Children of Isaac
Posted by Abe Mezrich on November 9, 2007 | Tags: Toldot, Sefer Bereshit
i
Jacob and Esau are Isaac’s sons.
Esau is a hunter. But Jacob is a simple man, a dweller of tents.
Jacob’s offspring—and not Esau’s offspring—will carry the mantle of Isaac.
*
Once, Esau returns from the hunt and is hungry to the point of death. Jacob,
meanwhile, cooks lentils.
Esau remains hungry, though he hunts: though he seeks to capture food from far
and wide.
Meanwhile Jacob, a dweller of tents, makes a meal. A dweller of tents,
he understands how to use what is near at hand.
ii
Torah is the study of the holiness of the close-by. In it you jump into
questions like how to prepare meat, or what fire is, or what constitutes the
act of sewing.
*
Torah will be the task of the family of Isaac, through the end of time. So the
task of the family of Isaac is to grow nourishment from the-near-at hand. It is
a task for dwellers of tents.
Jacob is a dweller of tents. It is no surprise, then, that Jacob would
carry the mantle of his family.
*
We are that family.
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Abe MezrichJoined: October 11, 2007 Abe Mezrich is a new-York based writer and lecturer, and the author of a weekly dvar Torah. Contact him at amezrich@gmail.com. Divrei Torah (12) |
