Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
Toward the beginning of the parashah, Yaakov purchases the firstborn birthright from Esav (Bereishit 25:33). (The birthright refers to special privileges or responsibilities belonging to the firstborn.) In the very next verse, Yaakov feeds Esav bread and lentil stew (25:34).
What is the significance of this meal? How does it connect to Yaakov buying the birthright from Esav?
Radak offers two possibilities:
וְיַעֲקֹב נָתַן לְעֵשָׂו בִּמְחִיר הַבְּכוֹרָה לֶחֶם...
וַאֲדוֹנִי אֲבִי ז"ל כָּתַב כִּי מְחִיר כֶּסֶף נָתַן לוֹ עַל הַבְּכוֹרָה וּמָה שֶׁנָּתַן לוֹ לֶחֶם וּנְזִיד עֲדָשִׁים שֶׁיֹּאכְלוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם עַל הַמְּכִירָה כְּדֵי לְקַיְּמָהּ.
“And Yaakov gave to Esav” bread as the price of the firstborn birthright...
My father, of blessed memory, wrote that Yaakov paid for the firstborn birthright with money, and giving him bread and lentils to eat together was in order to uphold the sale.
According to Radak’s first interpretation, the meal was payment for the birthright Yaakov bought from Esav.
Radak also quotes his father, however, who thought that Yaakov paid money (not food) for the firstborn birthright, and that this meal was a way of making their agreement final, like a handshake.
The Malbim offers a different understanding:
שֶׁמֵּעַתָּה הוּטַל עַל יַעֲקֹב פַּרְנָסַת הַבַּיִת
[Yaakov gave Esav the stew] because the responsibilities of the house now fell upon Yaakov.
The Malbim also believes that Yaakov purchased the firstborn birthright with something other than food. Now that Yaakov owned that birthright, though, he had new responsibilities, including the obligation to provide food for his family members. So, this meal was a way of taking care of his responsibility to provide food to his brother.
- Can you find evidence for each of these interpretations from the pesukim?
- Food plays an important role in the stories of this parashah. When you consider the interpretations above, how many different uses of food are there, and what does that teach us about the ways we should view and treat food in our lives?
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