Toldot
Genesis 25:19 - 28:9

            This week our Torah portion is the story of Isaac and Rebekah and their two sons, Jacob and Esau.  This famous narrative serves as a link between the life of Abraham and the life of Jacob.   At the beginning of the portion we are told that Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah. Rebekah plays a very important role in this narrative. We are told that God informed her prior to the birth of the boys that “the older would serve the younger”(25:23).  This is a very important piece of  information. Evidently, it was the guiding force behind her idea  to deceive Isaac into thinking that he was giving the blessing to Esau when in fact he was giving it to Jacob.  In one perspective, Rebekah could be seen as the heroine of the story.  She was not concerned for her own welfare but rather to insure that the older would serve the younger. When she explains the plan of deception to Jacob she says, "Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me."    What a statement of self sacrifice! Indeed when all is said and done we do not read about the life of Rebecca following this episode. We do not read about her later in life and we do not read about her death as we do the other matriarchs of Israel . (Although a case can be made that Gen. 35:8 could be about the death of Rebekah).  From this point of view, we can observe that God works through all kinds of means to accomplish his will. Even though deceit was used for Jacob to receive the blessing, it was still the will of God.  In addition, Jacob as well as Rebekah paid a price for their actions. This reasoning reminds me of the fact that it was the will of God for the Messiah to die for our sins.    However, in order for that to happen, the Jewish people had to reject Him. Through the sin of unbelief, the work of the Messiah was accomplished. Just as Jacob suffered for his role in the deception, so Israel has suffered over the years for rejecting the Messiah. Just as Jacob remained the chosen son, so Israel remains the chosen people. The will of God is accomplished in “mysterious” ways!

          While this may be the case, there is an interesting explanation proposed by sages such as Rashi (11^th century) and Sforno  (15^th century).   According to this view,  when Isaac blessed Jacob in 27:29 he purposely omits  the words “the blessing Abraham”.   This is done because Isaac believes that he is blessing Esau with the birthright blessing. It is not until Isaac knowingly  blesses Jacob in 28:3-4 that he invokes the “blessing of Abraham” on Jacob.  This means that the “birthright” and the “covenant” are two different blessings.  The birthright refers to wealth and power while the covenant refers to the mission of the “chosen people and the inheritance of the land of Israel .  While it may indeed be the case that Rebekah and Jacob obtained the birthright blessing by deceit, (and paid the price for it), the blessing of Abraham - the continuation of the covenant relationship with God was destined  for Jacob and given knowingly to him.  It was the will of God all along to bless Jacob with the Abrahamic covenant. Perhaps this understanding would cause so many of the bible expositors who vilify Jacob to realize that he is the chosen son to receive the blessing of the covenant.  Finally regardless of which interpretation we may  follow,  it is evident that God uses frail human beings to accomplish His will. You may think that you are not spiritual enough, not knowledgeable enough, not smart enough  or not good enough - but God takes people like Isaac, Jacob and Rebekah - people who desire the blessing of God; people who have a heart for God and uses them to accomplish His purpose in this world.   Shabbat Shalom!