"Th'enherytaunce of the elder brother solde for a messe of potage" - Erasmus: Parallel stories between Esau 'at the point of death' and Isaac 'at the point of death'. What to make of lentil stew and venison hotpot?

(28) Isaac favored Esau because he had a taste for game; but Rebekah favored Jacob. (29) Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the open, famished. (30) And Esau said to Jacob, “Give me some of that red stuff to gulp down, for I am famished”—which is why he was named Edom. (31) Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” (32) And Esau said, “I am at the point of death, so of what use is my birthright to me?” (33) But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. (34) Jacob then gave Esau bread and lentil stew; he ate and drank, and he rose and went away. Thus did Esau spurn the birthright.

הלעיטני LET ME SWALLOW — I will open my mouth and you pour a lot in. The word is really used of feeding animals as we find the word in the Mishna, (Shabbat 155b) “One may not fatten up a camel on the Sabbath but one may put food (מלעיטין) into its mouth. ”

על כן קרא שמו אדום. When he saw that Esau was so totally absorbed in his futile occupation, an occupation which does not represent the task of man on earth, that he could not even identify the lentils by their name but referred to them only by their colour, he called him by that name himself, i.e. אדום, in the imperative, meaning “paint yourself red by swallowing the red dish!”

מן האדום האדום “from this reddish looking stuff.” Every time we encounter the adjective “red,” it always appears to be repeated. The author quotes as examples: אדמדם, ירקרק in Leviticus 13,19 and 49 .(Rash’bam). When someone requests something urgently, he is always in the habit of repeating the key words in such a request. Esau, on that occasion, was extremely in need of food and drink.

מן האדום האדום הזה, “from this reddish looking stuff;” the lentils were red, or they were spiced in red looking spice-dishes so that they reflected the colour of the container they were in. Seeing that Esau could not identify the exact nature of the dish he referred to it only by colour, calling it “this red stuff.” Subsequently people who heard about this called him אדום, “the red one,” making fun of his boorishness. They referred to someone who traded a valuable birthright for a mess of some reddish-looking stuff with sarcasm. Another way of looking at our verse: the fact that Esau repeated the word אדום, red, had to do with the discipline of astrology. The planet Mars is (looks) red and as such is a symbol of war and bloodshed. According to the scientists the red-coloured fruit also derives some of its power from that planet. The same applies to certain red-coloured gemstones such as rubies. In other words, the planet Mars extends influence over some of all three categories of phenomena in our world, the living creatures, the plants, as well as the inert. This planet (horoscope) was Esau’s especially, and that is why later on Yitzchak blessed him with a power he already possessed, i.e. the power of the sword. When he asked Yaakov to give him from the “red” dish he meant that this dish more than any other was germane to his character. He expected to renew his flagging spirits from a red dish faster than from any dish of another colour. Esau came by his inclination to shed blood naturally as he had been born under that horoscope. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, in Bereshit Rabbah 63,12 expanding on that theme, said that just as Esau himself was red, so his food was red, his country was red, his clothing was red and when the time comes that he has to give an accounting for his crimes the payment demanded from him will be red, i.e. blood. Mount Seir, which was the land allocated to Esau was also known as ארץ אדום, “the red land” (Genesis 32,4).
The Midrash quotes verses documenting Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish’s statement.

ויאמר...הלעיטני נא, the word הלעיטני is equivalent to האכילני, “feed me!” Our sages in Shabbat 155 in dealing with methods permissible to feed one’s livestock on the Sabbath, say אין ממארים את העגלים אבל מלעיטים אותן, “whereas it is forbidden to use mechanical devices to feed one’s animals one may do so by hand.” In other words, הלעטה describes the crudest form of introducing food into one’s mouth.

מן האדם האדם הזה, a reference to the lentils, which when peeled, look reddish. The reason why he repeated the word האדם unnecessarily was that it reflects his intense desire for them. This is why he called his name Edom, to reflect the fact that he was always attracted, nay, fascinated by anything red.

מן האדום האדום הזה, it is common for a person who is in a hurry and who demands something from his fellow to repeat his request. In this instance, seeing that Esau was both tired and hungry, his choice of words is equivalent to asking to get something to eat in a hurry.

Edom: The word Edom means red. Esau was ruddy and sold his birthright for the sake of red food. Thus, the name Edom is a term of contempt.

מן האדום האדום הזה, “from this reddish looking dish.” Some commentators understand the second word אדום as a reference to Esau himself who was known as אדום, “the red one.” It was a play on words, the “red one” saying that the reddish looking dish is fit for the reddish looking man, meaning himself.

הנה אנכי הולך למות BEHOLD I AM IN PERIL TO DIE — The birthright is something unstable, for not always will the sacrificial duties be performed by the first-born, for the tribe of Levi will assume this. Further Esau said: What is the nature of this Service? Jacob replied, “Many prohibitions and punishments and many acts involving even the punishment of death are associated with it — just as we read in the Mishna, (Sanhedrin 22b): The following priests are liable to death: those who carry out their duties after having drunk too much wine and those who officiate long-haired. He said: If I am going to die through it, why should I desire it.

I am about to die. Eisov observed that on account of his hazardous life as a hunter he might very well die before his father and never enjoy the portion of the first born.

ויאמר עשו, it is not clear whether the Torah records Esau’s reflections on Yaakov’s demand, something Esau did not articulate, or whether Esau told Yaakov in so many words that the birthright was of no value to him as he did not expect to live long enough to benefit from it

הנה אנכי הולך למות, I am going into the forest day after day to hunt in an area full of bears, lions and other ferocious beasts, and I am risking my life on a daily basis. What point would there be in my waiting until our father dies and I get my share of the birthright? This is the way my father Rabbi Meir interpreted Esau’s words in this verse. This is the meaning of “Esau despised the birthright.” (verse 34).

ויבז עשו THUS ESAU DESPISED—Scripture testifies to his wickedness: that he despised the Service of the Omnipresent!

ויבז עשו, seeing that eventually Esau regretted having sold his birthright, as we know from 27,36 the Torah goes on record here that he had despised the birthright and had no right to go back on the bargain he had made in full knowledge of what it entailed.

(1) When Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” He answered, “Here I am.” (2) And he said, “I am old now, and I do not know how soon I may die. (3) Take your gear, your quiver and bow, and go out into the open and hunt me some game. (4) Then prepare a dish for me such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my innermost blessing before I die.”

Made it into a tasty dish. Yitzchok knew that Eisov was not worthy of the blessing that he wished to confer upon him. For this reason he instructed him to perform an act of honor towards him to give him merit. By contrast when he blessed Yaakov (28:3) he knew that he needed no additional merit.

ועשה לי מטעמים ...בעבור תברכך נפשי, “and prepare them for me as a tasty dish,...in order that my soul may bless you.” When Yitzchak appeared to emphasize the taste of the food he asked Esau to prepare for him he did not allude to the physical enjoyment he would derive from this as an objective in itself. He meant that the pleasant frame of mind he would be in after eating such a meal would result in his enjoying a degree of holy spirit so that his blessing of his son would become effective. Our sages in Shabbat 30 are on record that the שכינה, the benevolent presence of G’d, does not rest on a person when he is inert, lazy, nor when he is sad, but only when he is in a joyous frame of mind. They base this on Kings II 3,15 (where Elisha could not muster the spirit of prophecy and he instructed that music be played) “as the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him, etc.” This is the reason Yitzchak was careful to speak of his נפש, “his soul” enjoying the food; he did not want Esau to think that he wanted his body to enjoy this food. You will notice this repeated emphasis on נפשי, נפשך during this entire episode. The Torah wanted us to know the real reason Yitzchak ordered מטעמים, “delicious food,” to be prepared for him. If you were to ask why he did not simply order music to be played as did the prophets, or for that matter as did King Saul when he wanted to rid himself of a melancholy state of mind, the reason is that the blessing he was about to bestow was not of a spiritual kind but of a mundane nature, commanding earthly, bodily blessings to be granted to Esau by G’d. We see that in verse 19 Yitzchak called down “dew from the sky,” assured Esau (whom he thought he was addressing) the fat parts of the earth, corn and wine to be plentiful, etc.” It is quite understandable then that the frame of mind he was trying to achieve in order to pronounce these blessings with full concentration had to be based on his having enjoyed these very benefits himself recently. Here is an interesting excerpt of how our sages viewed the detail provided by the Torah in this whole paragraph. The Talmud Rosh Hashanah 16 asks: “why did the Torah command the libations of water which had to accompany the Mussaph offerings on the festival of Tabernacles?” Answer: “In order for G’d to bestow on us the blessings of an adequate water supply, Tabernacles being the season when we pray for this, i.e. for the rains to be rains of blessing.” Why did the Torah command the Jewish people to offer the “Omer” offering, (a measure of the first ripe barley of the season)?” Answer: “In order for G’d to extend His blessing for the grain harvest which begins around this time of year.” Why did G’d command the Jewish people to offer two loaves of the new wheat harvest in the Temple on the festival of Shavuot?” Answer: “In order for G’d to bless the fruit of the trees which begin to ripen at that time of year.” These blessings, if and when they materialise, would constitute a reward for the public offerings which the Torah commanded to be brought on those festivals. The Talmud is at pains to demonstrate the מדה כנגד מדה principle, i.e. that G’d always responds to us in the manner in which we have related to Him. We must not think that a good harvest constitutes the true reward for Torah observance, G’d forbid! After all, our sages have told us explicitly in Kidushin 39 that the real reward for Torah observance is not dispensed in this life at all. Whatever blessings we experience in this life are only in the nature of a “dividend” compared to the capital reward which we will receive in the hereafter. Our sages illustrated this with the following example: when someone is especially meticulous about observing the commandment involving ציצית, fringes, he will find that in due course he will have prestigious looking garments. When someone is especially meticulous in the manner he observes the commandment involving מזוזות, (attaching a parchment containing the words of this commandment on his door posts), he will find that in due course he will become the owner of an imposing residence., etc. etc. The idea the sages conveyed is that the “dividend” will correspond in a recognisable manner to the type of commandment observed meticulously; however, the sages only spoke about the “dividend,” not about the real reward which has not been revealed as it is reserved for the hereafter.

ועשה, he did not ask for venison because there was shortage of food in his home, for he was exceedingly wealthy. We observe that aged people progressively get tired of the food they are used to, and they crave something new to give them an incentive to eat and enjoy their food. Venison is a different kind of meat, not comparable in taste to the meat of sheep or goats or beef. Therefore Yitzchok asked Esau to bring him something which would put him in a pleasant frame of mind, the kind of good feeling which is a necessary prelude to bestowing a blessing with one’s entire heart. He was well aware that he needed something to put him into the right frame of mind as Esau’s general conduct was not one that commended itself to his father so that he would gladly volunteer such a blessing as he felt he was obligated to dispense. There would be no need to send Yaakov on such an errand prior to blessing him, as his righteousness made blessing him something natural.

ועשה לי מטעמים ואוכלה, “and prepare it for me into a delicacy so that I will eat it.” Seeing you had forfeited your birthright through something that you ate, I will help you to regain it through the food you give me to eat.