Shalom my JTF Friends,
Once again I would like to investigate some of the lessons which are learned from the weekly Torah portion. This week we read the Parasha called Toldot, which means 'Generations', and it contains many interesting and deep lessons.
Primarily the Parasha deals with the birth of Essau and Jacob from Rivkah and Yitzak. These twins are polar opposites on the spiritual scale. Essau who was born first was reddish and hairy, and he was a hunter who enjoyed the taste of blood. While Jacob was a man who studied Torah and was cerebral. Before they were born Hashem tells Rivkah that she is going to give birth to two nations, and that the younger one will rule over the older one.
Much of the story relates to how Jacob wants to have the blessing of the firstborn son, which Essau was born to inherit. While Essau is tired and hungry, and in a moment of clarity realizes that he doesn't really want the responsibility of being the one who gets Yitzaks heavy blessing (because he would have to keep Torah so that the Jewish people would come from him). As a result of this realization he sells the birthright to Jacob for a pot of Red Stew...
Here is what the Chabad Torah in a Nutshell says about this portion:
Isaac and Rebecca endure twenty childless years, until their prayers are answered and Rebecca conceives. She experiences a difficult pregnancy as the “children struggle inside her”; G‑d tells her that “there are two nations in your womb,” and that the younger will prevail over the elder.
Esau emerges first; Jacob is born clutching Esau’s heel. Esau grows up to be “a cunning hunter, a man of the field”; Jacob is “a wholesome man,” a dweller in the tents of learning. Isaac favors Esau; Rebecca loves Jacob. Returning exhausted and hungry from the hunt one day, Esau sells his birthright (his rights as the firstborn) to Jacob for a pot of red lentil stew.
In Gerar, in the land of the Philistines, Isaac presents Rebecca as his sister, out of fear that he will be killed by someone coveting her beauty. He farms the land, reopens the wells dug by his father Abraham, and digs a series of his own wells: over the first two there is strife with the Philistines, but the waters of the third well are enjoyed in tranquility.
Esau marries two Hittite women. Isaac grows old and blind, and expresses his desire to bless Esau before he dies. While Esau goes off to hunt for his father’s favorite food, Rebecca dresses Jacob in Esau’s clothes, covers his arms and neck with goatskins to simulate the feel of his hairier brother, prepares a similar dish, and sends Jacob to his father. Jacob receives his father’s blessings for “the dew of the heaven and the fat of the land” and mastery over his brother. When Esau returns and the deception is revealed, all Isaac can do for his weeping son is to predict that he will live by his sword, and that when Jacob falters, the younger brother will forfeit his supremacy over the elder.
Jacob leaves home for Charan to flee Esau’s wrath and to find a wife in the family of his mother’s brother, Laban. Esau marries a third wife—Machalath, the daughter of Ishmael.
Here is the G-dcast animated parasha...
Topic: Video Study for Parasha Toldot (Read 2150 times)