Weekly Reading Insights

Overview of the Weekly Reading

To be read on Shabbat Toldot, 29 Mar-Cheshvan 5772/Nov. 26

Torah: 25:19-28:9; Haftorah: Malachi 1:1-2:7 (because the second verse mentions Yaakov & Esav)

Toldot is the 6th Reading out of 12 in Genesis and it contains 5426 letters, in 1432 words, in 106 verses

Yitzchak married Rivkah when he was forty. When he was sixty, Rivkah gave birth to twins, Esav and Yacov. At age fifteen, Esav returned one day from hunting in the fields, tired and hungry, and asked Yacov for some food. Yacov told him to sell him his birthright, which he did. There was a famine in the land, but G-d told Yitzchak to remain in the land. Yitzchak went to Gerar, near the border, where he said to the people there that Rivkah was his sister, as he was afraid that he would be killed because of her. When king Avimelech found out he issued a decree that should anyone touch Yitzchak or Rivkah they would be killed. Yitzchak farmed and became wealthy. The Philistines became jealous and filled in his wells. Avimelech told him to leave. Yitzchak eventually arrived in Be’er Sheva. He made a peace treaty with Avimelech. When Esav was forty he married Judith and Basemath. Yitzchak became old and his eyesight was fading. He told Esav to prepare him a meal, and he would bless him before he died. Rivkah heard this and told Yacov that she would prepare a meal for his father, and he should take the blessing instead of Esav. Esav was furious, and planned to kill Yacov after his father’s death. Rivkah heard of this and sent Yacov away. Yitzchak blessed Yacov and told him not to marry a Canaanite girl. Yacov left for the house of Lavan, Rivkah’s brother. Esav understood that his father was displeased with his Canaanite wives, and married Ishmael’s daughter Machlat.

The Torah depicts our forefathers and foremothers as very much human. Just as we relate to our lives and its challenges on a number of levels (for instance dealing with an issue at hand, also taking into account the short and the long term impact of our actions), so also the Torah can be interpreted on a variety of levels, adding depth to our understanding of the people involved and their situation.

This is demonstrated with the description of the relationship between Yitzchak and Eisav. The verse (25/28) says that Rivka loved Ya'acov, and Yitzchak loved Eisav because "tzayid was in his mouth". One translation of tzayid is hunted meat, and is obviously a reference to the main difference between Eisav and Ya'acov. Eisav was a 'man of the fields', a hunter, whereas Ya'acov was a 'man of the tents', who studied Torah. The Torah does not paint a positive picture of Eisav, so how could Yitzchak be so easily fooled?

While Rashi cites the Midrash inferring that Yitzchak was being misled, the later commentaries do not accept it so easily. The Alshich says that 'meat in his mouth' refers to a love that was conditional, based on something physical, while the love of Rivka for Ya'acov was without any conditions. Of course, the Alshich writes, Yitzchak had this unconditional love for Ya'acov, too, since he understood his true essence. That the Torah specifies Yitzchak's love of Eisav with 'meat in his mouth' hints to us that Yitzchak knew Eisav's true essense also.

Mei HaShiloach attacks the problem on a different level. He writes that Yitzchak really did love Eisav more, as the verse infers, but for a reason. Yitzchak saw more potential in Eisav. Specifically, Yitzchak perceived Eisav's wildness as an indication of his potential to do great things. The Mei HaShiloach writes that in life, some people take risks and others play it safe. Those that take chances may fail but, when they do succeed, they accomplish much more that those who are cautious. This was the basis of Yitzchak's love for Eisav over Ya'acov. Kabbala explains how Yitzchak would say that Eisav had the potential to bring the redemption faster than Ya'acov. But in the end, Yitzchak realized he was mistaken.

The Divrei Meir says that, in fact, Yitzchak was smarter than everyone, and the blessings as delivered were all part of his plan. The Talmud says that in the future to come, Yitzchak will say to G-d, 'half on You and half on me', telling us that Yitzchak will defend the Jewish people before G-d. Yitzchak loved Eisav-even with all of his failings-in order that he should be able to claim 'even though Eisav was filled with faults, I did not stop truly loving him as a father must. But You Almighty are not limited like flesh and blood. Your love is unlimited! How much more so must You love the Jewish people who are Your firstborn, even though they have sinned grievously.'

This is the meaning of the verse, 'tzayid in his mouth'. 'Tzayid' can also be translated as 'sustenance'. Yitzchok loved Eisav so there would be sustenance, or a compelling argument in his mouth, to argue for the sake of Jewish people on our Day of Judgment. May we all take the commandment of loving our fellow Jew by judging one another favorably, and may G-d always judge us positively, too.

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For last year's essay by Rabbi Leiter on this week's Reading, see the archive.

FROM THE CHASSIDIC REBBES

"The man [Isaac] became great, and grew more and more..." (Gen. 26:13)
It is common that as a person becomes richer, the person within him becomes smaller and smaller. The greatness of Isaac was that even though he became more and more wealthy, he increased and expanded in his qualities as a person.
(Rabbi Yitzchak of Torchow)

For more than a decade of "From the Chasidic Rebbes" on this Weekly Reading, see our archives

MOSHIACH THIS WEEK

"The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." (Toldot 27:22)

Our sages comment on this verse that against the voice of Jacob, Esau has no hands. This means that when the 'voice of Jacob' -i.e., the voice and sound of Torah - is heard, the 'hands of Esau' - i.e., the threats of our enemies - have no power.
Similarly in reverse: when the voice of Torah is weakened, the 'hands of Esau' may overcome. This latter alternative has already come to pass with the destruction of Jerusalem, as stated by the prophet: "For what reason was the land lost?.. Because they had forsaken My Torah.." (Jeremiah 9:11-12)

In our times, too, after the destruction of the Temples, it must be emphasized that Jerusalem's existence depends on the study of Torah. To be sure, we cannot change what has already occurred in the past, but we are able to remove its cause and thus hasten the rebuilding and restoration of Jerusalem.

Our sages state, "Any generation in whose days the Bet Hamikdash (Holy Temple) is not rebuilt, it is reckoned against that generation as if it were destroyed in its time!" The destruction thus is not simply an event that happened in the past. Its consequences extend to this very day, and the event, therefore, must be seen as something happening even now - as if the Bet Hamikdash, as it were, is being destroyed this very moment. It follows, then, that it is our duty - and we do have the ability - to rid ourselves of the cause of the churban and to prevent its present recurrence.

The study of Torah has this effect and will bring about the restoration of Jerusalem and the Bet Hamikdash through the speedy coming of Moshiach!

(From Discover Moshiach in the Weekly Torah Portion, as posted on //Mashiach.org)

For nearly a decade of "Moshiach This Week " on this Weekly Reading, see our archives

From the Kabbalah Commentaries on the Chumash ("5 Books of Moses")

13th century - "RambaN" - Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman

14th century - "Bachya" - Rabbi Bachya ben Asher

16th century - "Alsheich" - Rabbi Moshe Alshech of Tsfat

18th century - "Ohr HaChayim" - Rabbi Chaim Ben Attar

a sample for this week:

Rabbeinu Bachya

"…Esav became a skilled hunter, a man of the field. Yaakov was a simple man a dweller in the tents." [25:27]

The plain meaning of the text is that Yaakov spent his time in the tents of Shem and Ever, i.e. in their academies.
A kabbalistic approach to the words: The reason the Torah speaks about the word "tents" in the plural, i.e. ohalim, seeing that most people dwell in only one tent at a time, is that Yaakov demonstrated that one could live in the tent of the "higher" regions and in the tent of the "lower" regions of the universe simultaneously. We have been taught already (Bereishit Rabbah 68-12) that the countenance of Yaakov is engraved on the throne of G-d. In view of this, the expression yoshev ohalim is equivalent to the numerical value of the words yoshev hakiseh, "The One who sits on the Throne."

Selected from the seven-volume English edition of The Torah Commentary of Rabbeinu Bachya, as translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk. Rabbi Bachya ben Asher [1255-1340] of Saragosa, Spain, was the outstanding pupil of Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet (the "Rashba"), a main disciple of Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (the "Ramban"). Several books have been written about the Kabballah-based portions of R. Bachya's commentary.

For the rest of "The Masters of Kabbala and Chumash" on this Weekly Reading; and on all the other Readings.

A MYSTICAL CHASSIDIC DISCOURSE

Specifically, for an overview of the recommended articles in the columns:
Holy Zohar, Holy Ari, Mystic Classics, Chasidic Masters, Contemporary Kabbalists, and more,
click to Toldot

Since Abraham personified the attribute of chesed and Isaac the attribute of gevura, one might think that Ishmael - who personified a fallen form of chesed - should be considered the true perpetuator of Abraham's message to the world. The Torah therefore emphasizes that at the beginning of parashat Toldot that Abraham's true, spiritual heir was Isaac, as the true way to actualize chesed is by following it with gevura.

For another taste of recommended Kabbalah articles on a variety of subjects,
click to the our weekly Kabbalah magazine

The highest, or most exalted, of the five worlds is called Adam Kadmon. Adam means "in the likeness of" or "in the image of," from the Hebrew word domeh. Kadmon means "primordial", or "primary", from the Hebrew root kadam. So, Adam Kadmon is the primordial world which is "in the likeness of" the Infinite Light which preceded it and which was concealed in the process of creation. This means that even though Adam Kadmon is a world, meaning that it comes into being through the concealment of the Infinite Light, it is such an elevated plane of reality that it is "in the likeness of" the Infinite Light (which, by nature, "precedes" the world of Adam Kadmon).

Weekly Reading Insights: Toldot 5772

a sample for this week:

Rabbeinu Bachya

Weekly Reading Insights:
Toldot 5772