Acquisition Or Inheritance
Rav Kook makes a distinction between the word קנין, which means, “acquisition,” and מורשה, which means, “inheritance.”
He referred to the acquisition of first born rights by both Yakov and Eisav. Biologically, Eisav came out of the womb before Yakov. However, because of his unworthiness, the opportunity arose where Yakov was able to acquire the birthright, for a bowl of lentil soup.
Yakov Avinu had four first born sons from his four wives. Reuven should have been the Bechor, because he was the oldest. He lost this right by showing his own unworthiness. Not only did he act inappropriately by moving his father’s bed into his mother’s tent, but he also demonstrated foolishness.
He tried to convince Yakov to send Binyamin to Egypt by telling his father that he could kill his two sons if he didn’t bring back his little brother. Yakov had to tell him grandsons are like sons.
Yosef proved to be the most worthy. He received a double portion by naming his sons, Efraim and Menashe, as tribes of Israel.
Rav Kook went on to explain that the Torah is also a מורשה, or inheritance for the Jewish people. Nevertheless, in order to make this connection to Torah that much stronger, we must make it a קנין, an acquisition. We must cherish the Torah by studying it daily, and by allowing it to guide our lives.
Acquiring the Torah comes when we firmly see it as a reflection of G-d’s will as to how we are to act in this world. Acquiring the Torah allows us to become true servants of G-d. This explains why Kinyan is a much higher level than Morasha.