Toldot 5772

The Zohar
	Firstborn of Judgment
	From the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai; translation & commentary by Moshe Miller

Since Isaac first reproduced his own quality, gevura, had Jacob been the first-born, he would have inherited that trait. However, Jacob was conceived from the second drop, from the attribute of compassion [rachamim, related to the sefira of tiferet], from the gevura of Isaac together with the chesed of Abraham, complete [i.e. comprised of both chesed and gevura], unlike the drop that conceived Esau which was not complete.

The Holy Ari
	Like the Dew of Mount Hermon
	From the Writings of the Ari as recorded by Rabbi Chaim Vital; translated and edited by Moshe Yakov Wisnefsky

Isaac and Rebecca both prayed to G-d for children. Isaac directed his prayers via the thirteenth mazal from whence divine beneficence [in this case, fertility] would be directed to his wife. Rebecca, however, directed her prayers via the eighth mazal, in order to elicit divine mercy upon her husband.

Mystical Classics
	The Temple: Well of Living Waters
	From Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman's commentary on the Torah

Isaac's 3 wells allude to the 3 Temples which his children will build. The first well was called "Esek" [Hebrew for "contention"] and the second well he called "Sitna" [Hebrew for "enmity"]. These allude to the First and Second Temples, about which the nations quarreled and warred with us until they destroyed them.

The third well he called "Rechovot" [related to the Hebrew word for "spacious"], a reference to the Future Temple, may it be speedily built in our days, which will be achieved without quarrel or feud, when G-d will enlarge our borders.

Chasidic Masters
	Shudders from Ancient Times
	By Simon Jacobson

The twin brothers Jacob and Esau embody two personalities and two forces in each of our lives and in the world as a whole: Esau, the "skilled hunter, a man of the field", symbolizes the body, the material world, whose untamed elements need to be conquered. Jacob, the "wholesome man, who dwells in the tents", embodies the soul, the spiritual world.

Initially, the two worlds of matter and spirit are at war with each other. In mystical terms our material existence contains divine "sparks", i.e. spiritual energy, and we are charged with the mission to extricate, redeem and elevate these sparks, to uncover the spiritual opportunity embedded in every experience, and thereby refine the material universe and transform it into its true purpose: a vehicle for spiritual expression.

Contemporary Kabbalists
	Choosing the Path of Love
	From the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe; adapted by Moshe Yaakov Wisnefsky

Since Abraham personified the attribute of chesed and Isaac the attribute of gevura, one might think that Ishmael - who personified a fallen form of chesed - should be considered the true perpetuator of Abraham's message to the world. The Torah therefore emphasizes that at the beginning of parashat Toldot that Abraham's true, spiritual heir was Isaac, as the true way to actualize chesed is by following it with gevura.

Ascent Lights
	Slandering the Wicked
	By Shaul Yosef Leiter

This week's parasha tells how Isaac became blind in his old age. One of the reasons given is that Isaac favored Esau, and G-d knew that he wished to give him the primary blessings. In blinding Isaac, G-d enabled Jacob to receive the blessings since Isaac would not see who he was blessing. The Lubavitcher Rebbe asks: why didn't G-d just show Isaac that Esau was a very sinful person and undeserving of the blessings? The answer is that G-d did not want to speak slanderously even about an evil person such as Esau.

Mystic Story
	After Twenty-eight Years
	By Yerachmiel Tilles

Jerusalem was in an uproar-- a birth after being childless for twenty-eight years!

Shabbat Shalom.