Torah · Weekly Parasha VideoParashat ToldotRabbi Uri Nahum · June 19, 2017 · Toldot · תולדות · 15 Min Parasha RoundupSave⌄ShareParasha class with Rabbi Uri Nahum, from BSD Productions’ 15 Min Parasha Roundup.Transcript0:05Parashah Toldot. This week's parashah, we have 1060:08pesukim, and the parashah speaks about the new generation of Esav and Yaakov, their birth and their beginnings,0:14and how they each took their own path that eventually changed their whole generations.0:20We have the parashah divided into five parts this week.0:23The first part, the Torah tells us about the birth and the early days of Yaakov and0:27Esav. The second part of the parashah, the Torah tells us about Yitzchak moving, going to0:33Pelishtim. Third part of the parashah, the Torah tells us about Esav getting married, although that's a small part,0:36it's only two pesukim; we'll discuss it,0:39be'ezrat Hashem. The fourth part of the parashah, which takes up the majority of the0:43parashah, is when the Torah tells us about the blessings that Yitzchak wanted to give to his children,0:48specifically to0:49Esav. And finally, the Torah concludes this week's parashah where Yaakov is sent off by his parents to get married.0:58No mitzvot in this week's parashah. Like we mentioned in the past,1:01the mitzvot will resume in two weeks in Parashat1:05Vayishlach. Let's get to the parashah in depth,1:07Parashat Toldot. The first part of the parashah tells us about the birth and the early days of Yaakov and1:14Esav. The Torah begins by telling us that Yitzchak and Rivka did not have any children,1:21and she was barren for 20 years because Yaakov was 40 years old when he was married,1:25and at the age of 60 finally is when he had children.1:28How did they end up having children?1:31Yitzchak and Rivka went to the place of the Akeidah, to Har1:35HaMoriah, where the Beit HaMikdash eventually will be built,1:37and over there they each prayed to1:39Hashem. And the Torah says specifically that Hashem answered Yitzchak's tefillah1:43because of his lineage; he came from1:46Avraham Avinu, and Rivka gets pregnant.1:48And the Torah tells us that Rivka was pregnant with twins,1:50although the Chachamim explain she did not know they were twins.1:53And Rivka was having a very difficult time when she was having these birth pains.1:56As the Chachamim explain, every time she would walk by a beit2:00midrash, a place of God, of worship of2:05Hashem, she would feel the baby trying to come out,2:07wanted to get there. And when she would walk by a place of idolatry2:10and avodah zarah, she would feel the baby also wanted coming out.2:13Thinking it's the same child, she goes over to Avraham Avinu, the prophet,2:16some say was actually2:18Shem, and she asks, What's with this child?2:20And she's told, Really, you have two children.2:23You have twins.2:24And that's why you see the conflicting views.2:27One wants to go to the avodah zarah,2:29and one wants to go to the house of worship of2:32HaKadosh Baruch Hu. And finally, that the children are born,2:35and the Torah tells us that the children2:40were—the Chachamim explain—the children were tzaddikim pretty much most of their lifetime,2:44till the age of 15, when Avraham Avinu passes away.2:48That's when we find already Yaakov going one way and Esav going the other way.2:51Torah tells us the characteristics of Yaakov:2:54he was an2:56ish tam yoshev ohalim, and Esav was2:59ish yodea tzayid. Yaakov was a man who liked to sit around the tents to study,3:02and the nature of Esav was one who knows about hunting.3:09And here we come to the story of Avraham Avinu passes away.3:13Esav comes back after committing two grave sins,3:17and he's tired, he's exhausted.3:18He just came back from murdering Nimrod,3:21and also, the3:23Chachamim explain, he did a aveirah, a horrible aveirah, of being with the woman who was designated to be married.3:29He comes back very tired, and he sees Yaakov cooking,3:31and he's cooking lentils,3:33and he asks, Why are you cooking lentils?3:35He says, Didn't you hear?3:36Avraham, our grandfather, passed away.3:38And here Esav says, You know, what happened?3:42I thought there's a God in the world, and he's3:45kofer. That's another grave sin.3:46Eventually, Yaakov sees that this Esav is not a person who's fit to hold on to the first right of being the firstborn,3:54so therefore Yaakov asks that he should sell him the rights of the firstborn.3:58And Esav says, Yeah, fine, I want the soup instead.4:01I'll take the lentils instead,4:03and the sale takes place.4:05Yaakov gives the lentils to Esav,4:08and Esav gives the rights of the firstborn to Yaakov.4:12And then the4:14Chachamim explain that Esav commits another two grave sins.4:17He's kofer; he denies the resurrection of the dead,4:21techiyat hameitim, and also that the world is judged altogether.4:25Five grave sins were committed that day by Esav,4:28and that's already when the children, at the age of 15,4:31started each taking their own path.4:33We move on now to the second part of this week's parashah,4:37where the Torah tells us about Yitzchak being in4:39Pelishtim. Yitzchak had the hunger in Eretz Yisrael,4:41so therefore he decides, like his father did, to move over to the land of4:45Pelishtim. In fact, Yitzchak wanted to go down all the way to4:48Mitzrayim, just like as Avraham Avinu, his father, did.4:50However, Hashem appears to him at night and He tells him4:52that you cannot go down to Pelishtim, to Mitzrayim, like your father did.4:58You were brought up as a korban, and therefore5:00you must stay in Eretz Yisrael.5:02And Pelishtim was still considered in the boundary of Eretz Yisrael,5:04and you must stay there.5:06While Yitzchak is there, in order to save his life,5:10Rivka is told—she tells everybody that she's really his sister,5:15because this way he was scared, just like Avraham Avinu was scared5:18that they might kill him in order to take his wife.5:22Rivka is not taken by Avimelech, not like Sarah, who was taken by5:25Avimelech. Rivka is not taken by5:26Avimelech. However, everybody thinks of Rivka as Yitzchak's sister.5:30The Gra explains that Avimelech throws sorcery, witchcraft,5:35that Rivka was really the wife of5:40Yitzchak Avinu, and therefore he came to him and he confronted him.5:42He says, How could you claim that she's your sister?5:44She's really your wife.5:45And what if, chas v'shalom, one of the people, including the king,5:48would have won with her?5:49You would have brought a great sin upon us.5:51Therefore, he rebukes5:54Yitzchak, and he tells Yitzchak to stay in the land and he could do as he wants.5:57When Yitzchak settles in5:59Eretz Pelishtim, the Torah tells us that he became very wealthy.6:02Everything that he did, he was able to make a hundred times more6:06from what he put in,6:07and he became so wealthy that people started saying,6:11We would rather have the waste of the animals of6:14Yitzchak than the great wealth of the king6:16Avimelech. At that point, Avimelech feels a threat.6:19He comes over to Yitzchak. He says, You know, you became too big.6:21Get out of our land.6:23Yitzhak, before leaving6:25Eretz Pelishtim, re-digs the many wells that Avraham Avinu has dug.6:29We know that the Torah tells us that Avraham Avinu dug many wells.6:33Why did he dig many wells?6:34Because in order to allow people to drink from it.6:37Of course, it has some deeper meanings.6:39The Pelishtim sealed them all up.6:41Here, Yitzhak re-digs all the wells that Avraham Avinu has dug,6:45and he gives them the same name.6:48More than that, Yitzhak digs an additional three wells,6:51and they're called Esek, Sitnah, and6:55Rechovot. And the reason why it was called Esek and6:56Sitnah, because they fought about it.6:58The Pelishtim also fought with Yitzhak regarding that land, that well.7:02And finally, Rechovot was the well that they didn't have a fight about it.7:05After this, we find that Avimelech comes to Yitzhak7:08outside of the Pelishtim. He comes to7:10him all the way to7:12Be'er Sheva, and he tells him to make a pact with him,7:15just like as Avraham has done.7:17He also wants him to have a pact with Avimelech and his descendants,7:22that there should be a peace together7:23and they shouldn't have any7:25warring. We move now to the third part of this week's7:27parashah. Like we mentioned, it's only a small part of the7:30parashah. It's only two pesukim,7:31but still it's divided by itself in the7:36parashah. Esav gets married at the age of 40 years old.7:39Why? Because Esav was always putting on a show7:41that he was a righteous person.7:43Just as his father got married at 40,7:44so too he wanted to marry at 40.7:46Even though Chachamim tell us he was raping women left and right,7:49but here he wanted to show that he's like his father.7:51He's getting married at the age of 40.7:53And who does he take?7:54Not righteous people,7:55but he takes from the nation of Chittim, of Chet. The Chittim were—8:00These wives that Yitzhak chooses, two of them, they were called Yehudit bat Be'eri and Basemat bat Elon.8:06These two wives gave a tremendous amount of suffering to his parents, to Yitzhak and Rivka.8:12They were always worshipping idolatry. There was avodah zarah all around the house,8:17and Yitzhak and Rivka were not happy with the wives of Esav at all.8:23And now we move on to the main part of the8:25parashah. The fourth part of the parashah, where Yitzhak wants to give the blessings.8:28So it tells us Yitzhak, at this age, he was 123 years old,8:32and he knows that he's within five years of the years that his mother, Sarah Imeinu, lived.8:38Sarah lived for 127 years, and he was nervous that maybe his time has come up,8:42so he wants to give his blessings that he received from Avraham Avinu to his son Esav.8:47Whatever the reason, the mefarshim explain that he felt Esav was more befitting at that point.8:52You'll look it up over there. At this stage, Esav and Yaakov were both 63 years old.8:57Yitzhak calls over Esav, and he tells him, 'You, my firstborn,9:00and I want you to go tonight, this Pesach, and prepare for me9:05an animal. Make sure you slaughter it properly, and you bring it to me,9:08and this way, tonight of Pesach, the heavens are opened up, and I will give you the blessings tonight.'9:15Yitzhak sends off Esav. Esav goes to hunt.9:18Meanwhile, the Torah tells us that Rivka gets news,9:22and the Zohar explains that the Shechinah came and spoke to Rivka, telling him, 'Be careful.9:28Yaakov is now in a very critical position.9:32Esav, if he receives these blessings, Yaakov will never be able, for him and his descendants,9:38they'll never be able to have any power in this world.9:41Make sure that Yaakov gets the blessings.'9:44Rivka goes over to Yaakov, and she tells him, 'I found out...' In my way, how, what's happening tonight,9:50your father wants to give the blessings to Esav.9:54Therefore, I want you to go, take two goats, and these were goats of mine that Rivka was allowed to have,10:01and I'll prepare them for you, and you'll present them, and you'll walk in as Esav.10:06So Yaakov says, How can I walk in as Esav?10:09You know, Esav is very hairy, as it says when he was born, he was very hairy,10:12and I'm a person who's not hairy at all. I don't have any skin on, any hair on my skin.10:16Still, Rivka pushes him to go, and she tells him, I'll give you the special clothing that Esav used to keep by me.10:22You'll walk in to Yitzchak, and you'll get the blessings from10:27Yitzchak. Yaakov, though, he tried to get out of it, but he saw that his mother commanded him to go, and he had to go,10:33and she took complete responsibility of whatever happens.10:35So she told him, Alai klalatcha beni. I'll take care of all any problems that come as a result of this.10:41Yaakov goes to the tent of Yitzchak, and the Chachamim tell us that he was shaking.10:47His feet were—he was not able to go in until the malachim pushed him in.10:52And after a few tests that Yitzchak gives Yaakov, he gives him the blessings, the famous blessings,11:01V'yiten lecha Elokim mital hashamayim. Afterwards, Yaakov leaves. Right as he leaves, Esav was able to come back.11:05The Chachamim explain that he wasn't able to find animals, because any time he hunted an animal, it would run away,11:10until he prepared seemingly a non-kosher animal, he presented to his father,11:15and now Yitzchak realized that this is the real Esav,11:18and Esav starts crying,11:19and he begs his father to give him one blessing. But Yitzchak tells11:24him, How can I give you a blessing when I gave him all the blessings?11:27I said that he will rule over everything. I made him a master over you.11:32That means whatever you acquire, he'll also have.11:33However, the blessing that he does give Esav is, he tells him that Yaakov's blessings were conditional.11:41If him and his children keep the Torah, then they have the rights of the blessing.11:46However, if they don't keep the Torah, then you have the right to claim your blessings.11:50And that's how Yaakov, Yitzchak concludes the conversation with Esav.11:56Esav walks out very disappointed because he wanted to get these special blessings.12:01And we move on now finally to the last part of the12:04parashah. Esav was very upset and he decided to kill his brother Yaakov.12:07However, Esav had so much respect for his father12:11Yitzchak that he said that he will never kill Yaakov in the lifetime of his father12:16Yitzchak. So therefore he said, once Yitzchak passes away, I'm going to take my revenge on Yaakov, my brother.12:23Rivka realizes what's happening, and she goes over to her son Yaakov12:27and she tells him, You must get out of this land. Your brother is already waiting to kill you.12:32You must leave, and I'm going to send you over to my brother Lavan in Aram,12:36and over there you get married to his daughters, and that's where I'm going to tell your father12:39Yitzchak. She comes over to Yitzchak and she tells him, You know, we've had so much difficulty with our12:46daughters-in-law, the wives of Esav. I can't stand if my son Yaakov will also marry from the women of the land.12:53It will give me tremendous amount of12:54pain. We must send him to my brother Lavan. He has daughters over there. Let him go get married over there.13:00So therefore Yaakov is called to come to13:04Yitzchak. Yitzchak gives him blessings, and he commands his son Yaakov to leave13:08and to go all the way to Lavan in Aram, and over there that he should get married over there.13:13And the Torah concludes that Yaakov is sent off,13:16and Esav, seeing that his parents were very not happy with the choice of wives that he had,13:22he goes over to Yishmael and he gets engaged to his daughter.13:28However, Yishmael passes away. And he passes away in the engagement period between Esav getting engaged and getting married,13:36and therefore the brother of Esav's future wife, the son of Yishmael, Nevayot,13:42ends up handing over, giving over his sister to Esav to get married.13:46And here, Esav marries into Yishmael, and that's how the parsha concludes.13:49What can we learn out of this week's parasha?13:52A very important lesson.13:54The lesson of this week's parasha is: do not judge things by face value.13:59If you'd read the parasha without reading any commentary,14:02we would come out and say, you know, Esav was a very righteous person.14:06His parents loved him, Yitzchak loved him,14:08and Yaakov seems to be the person who, you know, who's tricking.14:13He's the one who is really taking away the blessings. He cheated his brother.14:17However, once we read the mefarshim, and there's a lot of mefarshim on this week's parasha,14:21we find that the opposite is true.14:23Really, it was Esav who was the one who was tricking everybody.14:28He put on a show, and when you would see Esav, you would think he was a great tzaddik.14:34However, Chachamim tell us he was really a wicked person,14:37and really the blessings would seem to have been taken by Yaakov14:41really are rightfully Yaakov's blessings, as the Chachamim explained.14:45And that's what we can learn from this week's parasha:14:49do not look at things as face value,14:51not at people and not at events.14:54Don't just accept it.14:56Take caution and look deeper into things,14:58and you'll find that things have much deeper meanings,15:02and you can discover many, many deep things about events and people15:06by looking in the proper view.15:29Shabbat shalom.