Parsha Short Talks - Toldot

This Parsha starts off repetitively. “These are the generations of Isaac who was a son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac.” The repetition alludes to the fact that Isaac was the spitting image of Abraham. There were people who believed that Sarah became pregnant after being with the king of the Philistines. However, God showed the people that Isaac was the son of Abraham by him being the spitting image of his father.

Today, people like to say that God still performs miracles. However, when a miracle happens, so many scoffers like to say that it really didn't happen. They will even talk about the with other people, but they will not allow themselves to link the miracle to anything that might transform them. Here, they would have to transform themselves into believing that God exists, and that God is working in our world today.

There are probably a lot of things that you have witnessed in your life that seem like divine miracles. This technological world needs to accept the fact that there are some things that only God can do.

Isaac was 40 years old, and Rebecca was probably around 20 years old. It was their marriage that would produce the progeny that would become known as the tribe of Israel. However, for almost 20 years the couple did not have any children. Having children is a team effort and usually it works well. However, in this story of Isaac and Rebekah, it did not work.

Then they discovered the power of prayer. The two of them came together and offered prayers to the Lord, asking him to give them children. When one prays, the ear of God listens to the prayer and fulfills it in his way. Imagine the power of prayer that goes from generation after generation that may seek the same request that Isaac and Rebekah did. Generations of people will offer the same prayers as the generations that preceded them.

Think about how many people before you have offered a similar prayer and how many people after you will offer a similar prayer.

Genesis records a transaction between Esau and Jacob. This transaction has to do with Esau coming into the tent where Jacob was cooking soup and wanting some of it. Jacob did not want to just give it away for free, he wanted something in exchange. Jacob made a deal with Esau for the soup, which was his birthright. Today, Jewish law prohibits the sale of an item at a price way beyond its value. Looking back at the story, we would have to determine what Esau’s birthright was worth. When we examine the story, it seems like Jacob took advantage of Esau.

I remember a gentleman who I worked with back in 1980 who was an avid coin collector. He was about 55 years old and said to me one day that his coins were only worth what someone would pay for them. Therefore, I could look at the story of Esau and Jacob and say that Jacob offered a bowl of soup for Esau’s birthright and Esau accepted it. Therefore, Esau’s birthright was only worth a cup of soup.

It is Esau’s fault that he underestimated the value of his birthright. Jacob just made a good deal. Remember, Esau could’ve said no and gone out and eaten something else. Thinking about it this way, Esau did not get ripped off. When you decide to sell something, you have to decide how much you want for it. If no one makes you an offer, then perhaps this item you’re trying to sell is not worth all that you think it is.

The other thing to consider is that there are items you possess that are priceless. One item that comes to mind immediately is a relationship with God. What is the value of a relationship with God to you? Hopefully, you’re thinking that it’s priceless.

The Bible tells us that Jacob and Esau were two brothers who had different demeanor and attitude toward life. Both brothers had name changes during their lifetime. The circumstances that led to the name changes were quite different for Esau and Jacob. Jacob had a fierce battle with an angel. He suffered severe injuries during the fierce battle with the angel, but he endured and the angel changed his name to Israel. God changed Esau's name to Edom, which means “red” in Hebrew. He received it because he craved blood because he liked to eat meat and the lentil soup Jacob gave me had a red color to it.

Jacob had to fight against evil inclination in order for his name to be changed. For Esau, he didn’t have to struggle. He gave away his birthright, which he should not have done, which was a reckless action.

One thing we can learn from is that Jacob got a name that would live on for history because he fought off evil. Esau turned out to a be a man who did evil deeds. As a result, God changed his name to Edom, and he eventually faded into obscurity.

If you could have a name change, what would you like it to be? Another way of putting it is: do you want history to remember you as a righteous person who is giving of your heart, or a person who is evil or mean? It's your decision to answer that question.

Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob because he viewed it as an unnecessary burden. Perhaps he didn’t want to become the Emir of the tribe with all the responsibility that it had. So, Esau gave up the right to the honor and privilege of being the firstborn.

A different view is that Esau thought he was going to die if he didn’t get something to eat immediately. What good is a birthright if you're dead? He gave up the birthright so that he wouldn’t die. So, did Esau get so consumed with the possibility of dying that he forgot who he was and what he was to become? When one forgets who one really is, then one will not head in the direction that God wants them to be in. What happens is a person digs a hole for themselves and jumps into it, hoping the world would just pass them by.

Esau discovered he was going to live and now he had given up one of the precious items that he was entitled to. Sometimes only think that something horrible is going to happen we lose our faith in God. It’s like digging a hole and jumping in and ducking and hoping that God doesn’t see us. However, God sees us all the time. The next time you're troubled like Esau, do not jump into a hole, or make a critical decision about your life, rather talk to God in prayer and he will direct you in the proper way.

Esau and Jacob had an interesting family dynamic. For Isaac loved Esau because Esau would go out and hunt animals which Isaac loved to eat. Rebecca loved Jacob for his spirituality. There was a struggle for the blessings from their father, Isaac. Isaac planned to give Esau his blessing for worldly goods, and he intended to give Jacob the spiritual blessings. However, the boy’s mother Rebecca pushed Jacob to get the blessings for the worldly goods. Rebecca did this because she felt that if Esau was in charge of the material that would lead to Esau’s selfishness and consequently Jacob would barely receive a portion of his inheritance. She was concerned that Esau would take everything.

A lesson from this story is that we need to learn to share. Unfortunately, in my years I have learned that there are plenty of people out there who don’t like to share. I can see that clearly when I’m driving on any road. There’s always someone who will not let another person merge or come out of their driveway. Then you see the same person in the same situation throwing a middle finger gesture.

How much better with the world be if we all learned to share? If you’re not sure about the value of sharing, just look at the battle that occurred between Jacob and Esau which extended to their descendants for 2000+ years. It’s really not that hard to show kindness, which is sharing.

Esau thought he was going to die. That’s what he was wailing about as he returned home on the afternoon of Abraham’s funeral. He went on a rampage of murder and promiscuity. The sages of Israel explained his acts as a rebellious reaction to the death of his saintly grandfather. The book of Genesis says that he was just hungry and exhausted.

Jacob, his brother, understood Esau very well. He offered Esau a steaming bowl of tangible satisfaction. Jacob used lentil soup to disguise that satisfaction. All Jacob wanted for the bowl of soup was Esau’s birthright. The birthright determined how much of one’s father’s household one received. The birthright allowed for two portions. Therefore, with the birthright, Jacob would receive two-thirds of his father’s estate upon his death. Since Esau thought he was about to die, he saw no value in keeping the birthright.

He so was not concerned about the blessings that he had lost that day. However, Jacob obtaining the blessings from their father bothered Esau. Esau abandoned his spiritual future for a bowl of soup. If you sit back and think about your life, have you given up anything that would affect your spiritual life? Another way to view this is: are there things you do in your life that prevent you from having a purely spiritual life in a genuine connection to God?

Esau came into the tent and saw Jacob cooking soup. Genesis tells us that Esau gave up his birthright for a bowl of soup. The sages of Israel tell us that Esau gave up his birthright because he thought he was about to die. He had returned from Abraham's funeral and needed some therapy to understand life and death. Unfortunately, the therapist didn't exist in Esau's day. Esau thought, what good is a birthright if I'm going to die soon?

Perhaps Esau thought that since he was such a horrible person that he would not be joining his grandfather Abraham in heaven when he died. Esau did not understand that God had woven forgiveness into the fabric of the universe. Esau should have come before the Lord and asked for forgiveness for his sins.

We don't know when we're going to die. Therefore, it is important on an almost daily basis to ask God for forgiveness for the sins of the day. I know this sounds tedious, but since we don't know what day we're going to die, it might be a good idea to do. It is the fear of ultimate judgment by the Lord that we should all fear.

Sometimes I think people have forgotten the concept of fear of ultimate judgment. I say this because I see people committing crimes of all sorts, which are sins, and nations that go to war over nothing. We must learn to let go of our desires and work together as the people of God, in love and in grace. When people accomplish this, the world's wars and hatred will also disappear. When we are sinning and at war with one another, we allow Satan to rule the world. It is time for all of us to take back the world. You may say I can't change the world, and that is true. However, you can change yourself and your local environment and perhaps over time, if we all did this, the world would change for the better.

Abraham had dug wells wherever he stopped and pitched his tent while in the land of Canaan. However, wells do not last forever. Unfortunately for Abraham's wells, the Philistines were very jealous of Abraham's success and his children, thus after Abraham's death they filled the wells with rocks and later stuffed dirt into the wells. This made it difficult to near impossible to use the wells again. Abraham named each of the wells that he had dug throughout his lifetime.  

Why was it important that Isaac rebuilt the wells? After he had re-dug a well, he gave it a new name. What Isaac was doing was to continue the dream that Abraham had. God told Abraham that his children would eventually inherit the land. It was important for Isaac to dig up Abraham’s wells and restore the beauty of the land that his father Abraham had created. It is a way to honor one's parents and grandparents by maintaining things they built throughout their lifetime.

You can see this if you go to Europe, where buildings have stood for hundreds of years. In the United States, people like to tear down buildings instead of restoring them. When we tear down the building, we are removing the building's history. For example, when a synagogue or church tears down or renovates a building for a different usage, they forget the congregation that was once worshiping there. Keeping history alive is important because it reminds us of who we are and what values we have. When we destroy buildings and tear down statues, society forgets what its values were and how those values came to be.

The book of Genesis tells us the story that Isaac was ready to give his blessing. Normally, this blessing went to the firstborn. However, Jacob's mother, Rebecca, wanted him to get the blessing. Isaac was very old and was blind, so it was not that hard for Rebecca to come up with a way to fool him. Jacob brought goat meat to his father Isaac for a meal. Jacob convinced Isaac that he was Esau and received the blessing.

Soon after Jacob had left the tent, his brother Esau burst in and asked for his father Isaac’s blessing. However, Isaac said that he had already given the blessing to him. It didn’t take long for Esau and Isaac to realize that it was Jacob who got the blessing. Isn't the earth large enough for both boys to have been blessed?

The answer to that question is yes. However, one could view the blessing from Isaac as a continuation of the covenant between God and Abraham. Isaac was the second son and received Abraham’s blessing and the covenant from God. Jacob was the second son and received the blessing and the covenant from God. This narrative tells us how the Jewish nation was to come from Jacob and not Esau. Therefore, we should understand this story as important for passing along Abraham's covenant with God.

The Edomites, who were the descendants of Esau, got lost to history during the Roman occupation. People know Jacob's descendants as the Israelites, and they still receive blessings from God today.