Weekly Reading – תּוֹלְדֹת – Toldot – Generations; Genesis 25:19-28:9; Malachi 1:1-2:7
Esau, the eldest son of Isaac, returns from the field exhausted and hungry. His brother Jacob is cooking a stew, and Esau asks him for something to eat. Jacob proposes a deal: the stew in exchange for the birthright. Esau agrees, eats and drinks, gets up and leaves. The Torah concludes the story with the words: “So Esau despised his birthright.” Why does the Torah add these words after already telling us that Esau sold his birthright? The act itself is unambiguous. Yet the word “despised” reveals something deeper about what was happening in Esau’s heart.
In the biblical world, the birthright meant status, rights, and responsibility for the continuation of the family. In the household of Isaac and Rebekah, it was also tied to the covenant God had made with Abraham, and to the promise that was to be passed down through generations. Esau had grown up in a believing household, knew the spiritual world of his father, and even wanted to...
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