משך חכמה — ויהי לי שור וחמור

Q — Why does Yaakov, in his message to Esav, list שור and חמור but pointedly omit גמלים — when he obviously owned camels (פסוק ח)?

A — Shor (טהור) and chamor (טמא) are wholly separate — symbolizing Yaakov, in whom good and evil are distinct ("מטתו שלמה") and whose nefesh naturally inclines to good with evil only as an outside inciter; the camel (and pig) have mixed signs of טהרה/טומאה, symbolizing Esav, in whom good and evil are intermixed since the chet of Adam — a state the Avot progressively separated (Yishmael leaving Avraham, Esav leaving Yitzchak) until Yaakov, in whom the original pre-sin clarity was restored.