends will argue about something small and insignificant, but the intensity of the fight causes them to lose sight of what is really important. Sometimes a family fight will continue for years, ר"ל, becoming a “Yerusha” for the next generation who isn’t even sure what the fight is all about! R’ Henoch says that in these kind of situations one has to make himself deaf - to simply ignore the nasty, hurtful or sarcastic remarks thrown about in anger, so as not to lose perspective and make the "טפל" into the "עיקר".

      This is the message of Chushim, the deaf son of Dan: At times, we must “play deaf” in our relationships with others.