In the opening section of Parashat Toledot, we read of the transfer of the birthright from Esav to Yaakov, which Yaakov demanded in response to Esav's request that he feed him some of the food he was preparing. The Torah tells that Esav returned from the field and said to Yaakov, "Hal'iteini na" – "please pour for me" some of the food. Rashi explains the word hal'iteini as referring to the pouring of large amounts of food directly into someone else's mouth. He cites a Mishna in Masekhet Shabbat (155b) which employs this term in reference to feeding a camel. Several writers detected in this terminology an expression of Esav's lack of etiquette, dignity and self-respect. The word hal'iteini means not simply "pour for me," but probably a rough equivalent to "dump for me" or "throw over here," and it thus reflects Esav's unrefined and boorish character.
Rav Moshe Leib Shachor, in his Avnei Shoham, notes that if, indeed, hal'iteini signifies Esav's incivility and coarse nature, then the word that immediately follows – "na," or "please" – seems wholly inconsistent with the tenor of Esav's remarks. If Esav really does speak so boorishly, why does he insert the word "please"? What more, later in the parasha, we find that Yaakov's use of this term while disguising as Esav led Yitzchak to suspect that he was not Yaakov. Commenting on Yitzchak's famous declaration, "The voice is the voice of Yaakov, but the hands are the hands of Esav" (27:22), Rashi explains that Yaakov had spoken politely to his father, kindly asking, "Please, go and sit and partake of my hunt" (27:19). Esav, however, when he returns from his hunt, shouts, "Get up, my father" (27:21), without saying, "please." It appears, then, that Esav was not accustomed to refined, courteous speech. How, then, do we account for the word na – "please" – in his request for food from Yaakov?
Rav Shachor answers by suggesting a most novel interpretation of this verse. In Sefer Shemot (12:9), the Torah writes, "al tokhelu mimenu na" – one may not partake of the korban pesach (paschal offering) when it is na, which means not fully roasted. Accordingly, Rav Shachor suggests, we might interpret the word na here in Parashat Toledot as likewise referring to food that has not yet been fully cooked. Esav does not ask, "Please pour me," but rather "pour it to me half-cooked." The word na specifically emphasizes Esav's impatience and insistence that he be fed immediately, without waiting for the stew to fully cook, and it is thus entirely consistent with the connotation of the term hal'iteini. This also explains the final words in Esav's request – "ki ayeif anokhi" ("for I am weary"). Esav tells Yaakov to serve him the food as is, without letting it finish cooking, because he was famished and could not wait any longer.
Rav Shachor adds that this may also explain why Esav asks Yaakov to serve him "min ha-adom ha-adom ha-zeh" – "from this red, red stuff." Why does he emphasize the food's color? Rav Shachor explains that Yaakov was preparing red lentils (see 25:34), whose red color gradually fades over the course of cooking. Esav asked that Yaakov give him the lentils in their current state, even before their redness fades, rather than waiting until they are fully cooked.