Toldot

Isa 2:3-5  And many peoples shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of יהוה, to the House of the Elohim of Yaʽaqoḇ, and let Him teach us His ways, and let us walk in His paths, for out of Tsiyon comes forth the Torah, and the Word of יהוה from Yerushalayim.” Footnote: His ways, His paths, the teaching and the Word of יהוה are used synonymously.
4  And He shall judge between the nations, and shall reprove many peoples. And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither teach battle any more.
5  O house of Yaʽaqoḇ, come and let us walk in the light of יהוה.

Weekly reading:

Parashah Toldot: Gen 25:19-28:9

Haftorah: Mal 1:1-2:7

Suggested HaBerith HaChadashah Reading: Rom 9:1-31

Gen 25:19-34  And this is the genealogy of Yitsḥaq, Aḇraham’s son. Aḇraham brought forth Yitsḥaq.

20  And Yitsḥaq was forty years old when he took Riḇqah as wife, the daughter of Bethu’ĕl the Aramean of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laḇan the Aramean.

21  And Yitsḥaq prayed to יהוה for his wife, because she was barren. And יהוה answered his prayer, and Riḇqah his wife conceived.

22  And within her the children struggled together, and she said, “If all is right, why am I this way?” So she went to ask יהוה.

23  And יהוה said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from your body. And one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older serve the younger.”

24  And when the days were filled for her to give birth, and see, twins were in her womb!

25  And the first came out red all over, like a hairy garment, so they called his name Ěsaw.

26  And afterward his brother came out, with his hand holding on to Ěsaw’s heel, so his name was called Yaʽaqoḇ. And Yitsḥaq was sixty years old when she bore them.

27  And the boys grew up. And Ěsaw became a man knowing how to hunt, a man of the field, while Yaʽaqoḇ was a complete man, dwelling in tents.

28  And Yitsḥaq loved Ěsaw because he ate of his wild game, but Riḇqah loved Yaʽaqoḇ.

29  And Yaʽaqoḇ cooked a stew, and Ěsaw came in from the field, and he was weary.

30  And Ěsaw said to Yaʽaqoḇ, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” That is why his name was called Eḏom.

31  But Yaʽaqoḇ said, “Sell me your birthright today.”

32  And Ěsaw said, “Look, I am going to die, so why should I have birthright?”

33  Then Yaʽaqoḇ said, “Swear to me today.” And he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Yaʽaqoḇ.

34  Yaʽaqoḇ then gave Ěsaw bread and stew of lentils. And he ate and drank, and rose up and left. Thus Ěsaw despised his birthright.

Gen 26:1-35  And there was a scarcity of food in the land, besides the first scarcity of food which was in the days of Aḇraham. And Yitsḥaq went to Aḇimeleḵ, sovereign of the Philistines, in Gerar.

2  And יהוה appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Mitsrayim, live in the land which I command you.

3  “Sojourn in this land. And I shall be with you and bless you, for I give all these lands to you and your seed. And I shall establish the oath which I swore to Aḇraham your father.

4  “And I shall increase your seed like the stars of the heavens, and I shall give all these lands to your seed. And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,

5  because Aḇraham obeyed My voice and guarded My Charge: My commands, My laws, and My Torot¹.” Footnote: ¹Torot - plural of Torah, teaching

6  And Yitsḥaq dwelt in Gerar.

7  And when the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me for Riḇqah, because she is good-looking.”

8  And it came to be, when he had been there a long time, that Aḇimeleḵ sovereign of the Philistines looked through a window, and he watched and saw Yitsḥaq playing with Riḇqah his wife.

9  So Aḇimeleḵ called Yitsḥaq and said, “See, truly she is your wife! So how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Yitsḥaq said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’ ”

10  And Aḇimeleḵ said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people had almost lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.”

11  And Aḇimeleḵ commanded all his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall certainly be put to death.”

12  And Yitsḥaq sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold, and יהוה blessed him.

13  And the man grew great and went forward until he became very great.

14  And he came to have possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great body of servants, and the Philistines envied him.

15  And the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Aḇraham his father, and filled them with dirt.

16  And Aḇimeleḵ said to Yitsḥaq, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

17  So Yitsḥaq went from there and pitched his tent in the wadi Gerar, and dwelt there.

18  And Yitsḥaq dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Aḇraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Aḇraham. And he called them by the names which his father had called them.

19  But when Yitsḥaq’s servants dug in the wadi and found a well of running water there,

20  the herdsmen of Gerar strove with Yitsḥaq’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” And he called the name of the well Ěseq, because they strove with him.

21  And they dug another well, and they strove over that one too, and he called its name Sitnah.

22  And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not strive over it. And he called its name Reḥoḇoth, and said, “For now יהוה has made room for us, and we shall bear fruit in the land.”

23  And from there he went up to Be’ĕrsheḇa.

24  And יהוה appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the Elohim of your father Aḇraham. Do not fear, for I am with you, and shall bless you and increase your seed for My servant Aḇraham’s sake.”

25  And he built an altar there, and called on the Name of יהוה, and he pitched his tent there, and the servants of Yitsḥaq dug a well there.

26  And Aḇimeleḵ came to him from Gerar, with Aḥuzzath, one of his friends, and Piḵol the commander of his army.

27  And Yitsḥaq said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing you have hated me and have sent me away from you?”

28  But they said, “We have clearly seen that יהוה is with you. And we said, ‘Please, let there be an oath between us, between you and us. And let us make a covenant with you,

29  that you do no evil to us, as we have not touched you, and as we have done only good toward you, and have sent you away in peace. You are now blessed by יהוה.’ ”

30  And he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.

31  And they rose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another. And Yitsḥaq let them go, and they departed from him in peace.

32  And on the same day it came to be that the servants of Yitsḥaq came and informed him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.”

33  So he called it Shiḇah. Therefore the name of the city is Be’ĕrsheḇa to this day.

34  And when Ěsaw was forty years old, he took as wives Yehuḏith the daughter of Be’ĕri the Ḥittite, and Basemath the daughter of Ělon the Ḥittite.

35  And they were a bitterness of spirit to Yitsḥaq and Riḇqah.

Gen 27:1-46  And it came to be, when Yitsḥaq was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called Ěsaw his elder son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.”

2  And he said, “See now, I am old, I do not know the day of my death.

3  “Now then, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt wild game for me.

4  “And make me a tasty dish, such as I love, and bring it to me to eat, in order that my being does bless you before I die.”

5  And Riḇqah heard when Yitsḥaq spoke to Ěsaw his son. And Ěsaw went to the field to hunt wild game and to bring it.

6  And Riḇqah spoke to Yaʽaqoḇ her son, saying, “See, I heard your father speak to Ěsaw your brother, saying,

7  ‘Bring me wild game and make me a tasty dish to eat, and bless you in the presence of יהוה before my death.’

8  “And now my son, listen to my voice according to what I command you.

9  “Please go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I make a tasty dish from them for your father, such as he loves.

10  “And you shall take it to your father, and he shall eat it, so that he might bless you before his death.”

11  And Yaʽaqoḇ said to Riḇqah his mother, “See, Ěsaw my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man.

12  “What if my father touches me? Then I shall be like a deceiver in his eyes, and shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”

13  But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.”

14  And he went and fetched them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made a tasty dish, such as his father loved.

15  And Riḇqah took the best garments of her elder son Ěsaw, which were with her in the house, and put them on Yaʽaqoḇ her younger son.

16  And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

17  Then she gave the tasty dish and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Yaʽaqoḇ.

18  And he went to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

19  And Yaʽaqoḇ said to his father, “I am Ěsaw your first-born, I have done as you said to me. Please rise, sit and eat of my wild game, so that your being might bless me.”

20  But Yitsḥaq said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because יהוה your Elohim brought it to me.”

21  Then Yitsḥaq said to Yaʽaqoḇ, “Please come near, so that I feel you, my son, whether you truly are my son Ěsaw or not.”

22  And Yaʽaqoḇ went near to Yitsḥaq his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Yaʽaqoḇ, but the hands are the hands of Ěsaw.”

23  And he did not recognise him, for his hands were hairy like his brother Ěsaw’s hands, and he blessed him.

24  And he said, “Are you truly my son Ěsaw?” And he said, “I am.”

25  And he said, “Bring it near to me, and let me eat of my son’s wild game, so that my being might bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate. And he brought him wine, and he drank.

26  And his father Yitsḥaq said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”

27  And he came near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which יהוה has blessed.

28  And Elohim give you of the dew of the heavens, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine.

29  Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brothers, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those cursing you, and blessed be those blessing you!”

30  And it came to be, as soon as Yitsḥaq had finished blessing Yaʽaqoḇ, and Yaʽaqoḇ had hardly left the presence of Yitsḥaq his father, that Ěsaw his brother came in from his hunting.

31  And he too had made a tasty dish and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father rise and eat of his son’s wild game, so that your being might bless me.”

32  And his father Yitsḥaq said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, your first-born, Ěsaw.”

33  Then Yitsḥaq trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who was it then who hunted wild game and brought it to me? And I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him. Yea, he is blessed.”

34  When Ěsaw heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me too, O my father!”

35  And he said, “Your brother came with deceit and took your blessing.”

36  And Ěsaw said, “Was his name, then, called Yaʽaqoḇ? For he has caught me by the heel these two times. He took my birthright, and see, now he has taken my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

37  Then Yitsḥaq answered and said to Ěsaw, “See, I have made him your master, and all his brothers I have given to him as servants. And I have sustained him with grain and wine. And what, then, shall I do for you, my son?”

38  And Ěsaw said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me too, O my father!” And Ěsaw lifted up his voice and wept.

39  And Yitsḥaq his father answered and said to him, “See, your dwelling is of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of the heavens from above.

40  And by your sword you are to live, and serve your brother. And it shall be, when you grow restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

41  And Ěsaw hated Yaʽaqoḇ because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Ěsaw said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father draw near, then I am going to kill my brother Yaʽaqoḇ.”

42  And the words of Ěsaw her older son were reported to Riḇqah, and she sent and called Yaʽaqoḇ her younger son, and said to him, “See, your brother Ěsaw comforts himself concerning you, to kill you.

43  “And now, my son, listen to my voice, and rise, flee to my brother Laḇan in Ḥaran.

44  “And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s wrath turns away,

45  until your brother’s displeasure turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. And I shall send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”

46  And Riḇqah said to Yitsḥaq, “I am disgusted with my life because of the daughters of Ḥĕth. If Yaʽaqoḇ takes a wife from the daughters of Ḥĕth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what is my life to me?”

Gen 28:1-9  And Yitsḥaq called Yaʽaqoḇ and blessed him, and commanded him, and said to him, “Do not take a wife from the daughters of Kenaʽan.

2  “Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethu’ĕl your mother’s father. And take a wife for yourself from there, from the daughters of Laḇan your mother’s brother.

3  “And Ěl Shaddai bless you, and make you bear fruit and increase you, and you shall become an assembly of peoples,

4  and give you the blessing of Aḇraham, to you and your seed with you, so that you inherit the land of your sojournings, which Elohim gave to Aḇraham.”

5  So Yitsḥaq sent Yaʽaqoḇ away, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laḇan son of Bethu’ĕl the Aramean, the brother of Riḇqah, the mother of Yaʽaqoḇ and Ěsaw.

6  And Ěsaw saw that Yitsḥaq had blessed Yaʽaqoḇ and sent him away to Paddan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a command, saying, “Do not take a wife from the daughters of Kenaʽan,”

7  and that Yaʽaqoḇ had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan Aram.

8  So Ěsaw saw that the daughters of Kenaʽan did not please his father Yitsḥaq,

9  and Ěsaw went to Yishmaʽĕl and took Maḥalath the daughter of Yishmaʽĕl, Aḇraham’s son, the sister of Neḇayoth, to be his wife, besides the wives he had.

Haftorah: Mal 1:1-2:7

Mal 1:1-14  The message of the word of יהוה to Yisra’ĕl by Mal’aḵi.

2  “I have loved you,” said יהוה. “But you asked, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ “Was not Ěsaw Yaʽaqoḇ’s brother?” declares יהוה. “And I love Yaʽaqoḇ,

3  but I have hated Ěsaw, and have laid waste his mountains and his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.”

4  If Eḏom says, “We have been beaten down, let us return and build the ruins,” יהוה of hosts said thus: “Let them build, but I tear down. And they shall be called ‘Border of Wrongness’, and the people against whom יהוה is enraged forever.

5  And your eyes shall see, and you shall say, ‘Great is יהוה beyond the border of Yisra’ĕl!’

6  “A son esteems his father, and a servant his master. And if I am the Father, where is My esteem? And if I am a Master, where is My fear? said יהוה of hosts to you priests who despise My Name. But you asked, ‘In what way have we despised Your Name?’

7  “You are presenting defiled food on My altar. But you asked, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’ Because you say, ‘The table of יהוה is despicable.’

8  “And when you present the blind as a slaughtering, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Bring it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favourably?” said יהוה of hosts.

9  “And now, entreat the face of Ěl to show favour to us. This has been done by your hands. Would He show favour to you?” said יהוה of hosts.

10  “Who among you who would shut the doors, so that you would not kindle fire on My altar for naught? I have no pleasure in you,” said יהוה of hosts, “Nor do I accept an offering from your hands.

11  “For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My Name is great among nations. And in every place incense is presented to My Name, and a clean offering. For My Name is great among nations,” said יהוה of hosts.

12  “But you are profaning Me, in that you say, ‘The table of יהוה is defiled, and its fruit, its food, is despicable.’

13  “And you said, ‘Oh, what weariness!’ and you sneered at it,” said יהוה of hosts. “And you brought in plunder, and the lame, and the sick – thus you have brought in the offering! Should I accept this from your hand?” said יהוה.

14  “But cursed be the deceiver who has a male in his flock, and makes a vow, but is slaughtering to יהוה what is blemished. For I am a great Sovereign,” said יהוה of hosts, “and My Name is feared among nations.

Mal 2:1-7  “And now, O priests, this command is for you.

2  “If you do not hear, and if you do not take it to heart, to give esteem to My Name,” said יהוה of hosts, “I shall send a curse upon you, and I shall curse your blessings. And indeed, I have cursed them, because you do not take it to heart.

3  “See, I shall rebuke your seed, and scatter dung before your faces, the dung of your festivals. And you shall be taken away with it.

4  “And you shall know that I have sent this command to you, as being My covenant with Lĕwi,” said יהוה of hosts.

5  “My covenant with him was life and peace, and I gave them to him, to fear. And he feared Me, and stood in awe of My Name.

6  “The Torah of truth¹ was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and straightness, and turned many away from crookedness. Footnote: ¹Neh. 9:13.

7  “For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and they seek the Torah from his mouth, for he is the messenger of יהוה of hosts.

Suggested HaBerith HaChadashah Reading: Rom 9:1-31

Rom 9:1-31  I speak the truth in Messiah, I do not lie, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Set-apart Spirit,

2  that I have great sadness and continual grief in my heart.

3  For I myself could have wished to be banished from Messiah for the sake of my brothers, my relatives according to the flesh,

4  who are Yisra’ĕlites, whose is the adoption, and the esteem, and the covenants, and the giving of the Torah, and the worship, and the promises,

5  whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Messiah according to the flesh, who is over all, Elohim-blessed forever. Amĕn.

6  However, it is not as though the word of Elohim has failed. For they are not all Yisra’ĕl who are of Yisra’ĕl,

7  neither are they all children because they are the seed of Aḇraham, but, “In Yitsḥaq your seed shall be called.”

8  That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of Elohim, but the children of the promise are reckoned as the seed.

9  For this is the word of promise, “At this time I shall come and Sarah shall have a son.”

10  And not only so, but Riḇqah having conceived by one, our father Yitsḥaq.

11  Yet, before they were born or had done any good or evil – in order that the purpose of Elohim, according to choice, might stand, not of works but of Him who calls –

12  it was said to her, “The greater shall serve the lesser,”

13  as it has been written, “Yaʽaqoḇ I have loved, but Ěsaw I have hated.”

14  What, then, shall we say? Is there unrighteousness with Elohim? Let it not be!

15  For He says to Mosheh, “I shall favour whomever I favour, and I shall have compassion on whomever I have compassion.”

16  So, then, it is not of him who is wishing, nor of him who is running, but of Elohim who shows favour.

17  For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this same purpose I have raised you up, to show My power in you, and that My Name be declared in all the earth.”

18  So, then, He favours whom He wishes, and He hardens whom He wishes.

19  Then you shall say to me, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His counsel?”

20  But who are you, O man, to talk back to Elohim? Shall that which is formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”

21  Does not the potter have authority over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for value and another not for value?

22  And if Elohim, desiring to show wrath, and to make His power known, with much patience tolerated the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,

23  and that He might make known the riches of His esteem on vessels of compassion, which He had prepared beforehand for esteem,

24  even whom He called, not only us of the Yehuḏim, but also of the gentiles?

25  As He says in Hoshĕa too, “I shall call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved.”

26  “And it shall be in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living Elohim.”

27  And Yeshayahu cries out on behalf of Yisra’ĕl, “Though the number of the children of Yisra’ĕl be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved.

28  For He is bringing a matter to an end, and is cutting it short in righteousness, because יהוה shall cut short a matter on the earth.”

29  And as Yeshayahu said before, “If יהוה of hosts had not left us a seed, we would have become like Seḏom, and we would have been made like Amorah.”

30  What shall we say then? That gentiles not following after righteousness, have obtained righteousness, even the righteousness of belief,

31  but Yisra’ĕl following after the Torah of righteousness, has not arrived at the Torah of righteousness.

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Toldot Aliya Summary

General Overview: In this week's reading, Toldot, Jacob and Esau are born. Isaac relocates to Philistine where he digs wells, resulting in friction between him and the locals. Rebecca and Jacob successfully deceive Isaac, tricking him into giving to Jacob the blessings he had intended for Esau. First Aliyah: Rebecca had trouble conceiving. Isaac and Rebecca prayed for children, and after twenty years of marriage Rebecca became pregnant. She was concerned about her exceedingly difficult pregnancy, and was advised by G‑d that this was due to two children – two nations – struggling in her womb. She gave birth to twin boys: a hairy, ruddy boy named Esau, and a second son, born clutching his brother's heel, named Jacob. Esau became a hunter, while Jacob was an honest man who frequented the schools of Torah. Isaac favored Esau, while Rebecca preferred Jacob. One day, Esau came home from the field hungry, and pleaded with Jacob to give him some of the stew he was cooking. Jacob agreed to Esau's request provided that he give him his birthright as firstborn in exchange—and Esau acceded to this barter. There was a famine in Canaan, and Isaac was escaping the famine by traveling to Egypt via Philistine when G‑d told him to remain in Philistine. G‑d also informed Isaac that he would visit upon him all the blessings He had promised to Abraham. Second Aliyah: Isaac settled in Philistine. When the townspeople inquired regarding his wife, he told them that she was his sister, fearing that otherwise the Philistines would kill him in order to take Rebecca. Eventually, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, noticed that Rebecca was Isaac's wife and though he reprimanded Isaac, he issued a decree that no one touch them. While in Philistine, Isaac sowed crops, and miraculously harvested a hundred times more than a field's normal yield. Third Aliyah: Isaac became extremely wealthy. He also re-dug some of the wells that his father Abraham had dug, but had since been stopped up by the Philistines. The Philistines eventually became envious of his wealth, and asked him to leave. Isaac complied, moving away from the city and settling in the Gerar Valley. There, Isaac's servants dug two new wells but the Philistines contested his ownership over these wells. The third well he dug was uncontested. Fourth Aliyah: G‑d appeared to Isaac and blessed him and assured him that He would always be with him. Abimelech approached Isaac and requested to enter into a peace treaty with him. Fifth Aliyah: Isaac agreed to Abimelech's request. On that day, Isaac's servants informed him that they had successfully dug another well. At the age of forty, Esau married two wives. Their idolatrous ways anguished Isaac and Rebecca. Isaac had now advanced in age, and he became blind. He summoned Esau and told him that he wished to bless him, but first he should go to the field and hunt some game for him to eat. Rebecca heard this conversation and advised Jacob to don Esau's clothing and trick Isaac into blessing him instead. Rebecca prepared meat and gave it to Jacob to bring to his father. She also took hairy goatskin and put it on Jacob's smooth arms and neck. Jacob approached his father and presented himself as Esau, and Isaac ate from the repast Rebecca had prepared. Sixth Aliyah: Isaac blessed Jacob with the "dew of the heaven and the fat of the earth," and granted him mastery over his brother. No sooner than the blessing ended, Esau arrived from the field, only to be informed by his father – who now understood what had transpired – that the blessing was already given to his younger brother. Esau was furious and Isaac comforted him with a minor blessing. Esau was determined to kill Jacob, but Rebecca, who got wind of this plot, asked Isaac to send Jacob to Charan to find a wife. Isaac did so, and blessed Jacob again before he departed. Seventh Aliyah: Isaac sent Jacob to his brother-in-law Laban's home, to marry one of his daughters. Esau married again, this time to Machalat the daughter of Ishmael.