Toledot, תּוֹלְדֹת "Generations"  Genesis 25:19-28:9

Toldot / The Generations of Isaac

Poetic notes on the parashat Toldot*

Why did the generations of Isaac unfold

on a blue and white planet

hurling through such a vast

and seemingly voiceless universe?

Why did the generations of Isaac unfold

among prayers rising from the earth,

many like swamp grass,

ascending up haphazardly

towards the hosts of heaven,

with but a few prayers

like straight stalks of wheat,

ascending to the ear of the One

who created all things

for the sake of prayer?

Why did the generations of Isaac unfold

in a spacetime of mystery

where an eon is a moment

and the end is the foundation of the beginning?

Why did the generations of Isaac unfold

in Jacob and Esau,

one whose reflection in the mirror

is like the brilliance of spiritual stars,

and one whose reflection in the mirror

is like the ghost of himself?

The generations of Isaac

are not self-appointed

but are those rolled down by God

in the gravity well of Mashiach,

to build up Jerusalem with her Holy Crown Jewel,

and to make the place of Isaac

the holy setting for the Holy Jewel

in the crown of Jerusalem...

Jerusalem, who falls and rises up

and falls and rises up,

and falls again seven times

and rises up again

The generations of Isaac,

are a voice crying in the wilderness,

in the wilderness of Judea,

in the wilderness of endless stars and planets,

in the wilderness of time and space,

crying, "Prepare the way of HaShem!"

For it is the generations of Isaac

who hear the speech of the heavens of heavens

and understand,

hear them declaring the glory of HaShem,

declaring that they cannot contain Him!

How much more are the earth and skies

unworthy of His majesty?

Therefore the generations of Isaac

build up Jerusalem

with the Holy Jewel of her Crown

in order that the glory of HaShem

might be at home in His creation forever

But the children of Isaac

are crushing each other

and wrestling at Rebecca's core,

inside her heart and inside her womb

"If this is so", she cried to God,

"Why do I exist?"

Rebecca was divided from Rebecca,

Isaac was divided from Isaac

Jacob was divided from Esau

The generations of Isaac

became two riverbeds,

one flowing with Torah waters,

the other a dry riverbed 

without holy spirit

Still, the blessing of Isaac

was the blessing of his generations

and his blessing reversed the roles

of Jacob and Esau

Esau was the firstborn

according to Adam

Now Jacob would be the firstborn

according to Abraham,

but he would still be tied to Esau

Now Esau would grip the heel of Jacob

Only when Jacob rests as Israel

in HaShem's appointed Land,

only when Jacob conquers

and harnesses all potential chaos within him,

only when the Holy Jewel

in the Crown of Jerusalem

is radiating from the Holy Land of Israel,

dispelling all darkness,

even for wandering worlds,

only then will Esau be thankful

for Isaac's blessing,

for his having blessed Jacob as his firstborn

Only then will the full story

of the generations of Isaac be told

Then the sisters, Rachel and Leah,

will be one soul

For Rebecca will be healed

and with Sarah will be one

*Being a meditation on a Torah lesson on parashah Toldot  in depth, from the series Torah Studies on the ChaBaD website, and on a class  delivered by Rabbi Baitelman of ChaBaD Richmond, B.C., on the teachings of the ChaBaD Rebbe, with materials by Rohr Jewish Learning Institute.   Neither Rabbi Baitelman nor the JLI have reviewed or approved of the content of this post.