Eisav sold the bechora to his twin brother Yaakov, not even making much profit from it, but just for some simple lentils. Essentially, he sold a spiritual, eternal entity, the glorious privilege of the bechora, in exchange for a physical and fleeting product—some lentil stew.
Rav Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky seems to point out that when Esav initially came to make the purchase, he thought he fooled Yaakov into making such a deal. (Rav Yaakov Galinsky in Vehigadta, Toldot says that Eisav was so confident that he was getting a good deal, as the midrash tells us that he “brought with him a group of licentious people [to join his feasting]. They said: ‘Let us eat [of Yaakov’s food] and let us laugh at him [for wasting his money on the bechorah]’”). Yet, as much as Eisav, at the time of the sale, thought he got the better end of the deal, after he finished his lentil enjoyment, and all the hype died down, later on he regretted the sale, and thought that it was actually he who got fooled, as he exclaimed (in 27:36), “He (Yaakov) outwitted me ….”
This before and after phenomenon, as Rav Kanievsky seems to explain, is similarly experienced by those who give up on spiritual pursuits of engagement in Torah to pursue physical/material success instead: For some time, it may appear to them as if they have attained great and valuable achievements, but after some time, the joy ends, and in its place comes sorrow and embitterment. But the ultimate feelings of pain will be felt in the next world, when a person will truly see how much good he forfeited by setting his pursuits for earthly, fleeting pleasures, when instead if he would have pursued spiritual success, he could have reached such greatness to even become like Moshe Rabbeinu (Birkat Peretz, Toldot).
One might wonder how it could be that Eisav made such an apparently obvious and critical error to pass up on something so lofty as the bechora for some simple lentils. Yet, the reality is, as Rav Chaim Mintz (Etz Hachaim, Toldot 25:34) seems to say, we can wonder the same thing about ourselves, for if we engage in introspection and reflect on our ways, we will see that we often do many things such as this, passing up on opportunities to attain great spiritual accomplishments and thereby merit great eternal benefit, to instead engage in activities that are pointless and foolish (see there for some examples he brings).
We can suggest that perhaps putting more thought into the ultimate purpose of life and what is truly important and valuable can help us overcome and prevail in such situations. When temptation arises, one’s vision as to what is truly important and valuable might become blurred. Eisav, as Rav Kanievsky explains, knew something of the value of the bechora, since after all, he grew up in the house of Yitzchak Avinu, and he ultimately regretted the sale (Ibid). Yet, Eisav fell for some lentils in exchange for the bechora, and perhaps it’s because he was overcome by temptation—as he was indeed very hungry—that blurred his vision in the spur of the moment, thus prompting the sale, in which he relinquished something so valuable and eternal for something so temporary and fleeting.
Increasing in the understanding of, and constantly reflecting on, the purpose of life, and what is truly valuable and brings us eternal merit, as opposed to what is simply fleeting and, in the long run, does not offer us satisfaction or benefit, is perhaps one way of remaining steadfast to our values and priorities in life.
Binyamin is a graduate of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan and Wurzweiler School of Social Work.
