Shabbos Parashas Toldos - 5777

Shabbos Parashas Toldos - 5777

Rabbi Hal Miller

Yaakov said, "Sell, as the day, your birthright to me." [Bereishis 25:31]

When Esau heard his father's words, he cried out an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and

said to his father, "Bless me too, Father!" [Bereishis 27:34]​

What is it that Esau sold to Yaakov? What was the "birthright" that was the subject of the

transaction?​ Whatever it is, Esau has no interest in it, as he says in [25:33], "Of what use

to me is a birthright?" Yet later in our second verse, he seems to have changed his mind.

Some, such as Rav Moshe Feinstein, say that Esau actually did value and want it, but

believed that he would die young due to the danger of his profession as a hunter of wild

game. If so, then our view of Esau as a fool who thoughtlessly threw away something of

tremendous value, is wrong. He actually, intentionally had the good of the future nation

in mind when he yielded it to Yaakov. Where he failed was in emunah. If he truly was to

be the progenitor of the nation, G-d would certainly protect him, but he lost faith. The

later verse shows that Esau came to that realization and corrected himself.

Nachshoni writes, "This birthright symbolizes spiritual and moral superiority. Esau was

simply not fit to carry out the mission that had been imposed on Avraham and Yitzchak,

and a kingdom of priests and holy nation​ could not have been built from him." According

to Ramban, "the birthright was to inherit the father's prestige and his authority."

Malbim says, "The concept of the birthright was that the firstborn be separated for Divine

service, while the other brothers would engage in mundane worldly matters." The story

of the two brothers makes clear which one preferred which avocation.

So if the birthright is the spiritual inheritance of their father, as opposed to the material

inheritance, and if Esau chose the material, why did he later change his mind?

In Megillas Esther [4:1] we see almost exactly the same language, "he cried out a great

and bitter cry" at the point where Mordecai recognized the danger his nation found itself

in. At first glance, we might try to learn each instance from the other, but in fact there is

a small difference. In our verse, the word for cry is tzakah. In the Megillah, it is zakah, a

zayin instead of a tzadi. What is the difference and how does it help us here?

Tzakah is considered a stronger word, which Rav Dovid Feinstein says "would have

connoted a cry of intense pain. The word zakah has the connotation of gathering the

people and sounding an alarm." In the Megillah, Mordecai sounded an alarm to all

the people, an unselfish move, the purpose of which was strictly to save the Jews. In

our verse, the cry of intense pain was personal to Esau. He did this only for his own

benefit, not for any other person or group.

Esau came to the realization that the real goal of our time in this world is to punch a

ticket to the world to come. He realized that he had ruined his chance. His pain was

not for the Jewish people, who would be descended from his more spiritual brother,

but only for his own failed future. That cry sealed his fate. There was no going back,

his loss of belief in G-d was not just temporary.