Shabbat Toldot

Written by Celia Surget Thursday, 01 December 2005

Shabbat Toldot

“Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the open, tired. And Esau said to Jacob: Give me some of that red stuff to gulp down for I am tired.- which is why he was named Edom. Jacob said: first sell me your birthright. And Esau said, I am at the point of death, so what use is my birthright to me? But Jacob said, swear to me first. SO he swore to him and sol his birthright to Jacob. Jacob then gave Esau bread and lentil stew; he ate and drank and he rose and went away. Thus did Esau spurn the birthright.”

In this episode we often focus on the manner in which Esau treated such an important blessing with such contempt as to sell it for a plate of lentils. Esau is usually the insensitive, beastly, indelicate one, who has very mundane preoccupations. Because of that and because of his asking for “red stuff” his name has become linked to that of the Roman Empire which caused such devastation for the Jews.
However, the text only mentions of Esau that he was “ayef”, tired or weary, and he himself says that he is “ayef”. Though it seems that ayef is often translated as famished or hungry in this context, I would like to suggest a perhaps less physical interpretation of the word.
To summarize: Esau is in an awkward situation within his family. He and his brother do not seem to be the best of friends, his mother favours Jacob, and his father, who favours Esau is old and blind. Not a great position to be in. One can imagine that perhaps when Esau expresses that he is ayef, tired and weary, he is referring to his emotional state, and not so much to his physical state. Perhaps what he was hoping to get from Jacob was support and understanding.
The first born blessing which Esau so seemingly lightly gave up is one which ensured certain privileges and opportunities to the first born son. It was also one which bestowed a certain amount of responsibility on that son. Responsibility is a way by which we define people, within a structure. Responsibility is something which is meant to bring pride to the person who takes it on. Part of that pride involves being able to share our success with those close to us. An opportunity which Esau did not seem to have.
Perhaps when Esau says to Jacob that he is at the point of death, he is referring to his emotional status, and means that he is at the end of his rope. His blessing is of no use to him, if it cannot be shared and celebrated with the rest of his family.
In an alternative version of the Torah, the scene would have developed as such:
Esau: Hey Jacob!
Jacob: Hey Esau, how was working the great outdoors?
Esau: Hein! Ok I guess.
Jacob: you ok? you seem kind of down.
Esau: Yeah, am feeling left out, kind of out of it, out of place.
Jacob: that stinks, here have some stew (let’s face it we only have five books to fit it all in)…
Esau: be right back, just want to let the ‘rents know I am back. But thanks for listening!
Jacob: no probs.

I feel sorry for Esau. It couldn’t have been easy to be in his sandals. And clearly he came to terms with his “issues” to put things in a contemporary context, because next time we meet him, he has a family, a following, and seems quite successful. This Torah portions underlines the fact that really, you never know quite what goes on behind close doors, whether those doors be physical or leading to our thoughts, and that those extra seconds it takes to acknowledge someone’s feelings can make a difference.

Celia Surget