In Madreigas Ha’Adam Rav Yosef Yoizel Horowitz the Alter of Novardok asks: How did Yaakov know the exact moment to ask Eisav to sell him the bechorah the birthright? How could he know that Eisav was at all amenable to trading his birthright for a bowl of lentils?
It was when Eisav came in from the field hungry after hunting and saw Yaakov cooking lentils because Avraham Avinu had died that day and Yaakov was preparing the traditional mourning food. Eisav sees the food and immediately asks Yaakov to literally “Please pour into me some of that red red stuff for I am exhausted” (Bereishis 25:30).
Why at that moment was Yaakov moved to ask for the bechorah?
“The true test if our senses are healthy or not” writes the Madreigas Ha’Adam “lies in our yedias ha’hevdel our knowing the difference.”
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