In the Midrash, Chazal teach us that the bitter tears which Eisav shed merited him the blessings for which he yearned. Horav Shmelke M’Nikolsburg, z.l., made an interesting observation based upon this Midrash. It is a wonder that the few tears shed by Eisav serve as his source for blessing. We have a halachic rule that if an impermissible food falls into a permissible food, the resultant mixture does not become forbidden if there is sixty times as much permitted food as forbidden food. This is referred to as the rule of “batel b’shishim.” Now, Bnei Yisrael have cried oceans of tears throughout their bitter years of exile. Should not their tears have been sufficient to render Eisav’s tears negligible, thereby negating the blessings that Yitzchak gave him? Indeed, our tears comprise much more than the required sixty times.
Rav Shmelke’s response strikes at our materialistic attitude and lifestyle. Another halachah is relevant in this context. If the two components of the admixture are “min b’mino,” both of the same type of food, then the forbidden food does not become negligible, regardless of the excess amount of permitted food. The tears of Eisav and the tears of the Jews, regrettably, are of the same genre. As Eisav asked for and received material abundance, so do we similarly cry for material goods.
Do we cry for Galus Ha’Shechinah, the exile of the Almighty? Do we cry because we cannot serve Hashem properly, or because we have material burdens? Do we cry over Hashem’s distress that His people are suffering, or do we cry like Eisav did — for ourselves, to satisfy our own needs? Only when our tears are of a different nature will they have the “ability” to overwhelm and negate Eisav’s tears.
