Toledot

In this portion, we follow the events in the lives of Isaac and Rebekah. Twin sons – Esau and Jacob – are born and their struggles before birth foreshadow later conflicts between the nations they are to find. Although Jacob is the younger, he tricks Esau out of his birthright. Isaac, like Abraham, meets a number of challenges and is assured by God that he will have many descendants and possess the land of Canaan. When Isaac feels his end approaching and arranges to pass the blessing of concession on to Esau, Rebekah connives to have Jacob trick his father and the blessing for himself. Jacob must then flee to the ancestral homeland to escape Esau’s wrath but before he leaves, Isaac intentionally passes on to him the blessing of Abraham. This action attests that the leadership of the Jewish people depends on God’s plan, not an accident of birth.