The portion of the text quoted below is only that which directly describes how Ya’akov and Eisav looked, and what happened as a result. The entire story is too long to be included in this page, but it should be studied in its entirety, as should the related commentary. While below I quote the parts related to Eisav’s and Ya’akov’s relative hairiness, of course the part deleted, describing the process through which Ya’akov obtained the birthright and blessings, is far more important.
| Genesis 25:21 | And … Rivka became pregnant… | … וַתַּהַר רִבְקָה …׃ |
| 25:24 | … [with] twins… | … וְהִנֵּה תוֹמִם …׃ |
| 25:25 | And the first emerged red and hairy all over, and they named him Esau (“Hairy”). | וַיֵּצֵא הָרִאשׁוֹן אַדְמוֹנִי כֻּלּוֹ כְּאַדֶּרֶת שֵׂעָר וַיִּקְרְאוּ שְׁמוֹ עֵשָׂו׃ |
| 27:1 | When Isaac was old and his eyes grew too dark to see, he called … Esau … | וַיְהִי כִּי־זָקֵן יִצְחָק וַתִּכְהֶיןָ עֵינָיו מֵרְאֹת וַיִּקְרָא אֶת־עֵשָׂו …׃ |
| 27:2 | And he said… | וַיֹּאמֶר …׃ |
| 27:3 | “And now, take your … quiver and bow, and go to the fields and hunt game for me. | וְעַתָּה שָׂא־נָא … תֶּלְיְךָ וְקַשְׁתֶּךָ וְצֵא הַשָּׂדֶה וְצוּדָה לִּי (צידה) [צָיִד]׃ |
| 27:4 | “And make me tasty food that I love, and I will eat, so that I will give you a blessing from my soul, before I die. | וַעֲשֵׂה־לִי מַטְעַמִּים כַּאֲשֶׁר אָהַבְתִּי וְהָבִיאָה לִּי וְאֹכֵלָה בַּעֲבוּר תְּבָרֶכְךָ נַפְשִׁי בְּטֶרֶם אָמוּת׃ |
| 27:15 | And Rivka then …; | וַ… רִבְקָה …׃ |
| 27:16 | …covered his hands and the hairless part of his neck with the (hairy) goat skins…. | וְאֵת עֹרֹת גְּדָיֵי הָעִזִּים הִלְבִּישָׁה עַל־יָדָיו וְעַל חֶלְקַת צַוָּארָיו׃ |
| 27:21 | Then Itzchak said to Ya’akov: “Please come near, so that I may feel you, my son—whether you are really my son Esau or not.” | וַיֹּאמֶר יִצְחָק אֶל־יַעֲקֹב גְּשָׁה־נָּא וַאֲמֻשְׁךָ בְּנִי הַאַתָּה זֶה בְּנִי עֵשָׂו אִם־לֹא׃ |
| 27:22 | So Jacob drew close to his father Isaac, who felt him and wondered. “The voice is the voice of Jacob, yet the hands are the hands of Esau.” | וַיִּגַּשׁ יַעֲקֹב אֶל־יִצְחָק אָבִיו וַיְמֻשֵּׁהוּ וַיֹּאמֶר הַקֹּל קוֹל יַעֲקֹב וְהַיָּדַיִם יְדֵי עֵשָׂו׃ |
| 27:23 | He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; and so he blessed him. | וְלֹא הִכִּירוֹ כִּי־הָיוּ יָדָיו כִּידֵי עֵשָׂו אָחִיו שְׂעִרֹת וַיְבָרְכֵהוּ׃ |
- Ingredients as Shown:
- 3 cranberries
- Corn bread
- Cranberry sauce
- Celery
Tools:
- Knife
- Toothpick
Instructions:
- Choose two cranberries to make “heads.” Cut pieces of cornbread in proportion to the cranberries to make bodies. Cut four pieces of celery to make “arms.”
2. Cover “Eisav” in cranberry sauce to make him hairy.
3. Cut the top of a third cranberry to form a “pot.”
4. Cut a piece of celery approx. 1/4″ wide by a length appropriate to be Eisav’s bow. Cut a second, very thin strip, approximately twice its length. Poke a toothpick through the thick strip, pulling the toothpick all the way through. Insert one end of the thin strip into each of the holes, pulling until the celery creation looks like a bow.
5. Place the bow near “Eisav,” and the bowl near “Ya’akov.” Add a piece of celery near Eisav to be an arrow, and another near Ya’akov to make a spoon.