Toledot

How Much Love is Too Much?

By Rabbi Judith Edelstein

This week’s parashah, Toldot, was my son’s Bar Mitzvah portion 13 years ago. I can still vividly recall teaching him Torah and Haftarah chanting. We started nine months before the date because he wanted to read as much of the parashah that he could. This was what his classmates did, and he would not be satisfied with less. I established a routine of daily practice. Often my Jacob reclined and after 10 minutes of fidgeting would brandish his foot in my face. I remained undaunted, determined that he accomplish his goal. To that end I coaxed, coached and threatened “My Little Man” (whose height then matched mine). I believed that he could do it all if he worked hard enough, despite the fact that he was quiet, shy and humble – as he has remained to this day. To my amazement, he recalls nothing of the hours we Read More >

Don’t Forget the Lentils

By Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

What about the lentils?

“Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the open, famished. And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Give me some of that red stuff to gulp down, for I am famished’- which is why he was named Edom. Jacob said, ‘First sell me your birthright.’ And Esau said, ‘I am at the point of death, so of what use is my birthright to me?’ But Jacob said, ‘Swear to me first.’ So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Jacob then gave Esau bread and lentil stew; he ate and drank, and he rose and went away. Thus did Esau spurn the birthright” (Gen 25:29-34, New JPS translation).

We, along with the commentators, tend to focus on the people in this and other biblical stories, trying to gain insight into the meaning of the text and Read More >

By Rabbi Isaac Mann

Of the three Patriarchs, Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov, we know the least about Yitzhak (Isaac), around whom this week s Torah portion is centered. Unlike his father or his son, the Torah tells us precious little about Yitzhak s life or his encounters with others. Even where we have a somewhat lengthy story regarding Yitzhak s blessings of his sons, Yaakov and Eisav (Esau), the emphasis seems to be more on Yaakov and the manner in which he received the blessing than it is on his father Yitzhak.

Despite the dearth of incidents to work with, one thing is clear from what the Torah does tell us of Yitzhak, and that is that he had a communication problem. Whatever the reason may be, Yitzhak did not do a great job communicating with his family or with those around him. Regarding the latter, we only have Read More >

‘A New Look at Esav’
(Page references to Chumash Etz Chaim)
Rabbi David Mark

In this parashah, we meet Esav and Jacob for the first time’they are twins, but unalike. Esav is ‘red, like a hairy mantle’ (Gen 25:25, p.147), while Jacob is a ‘smooth man.’ Esav becomes ‘a skillful hunter,’ while Jacob is ‘a tent-dweller.’ (Gen 25:27)

Most rabbinic commentary on Esav has been prejudiced against him, considering him a foolish country bumpkin or an idolatrous villain. He is a fool because he sold his birthright to clever Jacob for a bowl of red-bean chili, thereby losing the better blessing. Other rabbis consider him dangerous because he is a hunter, unlike civilized Jacob, a shepherd. Finally, he is an idolater, because he marries two pagan Hittite women, who become ‘a source of bitterness to Isaac and Rebekah.’ (Gen 26:35) They consider even his red hair to be evil(!), because, during the chili incident, he Read More >

By Doug Alpert

How do we define greatness? And moreover, by what criteria do we establish those who we believe possess qualities of greatness as our leaders? I pose these questions as a means to understanding our patriarch-Yitzhak Avinu/Isaac. If one can suggest with a straight face that any one of our patriarchs is a forgotten patriarch, it would be Isaac.

From the beginning of this week’s parashah, Toldot, the Torah defines Isaac within the context of his father, Avraham. “Avraham was the father of Yitzhak.” (Bereshit 25:19) Rashi’s exegesis on this verse suggests that its inclusion in our Torah was to establish, in contravention to anyone who might be dubious in regard to Isaac’s lineage, that Isaac was really the progeny of Avraham and Sarah. And, to drive home the point, Rashi states that G-d shaped Isaac’s facial features to be similar to those of Avraham. Thus, lest there be any Read More >

By Tad Campbell

In honor of my teacher and chaver, Rabbi Joel S. Wasser.

Travel the world, or simply look at the foreign coins mixed up with your regular change and the most obvious thing about any, whether large or small, is that each has two sides. These opposite sides feature images of the national flower or bird, musical instruments, historical events and monarchs and national leaders. These small monetary tokens can in many ways, resemble tiny, fascinating, priceless works of art.

This week’s parashah, Toldot, calls upon this idea to explain how this section of the Torah unfolds. Esau and Jacob, though twins, are not identical. Each has his own personality and mindset as well as obvious talents and abilities. Esau is far more than simply the oldest; he is the son who, in a way, resembles his father Isaac in terms of being drawn to the fields and caring for the flocks. Read More >

Parashat Toldot: Fathers and Sons
By Rabbi David Greenstein

Parashat Toldot is the only Torah portion devoted to the life of Isaac. Abraham merits a much more extended treatment by the Torah (as does Jacob, later). Isaac seems to exist in the shadow of his illustrious father. This is borne out by the very first sentence of this Torah portion, which begins: ‘And these are the offspring of Isaac, son of Abraham; Abraham begat Isaac.’ (Gen. 25:19) The second part of the verse is jarring. Not only is it redundant – for Isaac has just a second ago been referred to as ‘son of Abraham” ‘ it is also completely contrary to the first part of the verse, for it tells us of Abraham’s offspring instead of telling us of Isaac’s. It is as if, just as the Torah is about to start talking about Isaac, she cannot refrain from returning to talking about Read More >

In the Blindspot-light
By Rabbi Steven J. Rubenstein

Each year I cringe when the postcard arrives in the mail reminding
me that my appointment with the optometrist is due. A couple of years
ago my eye doctor welcomed me to the club of those whose eyesight would
gradually diminish with age. I know from experience that reading the
fine print of the Talmud had become increasingly difficult with each
passing month, but I tried to ignore the fact that the letters of the
Torah were becoming a bit fuzzier around the crowns when I read from
the scroll on Shabbat.

How our ancestor Isaac would have benefited from a yearly eye check-up if it had been available to him! In this week’s portion Toldot, we are told, ‘Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see.’ To see what?

Right before this comment, the Torah tells us that both Isaac and
his wife Rebecca were disappointed when their son Esau Read More >