Parshat Toldot, תּוֹלְדֹת Generations Gen. 25:19-28:9 Genesis 25-19 - 28-9 First Portion Genesis Chapter 25 19 And these are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham Abraham begot Isaac. And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to himself for a wife. And Isaac prayed to the Lord opposite his wife because she was barren, and the Lord accepted his prayer, and Rebecca his wife conceived. And the children struggled within her, and she said, If it be so, why am I like this? And she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your womb, and two kingdoms will separate from your innards, and one kingdom will become mightier than the other kingdom, and the elder will serve the younger. And her days to give birth were completed, and behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first one emerged ruddy he was completely like a coat of hair, and they named him Esau. And afterwards, his brother emerged, and his hand was grasping Esau's heel, and he named him Jacob. Now Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them. And the youths grew up, and Esau was a man who understood hunting, a man of the field, whereas Jacob was an innocent man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because his game was in his mouth, but Rebecca loved Jacob. Now Jacob cooked a pottage, and Esau came from the field, and he was faint. And Esau said to Jacob, Pour into me some of this red, red pottage, for I am faint he was therefore named Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me as of this day your birthright. Esau replied, Behold, I am going to die so why do I need this birthright? And Jacob said, Swear to me as of this day so he swore to him, and he sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and a pottage of lentils, and he ate and drank and arose and left, and Esau despised the birthright. Genesis Chapter 26 1 And there was a famine in the land, aside from the first famine that had been in the days of Abraham, and Isaac went to Abimelech the king of the Philistines, to Gerar. And the Lord appeared to him, and said, Do not go down to Egypt dwell in the land that I will tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and I will bless you, for to you and to your seed will I give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham, your father. And I will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens, and I will give your seed all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will bless themselves by your seed, Because Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My instructions. Second Portion And Isaac dwelt in Gerar. And the men of the place asked about his wife, and he said, She is my sister, because he was afraid to say, She is my wife, because he said, Lest the men of the place kill me because of Rebecca, for she is of comely appearance. And it came to pass, when he had been there for many days, that Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, looked out of the window, and he saw, and behold, Isaac was jesting with Rebecca his wife. So Abimelech called Isaac, and he said, Behold, she is your wife so how could you have said, She is my sister? And Isaac said to him, Because I said, Lest I die because of her. And Abimelech said, What have you done to us? The most prominent of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us. And Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, Whoever touches this man or his wife shall be put to death. And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found in that year a hundred fold, and the Lord blessed him. Third Portion And the man became great, and he grew constantly greater until he had grown very great. And he had possessions of sheep and possessions of cattle and much production, and the Philistines envied him. And all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father the Philistines stopped them up and filled them with earth. And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us, for you have become much stronger than we. And Isaac went away from there, and he encamped in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there. And Isaac again dug the wells of water which they had dug in the days of his father, Abraham, and the Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham's death and he gave them names like the names that his father had given them. And Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and they found there a well of living waters. And the shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's shepherds, saying, The water is ours so he named the well Esek, because they had contended with him. And they dug another well, and they quarreled about it also so he named it Sitnah. And he moved away from there, and he dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it so he named it Rehoboth, and he said, For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land. Fourth Portion And he went up from there to Beer sheba. And the Lord appeared to him on that night and said, I am the God of Abraham, your father. Fear not, for I am with you, and I will bless you and multiply your seed for the sake of Abraham, My servant. And he built an altar there, and he called in the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there, and Isaac's servants dug a well there. And Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and a group of his companions and Pichol, his general. And Isaac said to them, Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and you sent me away from you? And they said, We have seen that the Lord was with you so we said Let there now be an oath between us, between ourselves and you, and let us form a covenant with you. If you do not harm us, as we have not touched you, and as we have done with you only good, and we sent you away in peace, so do you now, blessed of the Lord. Fifth Portion So he made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. And they arose early in the morning, and they swore one to the other, and Isaac escorted them, and they went away from him in peace. And it came to pass on that day, that Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug, and they said to him, We have found water. And he named it Shibah therefore, the city is named Beer sheba until this very day. And Esau was forty years old, and he married Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a vexation of the spirit to Isaac and to Rebecca. Genesis Chapter 27 1 It came to pass when Isaac was old, and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called Esau his elder son, and he said to him, My son, and he said to him, Here I am. And he said, Behold now, I have grown old I do not know the day of my death. So, now, sharpen your implements, your sword and take your bow, and go forth to the field, and hunt game for me. And make for me tasty foods as I like, and bring them to me, and I will eat, in order that my soul will bless you before I die. But Rebecca overheard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son, and Esau went to the field to hunt game, to bring it. And Rebecca said to Jacob her son, saying, Behold I have heard your father speaking to Esau your brother, saying, Bring me game and make me tasty foods, and I will eat, and I will bless you before the Lord before my death. And now my son, hearken to my voice, to what I am commanding you. Go now to the flock, and take for me from there two choice kids, and I will make them tasty foods for your father, as he likes. And you shall bring them to your father that he may eat, in order that he bless you before his death. And Jacob said to Rebecca his mother, Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, whereas I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father will touch me, and I will appear to him as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing. And his mother said to him, On me is your curse, my son. Only hearken to my voice and go, take them for me. So he went, and he took, and he brought them to his mother, and his mother made tasty foods, as his father liked. And Rebecca took the costly garments of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and she dressed Jacob, her younger son. And the hides of the kids she put on his hands and on the smoothness of his neck. And she gave the tasty foods and the bread that she had made, into the hand of Jacob her son. And he came to his father and said, My father! And he said, Here I am. Who are you, my son? And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you have spoken to me. Please rise, sit down and eat of my game, so that your soul will bless me. And Isaac said to his son, How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord your God prepared it before me. And Isaac said to Jacob, Please come closer, so that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not. So Jacob drew near to Isaac his father, and he felt him, and he said, The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like the hands of his brother Esau, and he blessed him. And he said, Are you indeed my son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, Serve it to me that I may eat of the game of my son, so that my soul will bless you. And he served him, and he ate, and he brought him wine, and he drank. And his father Isaac said to him, Please come closer and kiss me, my son. And he came closer, and he kissed him, and he smelled the fragrance of his garments, and he blessed him, and he said, Behold, the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field, which the Lord has blessed! Sixth Portion And may the Lord give you of the dew of the heavens and of the fatness of the earth and an abundance of grain and wine. Nations shall serve you and kingdoms shall bow down to you you shall be a master over your brothers, and your mother's sons shall bow down to you. Those who curse you shall be cursed, and those who bless you shall be blessed. And it came to pass, when Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and it came to pass Jacob had just left his father Isaac's presence, that his brother Esau came from his hunt. And he too had made tasty foods, and he brought them to his father, and he said to his father, Let my father arise and eat of the game of his son, so that your soul will bless me. And his father Isaac said to him, Who are you? And he said, I am your son, your firstborn, Esau. And Isaac shuddered a great shudder, and he said, Who then is the one who hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate of everything while you had not yet come, and I blessed him? He, too, shall be blessed. When Esau heard his father's words, he cried out a great and bitter cry, and he said to his father, Bless me too, O my father! And he said, Your brother came with cunning and took your blessing. And he said, Is it for this reason that he was named Jacob? For he has deceived me twice he took my birthright, and behold, now he has taken my blessing. And he said, Have you not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and said to Esau, Behold, I made him a master over you, and I gave him all his brothers as servants, and I have sustained him with corn and wine so for you then, what shall I do, my son? And Esau said to his father, Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father. And Esau raised his voice and wept. And his father Isaac answered and said to him, Behold, your dwelling place shall be the fat places of the earth and of the dew of the heaven from above. And you shall live by your sword, and you shall serve your brother, and it will be, when you grieve, that you will break his yoke off your neck. And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing that his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, Let the days of mourning for my father draw near, I will then kill my brother Jacob. And Rebecca was told of the words of Esau, her elder son, and she sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and she said to him, Behold, your brother Esau regrets his relationship to you and wishes to kill you. And now, my son, hearken to my voice, and arise, flee to my brother Laban, to Haran. And you shall dwell with him for a few days until your brother's wrath has subsided. Until your brother's rage subsides from you, and he forgets what you did to him, and I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of both of you on one day? And Rebecca said to Isaac, I am disgusted with my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth like these, from the daughters of the land, of what use is life to me? Genesis Chapter 28 1 And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and he commanded him and said to him, You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take yourself from there a wife of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. And may the Almighty God bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and you shall become an assembly of peoples. And may He give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed with you, that you may inherit the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham. Seventh Portion And Isaac sent Jacob, and he went to Padan aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau. And Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan aram, to take himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him, he commanded him, saying, You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. And Jacob listened to his father and his mother, and he went to Padan aram. And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were displeasing to his father Isaac. So Esau went to Ishmael, and he took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, the sister of Nebaioth, in addition to his other wives as a wife.