Food For Thought

Parshas Toldos

Posted on November 16, 2023 (5784) By Rabbi Yochanan Zweig | Series: Rabbi Zweig on the Parsha| Level: Intermediate Beginner

“Eisav came in from the field and he was exhausted” (25:29)

Rashi cites a Midrash which explains “ayeif” means that Eisav was tired after having committed murder, as we find the term “ayeif” – “exhausted” relating to murder elsewhere in the Torah.¹ Rashi generally follows the literal interpretation of the verse, relying on the Midrash only when it supports the simple reading. Where in the verse do we see that “tired” does not simply mean physically exhausted? Furthermore, why does the act of murder cause a state of exhaustion?

 

There are two ways in which one can be exhausted. A person can be either physically exhausted due to an expenditure of energy, or emotionally exhausted as a result of being involved in something that leaves him completely unfulfilled. A person who mans a store all day long, without any customers entering may be completely drained at the end of the day; this is not because of any physical strain, but because he did not accomplish anything.

 

Murder is an act which is completely destructive and cannot offer a person any true sense of accomplishment. Therefore, the Torah connects exhaustion to murder, for ultimately this is the feeling that the murderer experiences. What still must be resolved is the question of where in the verse Rashi sees that the exhaustion is an emotional one, rather than a physical one. The answer lies in the continuation of the narrative. Eisav comes home exhausted and requests to be fed. A person who is physically exhausted desires sleep, not food. Wanting to eat is very often a manifestation of emotional exhaustion. When a person feels emotionally unfulfilled, he looks for food to satisfy his craving for fulfillment.

The Search for Blessings

Parshas Toldos

Posted on November 16, 2023 (5784) By Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky | Series: Drasha| Level: Beginner

This week’s parsha begins the saga of the long, almost endless struggle between Yaakov and Esav. Yaakov buys the birthright from a hungry Esav and then, coached by his mother, Rivka, he dresses like Esav and receives blessings from his father Isaac.

 

I have received numerous letters throughout the years pondering those actions. Indeed, Yaakov himself is wary of acting in a seemingly devious manner and is reassured by his righteous mother who accepts full responsibility for his actions.

 

When Esav arrives for the blessings, his father tells him that his younger brother cleverly took all the blessings, but Esav, despondent as he may be declares to his father, “He (Jacob) took away my birthright and see, now he took away my blessing!” He adds, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me? Isaac answered, and said to Esau, “Behold, a lord have I made him over you, and all his kin have I given him as servants; with grain and wine have I supported him, and for you, where — what can I do, my son?”. And Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, Father? Bless me too, Father!” And Esau raised his voice and wept. (Genesis 27:36-38).

 

I often wondered about the lesson of this repartee. Esav, clearly angered by Yaakov’s cunning, still has clarity of mind to ask for a blessing. Yitzchak seems to demur, inferring that there is nothing left. But Esav prevails by pleading, even crying for a blessing. And only then does his father acquiesce and bless him as well.

 

Was there a blessing left or not? Can pleading with the saintly patriarch produce a previously non-extant blessing? Maybe Esav’s tears taught a lesson even for the children of Yaakov?

 

In the summer of 2001 30,000 Boy Scouts joined together in Virginia for a national Boy Scout Jamboree. Among the myriad groups of scouts who attend this event that occurs every four years are many Jewish Scouts as well. Mike Paretsky, a Vice Chairman of the GNYC Jewish Committee on scouting, was the kosher food liaison to the jamboree. Special food was ordered from O’Fishel caterers of Baltimore, so that the Jewish scouts would be able to nourish their bodies as well.

 

One of the scoutmasters, a Jewish man caught a glimpse of the kosher offerings. He had never eaten a kosher meal in his life, yet when he saw the special meals, something stirred. He and his troops were being served pork-this and bacon-that for breakfast, lunch and supper, and all of a sudden this man decided he was sick of the monotonous treif stuff. He wanted to eat kosher. Scoutmaster Paretsky gladly let him partake in a meal, but that was not enough for the fellow. The man decided to keep kosher during the entire jamboree!

 

Mr. Paretsky agreed to accommodate the neophyte kosherphile, but a skeptic approached him.

 

“Mike,” he said, “why are you wasting your kosher food on this fellow? He is not going to eat kosher after this is over, and he observes absolutely nothing! Why waste the food on him?”

 

Mike answered with an amazing story of the Chofetz Chaim. When Russian soldiers entered the town of Radin, Jewish townsfolk prepared kosher meals for the Jewish soldiers in the Czar’s army. Soon their acts of charity seemed to fly in their face as they saw the soldiers devour the food and then stand on line to receive the forbidden Russian rations.

 

When they complained to the Chofetz Chaim and threatened to stop preparing kosher food, he reflected with an insight that must be passed on to generations.

 

“Every mitzvah that a Jew does, every good deed and every bit of kosher that he eats is not a fleeting act. It is an eternity. No matter what precedes or ensues, we must cherish each proper action of a Jew.”

 

The wayward son, Esav is at first told by his father that there are no blessings. But he cries bitterly and cannot fathom that fact. “Is there nothing left?” He asks. It cannot be. And he was right. There is always some blessing left to be found. No matter how far one has strayed, no matter how bleak a situation looks. There is always blessing. We must pursue it, even cry for it, and when we receive the tiniest blessing it may seem trivial, even fleeting, but it is with us for eternity.