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By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum
ויאכל וישת ויקם וילך ויבז עשו את הבכורה (פרק כה פסוק לד)
Our Parsha relates the story of Eisav selling the בכורה, the privilege and responsibility of the oldest son, to his brother Yaakov. It describes how Eisav returned from a tiring day in the field and saw Yaakov with a red lentil dish. He asked Yaakov for the food, which Yaakov agreed to give him in exchange for Eisav’s בכורה. The בכורה entitles the oldest son to many privileges including serving in the Bais Hamikdash and being the primary son in terms of spiritual inheritance. It would seem to be foolish to give away eternal opportunities such as these and yet Eisav readily agreed to the sale. The פסוק then states that Eisav “ate, drank, stood up, left, and Eisav disgraced the בכורה”. Rashi explains that the last part of the פסוק is a declaration of Eisav’s wickedness in reference to his foolish behavior that was previously described. The Ramban, however, says that the entire verse is providing us with insight into how Eisav could have possibly done something so irrational. After all, Eisav was raised by Yitzchak Avinu and surely understood the value of the בכורה and the spiritual acquisitions that came with it. How could he have stooped so low as to sell this priceless possession in exchange for some food? The Ramban explains that Eisav’s behavior is described as eating, drinking, and then returning to the field for more hunting. His entire focus was on the here and now, always looking for immediate gratification. This is how he could make the mistake of selling, and thereby disgracing, the בכורה. When someone’s entire mindset is to seek instantaneous enjoyment then they can forgo priceless spiritual gifts in favor of fulfilling today’s physical desires.
ויאמר הקול קול יעקב והידים ידי עשו (פרק כז פסוק כב)
The end of the Parsha describes how Yitzchak Avinu, realizing that he is getting older, desires to bless Eisav before he dies. Rivkah recognizes that Yaakov is the son who is truly deserving of the blessing and therefore commands him and go to his father to receive the blessing. The plan was that Yaakov would wear Eisav’s clothing and because Yitzchak was blind, he would only identify Eisav by feeling him and will then give the blessing being unaware of the recipient’s identity. Yaakov, following his mother’s instructions, enters his father’s room wearing Eisav’s clothing and gently invites Yitzchak to eat the food he has brought to him. Yitzchak notices that the manner of speech that his son is using is the way that Yaakov speaks so he feels Yaakov’s arms to confirm his identity. He comments on the seemingly contradictory signs “the voice is that of Yaakov’s and the hands are those of Eisav’s”. He then goes on to bless Yaakov. The Beis Halevi asks that it seems as though it wasn’t clear to Yitzchak who this person is- his voice and his arms are incongruent; if so, why did he go on to bless Yaakov? Shouldn’t he be concerned that it is Yaakov, based on his voice? The Beis Halevi answers that Eisav knew that Yaakov would attempt to steal the blessing by pretending to be him. He assumed that Yaakov would wear his clothes and feign his voice and manner of speech so that he would feel and sound like Eisav. Therefore, Eisav made a signal with Yitzchak that when he returns from hunting, he will pretend to sound like Yaakov. So, Yitzchak was planning to bless the person that sounds like Yaakov (which Eisav will pretend to do) and feels like Eisav. Yitzchak’s declaration that this person sounds like Yaakov and feels like Eisav was a confirmation of the sign that this is the proper recipient of the blessing. Yaakov knew that they would suspect him and make up a signal such as the one that they did, therefore he kept his voice as usual and merely donned Eisav’s clothing. This was how Yaakov successfully took the blessing.
