My teaching on Toldot
First I want to summarize this week's parashah. Abraham and Sarah, who we could say were 'the first Jews, have a son Isaac, who marries Rebecca, who gives birth to twins: Esau and Jacob. Jacob becomes a scholar and a homebody who is favored by their mother; Esau is a ruddy-complexioned and hairy man, a hunter, who plies their father’s favor with tasty game.
Parshat Toldot
Our Aliyah today is Toldot, Chapter 26, verses 6-12. It is a very short self -contained vignette inserted into the midst of the family drama of Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Esau that makes up most of the Parsha. We read that Isaac and Rebecca journey to the land of the Philistines in a time of famine. Isaac passes Rebecca off as his sister. Avimelech, king of the Philistines, observes Isaac fondling Rebecca and suspects the truth. When he confronts him, Isaac admits the lie, and Avimelech says, “What is this thou hast done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife and thou wouldst have brought guiltiness upon us.”