Parashat Toldot

Parashat-Toldot

==Birth of Yackov and Esav==
The generations of Yitzchak the son of Avrahom were Yackov and Esav.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:19">Rashi Berashis 25:19</ref> Hashem created Yitzchak's facial features similar<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:19">Baal Haturim Berashis 25:19</ref> and greatly resembling Avrahom. This was done to dispute the claim of the generation's scoffers that Sarah had conceived from Avimelech for she had lived with Abraham for many years and had not conceived from him.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:19"/> 

===Prayers for Children===
Yitzchak was forty years old when he married Rivka the daughter of Bisuel the Aramean from Padan Aram, the sister of Lavon the liar from Aram,<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:20"/> who had grown up with these two wicked men but did not learn from their deeds.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:20"/>  Although Rivka was born at the time of Akadah and Sara's death when Yitzchak was 37, he had waited 3 years before marrying her until she would be fit for marital relations.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:20">Rashi Berashis 25:20</ref> Padan Aram - literally the 'field of Aram' was the joint name four the two Aram provinces: Aram Naharaim and Aram Tzovah.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:20"/>

Yitzchak prayed a lot<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:21"/> and entreated<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:21">Rashi Berashis 25:21</ref> Hashem, because Rivka was barren. He himself also had some elements<ref name="Shover Zadim Parshas Toldot">Shover Zadim Parshas Toldot</ref> that would not allow him to have children.<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:20">Baal Haturim Berashis 25:20</ref><ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:21">Baal Haturim Berashis 25:21</ref> Yitzchak would pray in one corner opposite his wife who prayed in the parallel corner.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:21"/> Hashem allowed Himself to be entreated and appeased by Yitzchak,<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:21"/> accepting his prayer and Rivka conceived. Yitzchak's prayer had been answered since he was righteous and his father Avrahom was righteous but not Rivka's because her father Bisuel was wicked.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:21"/>

===The Pregnancy===
The two children struggled within her. When Rivka would near the Torah center of Shem and Ever, Yackov would run and struggle to come out<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:22"/> and follow the command of the Hashem.<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:22"/> When she would pass by temples of idolatry Esav would struggle to come out,<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:22">Rashi Berashis 25:22</ref> to follow their command.<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:22"/> Additionally they were struggling and fighting regarding the inheritance of This World and the Next,<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:22"/> and since Yackov is comparable to the flame the burns the straw of Esav.<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:21"/>

She told herself if the suffering of pregnancy is so great,<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:22"/> why is she like this desiring and praying about the pregnancy.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:22"/>  She went to inquire from Hashem at the academy of Shem,<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:22"/> the son of Noach<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:22">Baal Haturim Berashis 25:22</ref> so he could tell her what her future will be.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:22"/> Hashem told her through Shem who received the answer through Divine Inspiration and transmitted it as a messenger;<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:23">Rashi Berashis 25:23</ref> there were two nations in her womb. Two kingdoms<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:23"/>  will separate from her womb, having already separated there, Esav to wickedness and Yackov to piety.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:23"/> One kingdom will be mightier then the other and will overpower and destroy the other.<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:23"/> They will never have equal greatness, when one rises the other will fall,<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:23"/> an example being Tyre's rise to power only from the destruction of Yerushalaim.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:23"/> The elder one will server the younger one. Also alluded were the great Antoninus and Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, whose tables did not lack neither radishes or lettuce, both in the summer and winter.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:23"/> Also alluded was: The people of Esav would be one of the 10 Nations that came to destroy the First Temple and that 73 Nations would join under him to destroy the Second Temple and that Yackov would receive a blessing at age 73.<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:23">Baal Haturim Berashis 25:23</ref>

===The Birth===
Rivka's days to give birth were completed after 9 months of pregnancy<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:24">Rashi Berashis 25:24</ref> and there were twins in her womb, one righteous and one evil.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:24"/> Originally Rivka was supposed to give birth to the 12 tribes but now only gave birth to Yackov.<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:24">Baal Haturim Berashis 25:24</ref>

The first kid emerged with reddish complexion, symbolizing that he would be a murderer.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:25">Rashi Berashis 25:25</ref> He was entirely covered with hair like an adult<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:25"/> and a woven woolen coat which is full of hair.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:25"/> They all<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:25"/> named him Esav, since he was made, completed<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:25"/> and developed (עשוי) from birth with the hair of someone much older.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:25"/> Esav also emerged red, covered in blood since he destroyed his mothers womb in the process.<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:25">Baal Haturim Berashis 25:25</ref> Esav has the same numerical value 376 as  שלום Shalom to help subdue him from destroying the world.<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:25"/> When Esav was born, he completed the count of the 70 Nations of the World.<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:25"/>

Afterwards his brother emerged with his hand grabbing Esav' heel. Yackov was created from the first drop and Esav from the second, just like when two stones are inserted in a narrow tube, the one entered first will emerge last and the one inserted second will emerge first. Therefore Yackov who was created first had the right to restrain Esav who was created last but trying to emerge first and instead try to be the one to open her womb since he was formed first and be the firstborn according to law.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:26">Rashi Berashis 25:26</ref> By grasping Esav's heel, Yackov symbolized that Esav will not manage to complete his reign until he rises up and takes it from him,<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:26"/> and that the Nations will fall in his hands.<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:26"/> Hashem<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:26"/> named him Yackov, Yitzchok also naming him so because of the grabbing of the heel.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:26"/> Yackov is not included in the count of the 70 Nations.<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:26">Baal Haturim Berashis 25:26</ref>

Yitzchak was 60 years when Rivka gave birth to them. Yitzchak was 40 when he married Rivka at age 3 and then waited 10 years until she was 13 and able to give conceive. When an additional 10 years passed, which he spent looking forward for her, just like his father Avraham did for Sarah, and she did not conceive, he knew that she was barren and prayed for her.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:26"/>  Yitzchak did not wish marry a maidservant because he had become sanctified on Mount Moriah to be perfect burnt offering.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:26"/>

==Growing Up==
As long as they were small, they where not recognizable through their actions and no one analyzed their nature.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:27">Rashi Berashis 25:27</ref> However when the children grew up and turned thirteen years old they parted.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:27"/> Esav became a man who understood hunting, a man of the field, an loafer who hunted animals and birds with his bow<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:27"/> and parted to idolatry.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:27"/>  Aside for hunting animals, Esav also knew how to trap and deceive his father.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:27"/> He would ask Yitzchak questions like how to take off Masser from salt and straw, convincing him that he was very carful observing Mitzvos.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:27"/>   Yackov on the other hand was a simple man who was not an expert deceit, rather his mouth was like his heart<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:27"/>  and he dwelt and studied in tents of Shem and Ever,<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:27"/> parting to the houses of Torah study.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:27"/> Yackov's sitting in the tent alluded to the 440 years of the era of the Mishkan from when the Jews entered the Land until the Temple was built and to the 410 years where the Shecina actually dwelt in the Mishkan.<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:27">Baal Haturim Berashis 25:27</ref> Yackov had an aspect of a heavenly angel and of Gan Eden.<ref name="Baal Haturim Berashis 25:27"/>

Yitzchak loved Esav because he would feed his mouth with hunted food.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:28">Rashi Berashis 25:28</ref>  Additionally Esav trapped him through his mouth by deceiving Yitzchak with his words.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:28"/> Rivka loved Yackov.

==Sale of Firstborn Rights==
On the day they turned thirteen, Avraham passed away so he would not see his grandson Esav falling to bad ways and counter the promise Hashem had given him of experiencing a good old age. Therefore Hashem deducted five years from his life, living only 175 years, while his son Yitzchak lived 180 years.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:30"/> Yackov cooked<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:29">Rashi Berashis 25:29</ref> a dish of lentils to feed his mourning father.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:30"/> Selecting lentils because they are shaped like wheel, symbolizing that mourning is like a wheel turning in the world. Also just like lentils do not have a mouth opening, so to a mourner does not have a mouth since he's forbidden to speak,<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:30"/> and for the entire first three days he can not reply to anyone's greeting and for sure can not initiate a greeting. From to the third to seventh day, he can may respond but can not greet.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:30"/> This is similar to the custom to start the mourner's meal with eggs, that are round and have no mouth.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:30"/>

Esav came from the field feeling very tired from committing an act of murder.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:29"/> Esav asked Yackov to pour into his open mouth<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:30">Rashi Berashis 25:30</ref> a loth<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:30"/> of the red dish of red lentils<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:30"/> for he was weak. He was therefore named Edom.

Yackov replied requesting that Esav sell him as of that day his rights as firstborn. This sale was to be as clear as the that day.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:31">Rashi Berashis 25:31</ref> Yackov desired the position of firstborn that included the sacrificial services, to prevent the evil Esav who did not deserve to sacrifice to Hashem from doing so.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:31"/> Esav answered that there were many prohibitions, punishments and death penalties involved in the service of the firstborn, for transgressions such as performing services while drunk or with long hair.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:32">Rashi Berashis 25:32</ref> Regardless he is will end up dying from it and did therefore not want<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:32"/> the rights of firstborn. Additionally the firstborn rights were not stable since the position of the services were later to be transferred to the Tribe of Levi.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:32"/>  

Yackov asked Esav to swear to him as of that day. He swore to him and sold his rights as first born to Yackov. Yackov gave Esav bread and lentil dish. Esav ate, drank and got up degrading the role of firstborn, attesting to his wickedness by degrading the service of Hashem. <ref name="Rashi Berashis 25:34">Rashi Berashis 25:34</ref>

===Taking Firstborn Status===
When the forces of evil attack a person and he fights back, not only is he able to recover the energy they stole from him, he is able to extract energy that was buried deep inside of them from what they had previously captured. Therefore when Yaakov battled the damages of Esav he was able to extract from him even the status of Firstborn.<ref name="Likutay Halachos, Hilchos Ginava 5/9-11"/>


==Famine==
There was a famine in the Eretz Yisroel aside from the first famine that occurred in the days of Avraham. Yitzchak went to Avimelech the king of the Pelishtim to Gerar.  Yitzhck had in mind to go down to Egypt, just as his father had when there was a famine.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 22:2">Rashi Berashis 26:2</ref> Hashem appeared to Yitzchk and told him not to go down to Egypt since he was offered as a 
perfect burnt offering during the Akaida and being in Diaspora was not worth it for him.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 22:2"/> Rather he was to dwell in the land that Hashem tells him. Yitzchak should temporarily live in this land and Hashem will be with him and He will bless him since to Yitzchak and his descendants Hashem will give all these<ref name="Rashi Berashis 22:3">Rashi Berashis 26:3</ref> lands and He will uphold the oath that He swore to Avraham his father. Hashem will multiply his offspring like the stars of the sky and He will give to his descendants all these lands and all the nations of the lands will bless themselves with his descendants, by comparing themselves to them by telling their sons that their descendants should be like the descendants of Yitzchak.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 22:4">Rashi Berashis 26:4</ref> 

Because Avraham listened to Hashem's voice when He tested him<ref name="Rashi Berashis 22:5">Rashi Berashis 26:5</ref> and kept his instructions. These included...
# מִשְׁמַרְתִּ֔י / Watch - Decrees to distance oneself from braking the warnings of the Torah. Ex: Second level relatives for incest and refraining from unrestful actions on Shabbas.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 22:5"/>
# מִצְו‍ֹתַ֖י / Commandments - Moraly understandable things which were fit keep even had they no been commanded. Ex: Stealing and murder.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 22:5"/>
# חֻקּוֹתַ֥י / Laws - Rules that the evil inclination and the nations of the world debate against, since they have no reason given for them and are simply commands and laws of the King to his subjects. Ex: Eating pig and wearing Shatnez combinations of wool and linen.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 22:5"/>
# תֽוֹרֹתָֽי / Teachings - The instructions of the Oral Torah, the laws given to Moshe from Sinai.<ref name="Rashi Berashis 22:5"/>

==The Blessings==

===Trickery of Yackov===
Esav tried very hard to deceive his father with all his trickery and lies, until he would bring the supernal blessings upon him. Yackov was therefore forced to move against Esav in great trickery as well until he managed to snatch the blessings from him.<ref name="Likutay Halachos, Hilchos Ginava 5/9-11">Likutay Halachos, Hilchos Ginava 5/9-11</ref>

===Blessing of Esav===
Esav's blessing of "on your sword you shall live" is the cause for the great lengthening of the exile.<ref name="Likutay Halachos, Hilchos Ginava 5/9-11"/>

==References==
<references/>

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