ויהי עשו איש יודע ציד איש שדה ... (כה-כז)
MASHAL: Two meshulachim were given a room to sleep in. For their privacy, a small curtain separated the two, each provided with the necessary provisions to give their souls a peaceful night from their “grueling” day of “work.”
One night, Yankel hears his roommate Berel crying out in anguish. “Hashem,” he wailed, “how much longer do I have to suffer, I can’t take this anymore ...” This continued for many hours, well into the wee hours of the night. Finally, Yankel, who hadn’t slept the whole night due to the noises that filled the room, waited for a quiet moment and then bellowed out in the deepest resonating voice he could: “My son, your prayers have been answered. You can now sleep in peace!”
Startled by the revelation, Berel calmed down a bit, but wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass so fast. “Oh merciful Lord,” he began, “how much longer do I need to suffer?”
“Twelve months!” came the reply in a booming voice.
“And what will be after that, will I have a house? Will I be rich? How about my wife? My children?” he begged.
By now Yankel was getting annoyed, his ploy wasn’t working as well as planned. He switched back to his regular voice and blurted out: “Twelve months, and after that you’ll regulate to the soliciting routine - just like the rest of us did!”
NIMSHAL: Esav lived his life with a constant “pursuit of happiness.” He spent his time doing various activities to quench his unsatiable thirst for pleasure. He was ready, and ultimately did, sell his entire heritage for a mere bowl of lentils. Even Yitzchok gave him a blessing of constant worldly pleasures. “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” is thus the way of Esav. Our task is to break that routine and replace it with the pursuit of Hashem