Bereshit 25:21-34
The Lentil Stew
Esav comes in from the field worn out, asks for food and sells Yaakov his birthright.
וְיַעֲקֹב נָתַן לְעֵשָׂו לֶחֶם וּנְזִיד עֲדָשִׁים וַיֹּאכַל וַיֵּשְׁתְּ וַיָּקָם וַיֵּלַךְ וַיִּבֶז עֵשָׂו אֶת־הַבְּכֹרָה׃
Bereshit 25:34
Yaakov gave Esav bread and lentil stew; he ate and drank, got up and went, and Esav despised the birthright.
- What it teaches
Patience. Mastering anger and impulse, and giving people and things time.
Esav comes back worn out, asks to gulp down the stew and sells the birthright before he has eaten. The Torah tells what happened next in five verbs in a row: he ate, drank, got up, left and despised. Patience is pausing between the urge and the act, and asking what really matters to us.
- The lesson
- Hunger passes after one meal, but what we sold because of it stays sold.