חומש בראשית - פרשת תודלדות
Yitzchak and Rivkah are married for twenty long years without having children. Finally Rivkah gets pregnant with twins. As the kids grow inside her belly they constantly kick around, so Rivkah goes to visit a great rabbi by the name of Shem to ask him for advice. Shem tells her that there are two children in her womb who will be the fathers of two nations, and the younger one will eventually rule the older one -- that’s why they were fighting even before they were born.
Esav is born first. He is hairy and red-headed. Then follows Yaakov, who is holding Esav’s heel as he is born. Esav and Yaakov are quite different: Esav is sly and loves to hunt, while Yaakov is peaceful and spends most of his time studying Torah. On the day that Abraham is buried, Esav goes hunting while Yaakov stays home and cooks a pot of lentils for his father to eat (a person who is mourning a loved one eats round foods when he or she comes back from the funeral).
Esav comes home and is very hungry, so hungry that he sits next to Yaakov and says: "Give me to eat!" He wants Yaakov to pour the food down his throat. Yaakov says yes, on condition that Esav sell him his birthright, his right to be the firstborn. (Why did Yaakov want Esav’s birthright? Yaakov knew that in the future the firstborn would be priviledged to serve in the Holy Temple, but Esav didn’t behave like a person who will serve in G‑d’s temple should -- he hunted and killed, and didn’t have respect for life -- so Yaakov asked him to sell his birthright, which he did.)
Yitzchak ages and becomes blind. He wants to bless his children before he dies. Esav goes to hunt for a couple of animals to prepare food for his father. In the meantime Rivkah dresses Yaakov as Esav. She covers his arms and neck with hairy goatskin so that he should resemble Esav and sends him into Yitzchak’s room to get the blessings which were destined to the firstborn son. When Esav returns and discovers that Yaakov got the first blessings, he becomes very angry and wants to kill his brother. So Yaakov runs away to Charan, his mother’s birth-place, where he will also look for a wife whom we will meet in the next Parsha.
Esav is born first. He is hairy and red-headed. Then follows Yaakov, who is holding Esav’s heel as he is born. Esav and Yaakov are quite different: Esav is sly and loves to hunt, while Yaakov is peaceful and spends most of his time studying Torah. On the day that Abraham is buried, Esav goes hunting while Yaakov stays home and cooks a pot of lentils for his father to eat (a person who is mourning a loved one eats round foods when he or she comes back from the funeral).
Esav comes home and is very hungry, so hungry that he sits next to Yaakov and says: "Give me to eat!" He wants Yaakov to pour the food down his throat. Yaakov says yes, on condition that Esav sell him his birthright, his right to be the firstborn. (Why did Yaakov want Esav’s birthright? Yaakov knew that in the future the firstborn would be priviledged to serve in the Holy Temple, but Esav didn’t behave like a person who will serve in G‑d’s temple should -- he hunted and killed, and didn’t have respect for life -- so Yaakov asked him to sell his birthright, which he did.)
Yitzchak ages and becomes blind. He wants to bless his children before he dies. Esav goes to hunt for a couple of animals to prepare food for his father. In the meantime Rivkah dresses Yaakov as Esav. She covers his arms and neck with hairy goatskin so that he should resemble Esav and sends him into Yitzchak’s room to get the blessings which were destined to the firstborn son. When Esav returns and discovers that Yaakov got the first blessings, he becomes very angry and wants to kill his brother. So Yaakov runs away to Charan, his mother’s birth-place, where he will also look for a wife whom we will meet in the next Parsha.