Esau was tired, returning from a day in the field, and he saw his brother Jacob cooking lentils. “Feed me some of this, the red, this red, for I’m exhausted,” he said. “This is why his name is Edom – Red.” (Genesis 25:30)
Esau was drained, his guard was down, and in his disinhibition he failed to pause to think about what he was seeing. Why, indeed, was Jacob cooking lentils? The backstory, says the Talmud (Bava Basra 15b), is that Abraham had just passed away, and Jacob was preparing a traditional mourner’s meal of lentils for his father, Isaac. Esau, self-absorbed in his own fatigue, ignored the obvious clue and what this meant — the loss of his revered grandfather, the grief of his entire family, and Jacob’s undertaking to cook lentils for his mourning father. It seems Esau couldn’t even discern the type of food that was in the pot, referring to it only as “the red, this red,” as if the adjective describing its color was the name of the food itself! This total lack of awareness and insight, reacting only on impulse and attraction, defined who he truly was. “And so,” declares the Torah, “his name is Edom – Red.” This was the essence of Esau, without constraints; a manifestation of his true character.
We generally manage to exercise restraint, especially in polite company when we are conscious of our reputation and dignity. However, situations arise when our guard is down and all we’re left with is pure impulse. Those instances can be revealing and sometimes, unfortunately, embarrassing. For Esau, it was a pivotal, defining moment. He gave up his firstborn birthright to satisfy his fleeting hunger. He only felt the gravity of that moment much later on in life, when he was denied the firstborn blessings of his aging father. When he realized the consequences of his impulsive nature, “he cried out a very great and very bitter cry (Genesis 27:34).”
It’s imperative to prepare for these moments of vulnerability, training ourselves to uphold the values and morals we hold dear before we are tested. Esau was not destined for failure from birth. Although he is described in his youth as one “who knew how to hunt, a man of the field (Genesis 25:27),” those weren’t negative traits per se. He failed to guide his nature properly, and when his character was put to the test, he was no longer defined by his proclivity to hunting and the field, but by his impulse itself.
Certain rabbis remind us that, as Jews, we have elements of both Esau and Jacob within us. It is our discipline to display both as befits the situation, but obviously more Jacob is preferable for daily relating to the human world around us.
Thanks for sharing that. The Talmud lauds the respect that Esau had for his parents, so that is certainly something to emulate. Other than that, I don’t recall any other positive qualities of Esau that are worthy to emulate, but as I wrote in this piece, there is a lot we can learn about the faults in our own character, what needs to be improved, and how to inspire our own spiritual growth.
Very informative G-d bless you
Is there a bias towards the intellectual brother?
Is there an argument for the practical and child like nature that is not suspecting treachery?
Those are interesting questions. Are you asking whether the Torah has a bias towards the more intellectual brother? I’m not sure that there is. Jacob had 12 children, all of them righteous, but all of them different. Although I would imagine we would be impressed by the intellectual prowess of all of them, the strengths of all of them, besides Levi and Yissachar, were in other arenas. Esau had the potential to be a man of great honor had he made the right choices in life.
There are advantages to the unsuspecting nature, but there is great risk in naivete. Although Jacob is described as a “Tam” – simple and pure, he proved his ability to deal with the treachery of Esau and Laban. This would teach us that we should not be naive, and learn to subdue the evil in the world so the goodness of the Divine prevails.
The DISCUSSIONS of Torah seem to lean towards the intellectual preference….. which is fair ………. otherwise mankind would be ignorant of the Divine Intention for the healing of the nations
It is the word ‘evil’ that carries too much weight – I would say that it is evil to take advantage of a person’s moment of weakness for self gain. And I would say it is good to trade openly and evenly
The message at birth………. where Jacob held on to the ankle of Esau … already suggests that Jacob would be restricting Esau’s freedom physically
The learning curve in which little monkey learns to be an intelligent human being, surely can only happen with the interplay of naivety and intelligence in us all.
Jacob may have been naive to imagine marrying the younger sister before the elder was married………… but he was patient and steadfast to get what he desired.
Esau was just hungry and unsuspecting – he trusted his brother – is Esau not simple and pure like a child in this story?
I wonder….. what was Esau’s treachery ? Is that justification for trickery anyway?
We are born naive and learn to be intelligent through our experiences………. the wise person with compassion would surely teach rather than subdue and naivety is not evil
I think the Torah is absolute and pure
You raise some interesting points, and unfortunately I can’t address them all. However, do consider that although one can interpret Esau’s giving up of the firstborn rights as naivete, or even laudable, it’s really impossible to say that when the Torah testifies to Esau’s actions, “And Esau disgraced the firstborn right.” Also, the Haftorah we read last week removes all doubt of Esau’s personality: I loved Jacob, and Esau I hated – See Malachi 2-3 https://www.sefaria.org/Malachi.1.2?lang=bi
Rabbi, you wrote, “he failed to pause to think about what he was seeing. Why, indeed, was Jacob cooking lentils?” How does this mesh with the midrash that Esau was coming back from killing Nimrod since he couldn’t stand the thought that Nimrod would outlive Abraham?
Thank you for your interesting question. I’m familiar with the Midrash that says he had just killed Nimrod, but I hadn’t heard his intention of defending the honor of Abraham. Can you respond with the source for that?
Either way, Esau still appeared to be oblivious to the reason Jacob was cooking the lentils and had no compunctions about demanding that Jacob feed some of it to him.
Sorry. I don’t know the source. Just remembered it from somewhere. 🙁 Thank you for responding.