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Parashat Toldot
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
“V’eleh toldot Yitzchak. . .” “This is the line of Isaac. . .”
This week, we meet the next patriarch in line for the covenantal blessing – Jacob. His name, derived from the word “heel” can also be translated as, “supplanter.” He emerges from his mother Rebecca’s womb holding onto the heel of his older brother Esau. And throughout our parashah, he and his mother use deceit as a way for him to get ahead in line, to receive his father’s blessing, and to take hold of the right of the first-born.
According to the modern commentator, Nehama Leibovitch, there are at least four recurring motif words in Jacob’s life: deceit (mirmah), right of the firstborn (b’chora,) blessing (b’racha,) and name (shem.) As we study the parasha together, we’ll trace these motifs.
Using some commentaries and midrash brought by Leibovitch in one of her studies on this portion, we’ll also ask whether we can detect any trace of reluctance on Jacob’s part to play this role of “supplanter.” And we’ll see if the Torah is judging Jacob’s deceitful behavior. Are the blessings that Jacob receives in this parasha truly realized in Jacob’s life, or does he have to earn them more honestly later?
