20/11/2025
Posting a little early this week 🙂
Parshat Toldot Thought 👬
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Sibling rivalry is as old as time.
Opposing powers vying for rulership.
Even as parents,
We tend to take sides.
Isaac favored Esav,
While Rebecca favored Jacob.
As children, we are taught that Isaac was wrong.
He was naive about Esav.
Jacob is the good guy,
Esav the bad one.
But is it so clear?
True, Esav was a wild child
Spending his days hunting and partying
While Yaakov studied in yeshiva
Learning and praying and refining himself.
And true, Esav sold his birthright
to Jacob for a bowl of soup,
But Esav was in a vulnerable space
When Jacob made him the offer -
Tired and hungry after a long day,
Esav was ripe for impulsive decision making.
And then Jacob,
Whom Kabbalists describe as
The “archetype of Truth”,
Deceives his father into thinking that he’s Esav
And steals Esav’s blessings
So is it really so clear here
Who is good and who is bad?
Biblical commentaries make excuses for Jacob’s behavior.
He foresaw that Esav wouldn’t be able to handle
the responsibilities of being a firstborn.
When it came to the blessings,
He was only listening to his mother.
And if you do a careful read of his conversation
with his father before receiving the blessings,
You’ll see that he never technically lies.
But what about Esav?
Why then did Isaac favor him?
Perhaps Isaac wasn’t so naive.
He saw great potential in Esav
And was hoping to redirect his heated nature
Toward goodness.
And as for Jacob,
As holy as he was,
Isaac felt that he was too meek
For the task at hand of assuming leadership over a nation
Who was destined to have so many enemies
And rise up and fight as needed.
And perhaps Rivka,
In her female intuition, foresaw that
While Isaac had the right idea about Esav,
There was some naivety, or at least wishful thinking at play.
As potential doesn’t always
(And would not in this case)
Translate into actual.
She also knew that Isaac was
Correct about Jacob.
He needed to be toughened up
If he were to assume the role of his father’s successor.
In dressing Jacob up as Esav
Having him embody and act the part of
The more rebellious and deceitful brother,
Jacob managed to access the Esav within him -
As all good actors do when assuming a role.
And this prepared him for his destiny.
Esav’s fate was to die by decapitation.
His head nestled into Jacob’s chest.
Isaac wasn’t entirely wrong about Esav.
Esav’s passion for physicality fits with
Our Creator’s ultimate vision
Of having a dwelling place here on Earth.
Yet the mind of Esav
Needs to be nurtured by Jacob for a little while first.
He’ll be back.
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