Torah Portion Toldot, Generations - Beresheit 25:19 – 28:9

Welcome to Hungry for Torah. Thank you for joining our study. This week our Torah portion is Toldot, Generations, the portion begins in Beresheit 25:19 with the words va’eleh toldot Yitzach, “and these are the generations of Isaac.”

If you are not familiar with the genealogy of the biblical patriarchs, the three that stand in history are Abraham, Isaac (Yitzach) and Jacob (Yaakov). In the beginning verses of Toldot, we have the lineage of these three patriarchs listed genealogically.

Barren but not Idle

The three patriarchs share the common difficulty of having wives they dearly love and who, at first, are barren. Abraham was ninety-nine before Sarah bore Yitzach. Yitzach was sixty when Yaakov was born, and Joseph is recorded to be the son of Yitzhak’s ‘old age’. Beresheit records Sarah, Rivkah and Rachel as being ‘barren’ prior to the late-age birth of their sons.

One way to look at the ‘barren’ tag is that since they had not yet conceived, by definition, they were barren; they had not had a child. But the more accurate way to look at it is to see that they had been married for many years without conceiving a child. And in these three cases, the child that is born becomes a bulwark of the faith. What can we learn from this?

One lesson might be that good things come to those who wait. Or that I can wander aimlessly in the ‘faith’ for years until one day I wake up and bear fruit when I am old. I think that the more cogent lesson is that for the faithful and obedient, with years of service and study, we can get to the point that we become fruitful servants. Abraham, Yitzach and Yaakov were not idle during the years before they had their patrilineal sons. They were involved in living and making a life for their family, whether born or grafted in.

Be Ready

We never know when Yehovah has something planned for us that is as momentous as the birth of a patriarch to a barren wife. Not all of us are going to have such a world-changing effect, but we don’t know who among us will. You could be the one that Father is waiting for the right moment to work through to make a real difference in the world. Even if the difference in on a smaller level, a single person, or family, or city, Father may want to use you to deliver His gift to another. We don’t know, but we must be ready.

Perhaps that is another characteristic we can glean from the three patriarchs. They were always ready for what Elohim had prepared for them, and prepared them for. As each of them went through the process, they didn’t always recognize the benefit, and they didn’t enjoy the trial, but they maintained faith that Elohim would respond to their heartfelt prayers.

Learn to Pray

In our portion we read, “And Yitzach entreated (awthar H6279) Yehovah for his wife, because she was barren: and Yehovah was entreated of him, and Rivkah his wife conceived.” (Beresheit 25:21) The sense of the word awthar is abundance, Yitzach wasn’t just casually mentioning that Rivkah was barren, the psalmist would perhaps phrase what Yitzach was doing as, 'his heart was drawn out in prayer all the day.'

When we read in the New Testament (Brit Chadashah) that “You have not because you ask not,” I think we sometimes get the idea that all we have to do is ask. So we casually mention that we need something. But perhaps Yitzhak’s example is a more accurate picture of what it means to ask. When our hearts are drawn out in prayer continually to Elohim and we are focused on what we need from Him, as Yitzach entreated Yehovah, and our faith is anchored in Elohim, then He listens and responds. I don’t think it necessarily takes years. A moment of crisis may call for instant assistance, but the intensity of prayer and focus of faith tends to be more acute at times of crisis.

Not that every prayer, even heartfelt and sincere prayers are always answered in the way we want to see them answered. If they were, Abraham would have had a son years earlier, Ishmael would never have been born, and we might be talking today about the five tribes of Israel. Sometimes Father has reasons beyond our understanding that our prayers are not answered when or how we want them to be answered.

Yitzhak’s prayers are eventually answered and Rivkah gives birth to two sons, Esav and Yaakov. The two boys are dramatically different in appearance, Esav is red and hairy, and Yaakov looks like a normal baby. Esav grows up to be a man of the field and a hunter. Yaakov becomes a man of the tents. Would you agree that there is a difference between a man who is a hunter, a man of the field, and someone you would describe as a man of the tents? Even today the two descriptions evoke different images of what kind of person each man would be.

The Hunter and the Shepherd

In the time of Esav, lacking high-powered rifles and compound bows, the art of hunting would be intense. Esav would have to stalk his prey and get close enough for his weapon of choice to be effective. Less like hunters today and more like Native Americans hunted. It was a career choice for Esav to devote the time, study and energy to become a hunter and forge his own weapons, his kelee. This same word is used to describe the instruction, “A woman shall not wear that which pertains (kelee) to a man and a man shall not wear a woman’s garment.” (Devarim 22:5)

The mindset is different between a hunter and a man of the tents. How much attention does a hunter need to direct to the hunt? It is an intense activity requiring concentration on the hunt, more so as you near your prey. When Esav is not engaged in hunting, he must still explore the game trails and watch the movement of game herds so that when he need to hunt again he will know where to go to find his next kill.

The term used to describe the results of the hunt is telling. The kill. We don’t use the word kill to describe what we do to an animal in the herd or flock. We slaughter them. In our vernacular ‘kill’ has a more sporting meaning than ‘slaughter,’ I might kill a deer, but I slaughter sheep. I see a correlation between these terms and building a relationship with Elohim. The Tanakh says that Elohim is wooing us; we don’t need to go out and hunt Him down, but only stay around the tents, tend to the flock, study, listen and respond.

Moshe said the Torah is not difficult or far away, but it is near us, even in our lips so that we can obey it and live and Paul repeats Moshe’s counsel in Romans chapter 10. The added difficulty with the hunter mentality is that the focus is on the earth, earthy. Too much attention is focused on the things of this earth and little time is spent on how the hunter can be of service to others and to Elohim. The Brit Chadashah explains the concept in terms of the spiritual man and the carnal man. I’m not opposing those who hunt; there is a difference between going hunting, and being a hunter. Going hunting is something you do; being a hunter is a way of relating to the world.

The Small Letter in the Scroll

In Beresheit 27:46, we have a Hebrew hint. The letter kuph in the word translated weary or disgusted, when Rivkah says, “I am weary/disgusted (katzti) of my life from the daughters of Heth. If Yaakov takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these from the daughters of the land, what is my life to me?” (Beresheit 27:46)

Why is the kuph in the word katzti made smaller?

According to rabbinic sources, the letter kuph represents holiness, as in kadosh and kedoshim. With that thought, perhaps Elohim is sharing with us a lesson in how we deal with the world.

Have you ever encountered a time in your life when you were disillusioned with life? Job expressed so eloquently in chapter 3 that he cursed the day he was born because of all the sorrow he was going through. Rivkah is moaning about her situation by commenting about how she is disgusted with her life. You have probably had a time in life when you were weary or disgusted with life and the events that were going on. I know people who experience that kind of response yearly between April 13 and April 15.

I think the small kuph in katzti is Yehovah’s way of telling us that if we get to the point of looking at our life as though it is a burden, we diminish His presence in the world and His holiness. He made Adam a little lower than the angels, in the image of Elohim. For us to downplay the magnificence of His creation we denigrate His majesty and holiness. We were not made for ourselves, we each have a greater purpose than to have an easy life and be pleased with what goes on in our life. We have a responsibility to make an improvement in the world.

Whether we consider the Jewish idea of tikkun olam, repairing the world, or the Christian idea of converting the world, both sides have the concept that believers and followers should make a difference. That difference may be in one person’s life, or in the lives of the entire world. But you and I should make some kind of positive difference.

When I look at Rivkah, I can see why she would feel the way she felt. Her son Esav married daughters of Heth, and they probably were a factor in his lifestyle. What wife does not have an influence in her husband’s life? Rivkah didn’t want to lose Yaakov to the same perverting influences and felt her life would be wasted if that happened. But look at the difference she made in the world. Through her came Yaakov, the 12 tribes, the Torah, and the Messiah. We never know what our legacy will be. Elohim does, and it is our place to remain faithful to Him and let His plan play out through our life the way He intends.

Join me next week as we discuss Torah portion VaYetze, Beresheit 28:10-32:3. Shalom, stay hungry for Torah, and Elohim will open your eyes to see wonderful things from His word. Please leave your comments below, I welcome your thoughts.