In the opening section of Parashat Toledot, we read of the transfer of the birthright from Esav to Yaakov, which Yaakov demanded in response to Esav's request that he feed him some of the food he was preparing.  The Torah tells that Esav returned from the field and said to Yaakov, "Hal'iteini na" – "please pour for me" some of the food.  Rashi explains the word hal'iteini as referring to the pouring of large amounts of food directly into someone else's mouth.  He cites a Mishna in Masekhet Shabbat (155b) which employs this term in reference to feeding a camel. 

רק מי שראה מאות מיליוני 'הגָזָם, האַרבֶּה, היֶלֶק והֶחָסיל' בְּמוֹ עיניו, יכול לתאר אותם כך. או שלא?

ביואל פרק ב' אנו מוצאים עדות לכל המהלך הגדול של חגי התשובה, חגי תשרי.

Today we will present the approach taken by Rav Soloveitchik zt"l to the precise difference between Yaakov and Esav based on the Torah's brief description of their personalities in Parashat Toledot, from a shiur transcribed by Ayton Holtzer and printed (in Hebrew translation) in Yeshivat Har Etzion's publication, "Daf Kesher."

A particularly fascinating – and revolutionary – approach to the story of Esav's sale of the birthright to Yaakov is taken by one of the renowned 19th-century commentators.

In Parashat Toledot the Torah informs us that after Avraham's death, the Pelishtim (Philistines) stuffed the wells of water that he had dug in the Negev, and his son, Yitzchak, now digs them anew (26:15,18). At first glance, this conduct of the Pelishtim seems totally irrational and self-destructive. We can easily understand the incident briefly recorded earlier, in Parashat Vayera (21:25), where servants of the Philistine king, Avimelekh, stole one of Avraham's wells and claimed rightful ownership over it.

לפניכם קטע מתוך דף הלימוד של "מתן על הפרק" בו תמצאו שאלות מנחות והרחבות לעיון והעמקה בפרק:

Towards the beginning of Parashat Toledot, we read of the "sale" of Esav's "bekhora" (birthright) to Yaakov. This incident raises many questions, which have been dealt with by both Biblical commentators as well as halakhists. For one thing, scholars have discussed the legal significance of this sale. The privileges associated with the birthright take effect only upon the father's death; as such, these privileges fall under the halakhic category of "davar she-lo ba la-olam" – something that has yet to come into one's possession.

Parashat Toledot tells of Yitzchak's experiences living among the Pelishtim. Having settled in Gerar among the Pelishtim to escape the famine that ravaged most of the region, Yitzchak, much to the local population's astonishment, engages in highly successful agricultural pursuits: "Yitzchak sowed in that land and reaped a hundredfold the same year" (26:12).

לפניכם קטע מתוך דף הלימוד של "מתן על הפרק" בו תמצאו שאלות מנחות והרחבות לעיון והעמקה בפרק: