English: “A bad palm goes and associates with a barren tree”… this is written in the Torah: “And Esav went to Yishmael.”
On the daf / in context: The folk saying that like seeks like is grounded in Esav’s choice of a wife from the house of Yishmael, his natural counterpart.
Type of Learning
Custom (Bavli — like seeks like)
What Is Learned
Esav’s going to Yishmael for a wife illustrates the principle that a wicked person seeks out his own kind; the verse is the scriptural source of the folk saying.