GEN1217 Although there are medieval commentators who interpret this statement as the hyperbole of an impetuous and myopic boor, there is another stream of biblical commentary that argues for the literal sense. Commentators like Abraham bin Ezra suggest that Esau understands that hunting is dangerous business and that he is likely to predecease his father, thereby rendering his birthright worthless. Better, Esau shrewdly reasons, to get something for the birthright now. [Eighteen century Rabbi] Yehezkel Landau uses this commentary on an aggadic passages in Genesis to conclude that hunting is dangerous for the hunter, and placing oneself unnecessarily in a dangerous situation is a clear violation of the halakhah! Thus, sport hunting is prohibited not because of the senseless murder of the hunted animal, but because of the potential danger to the hunter. One wonder how Landau would argue the issue today, given hunters with high-powered telescopic rifles riding in jeeps akin to armored personnel carriers. (By Shai Cherry, "Ethical Theories in the Conservative Movement" OXFORD 232