When Eisav discovered that he had lost the bechorah to Yaakov, he was devastated — and yet, he had previously relinquished it so easily, as this week’s parshah tells us: “‘I am going to die so why do I need this bechorah?’ ... and he ate and drank and got up and left, and Eisav despised the bechorah.” How can we understand this?
Many people believe that the question of the bechorah was one of “this world” versus “the world to come” and that Yaakov was originally intended to benefit only from the world to come. The Chasam Sofer stresses that this is a mistaken interpretation. Hashem most definitely intended both this world and the next to be sources of delight (as the brachah we recite over fruit trees in the month of Nisan illustrates). He explains that Eisav was ready to give up the delights of both worlds in return for some lentil soup — and why? Because he was a ksil — a fool. Fools are only interested in the here-and-now.
On a simple level, Eisav thought that due to his lifestyle that was centered around hunting, he risked dying even before his father passed away. Therefore, what use was an inheritance to him? Better to grab what he could in the moment. But beyond that, it seems that Eisav was so immersed in the material pleasures of the moment that he blinded himself entirely to all sense of tomorrow. Not only did he discount long-term spiritual benefits, he also discounted long-term material benefits. This is what happens when people focus only on physical pleasure; they behave so foolishly that they end up losing everything.
This idea is relevant more often than we think. In our everyday interactions, we are frequently faced with a choice between something that “feels good” in the here-and-now, and something else that challenges us in the here-and-now but will pay rich and eternal dividends.
To give an example: During an argument between spouses, one of them may feel certain that, “I just have to tell him what I think — I need to get this off my chest,” and the result will be a shattered relationship due to words spoken that can never be retracted. When we focus on “what’s in it for me, right now?” we risk losing everything that in saner moments we know to be the really important things in life.
