In Parshat Toldot (Breisheet 26:3), God commands Yitzchak: “Do not go down to Egypt. Settle in the land that I will make known to you. Bide in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for I am going to give all these lands to you and your descendants,...
In Parshat Toldot, when Rivka finally conceives, she doesn’t understand what is happening inside of her womb (Breisheet 25:22): The children struggled together within her. She said “If this is so, why am I living?” So she went (vatelech) to inquire of God. The word...
In Parhsat Toldot, Breisheet 26:34-35 we read about Esav’s wives: Eisav was 40 years old when he married Yehudit, the daughter of Be’eri, the Hiti, and Bosmat, the daughter of Eilon, the Hiti. They were a source of “morat ruach” to Yitzchak and to Rivka. Sfrorno...
In Parshat Toldot, at the beginning of Breisheet, Chapter 26, there is a famine in the Land and Yitzchak goes down to Grar (the Gaza strip).In verses 2-3 we read:God appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Settle (Shechon) in the Land that I will...
When reading through Parshat Toldot, one may conclude that Rivka was a prophetess. In fact, we find in Breisheet Raba and Yalkut Shimoni that all of the foremothers, Sara, Rivka, Rachel and Leah were prophetesses.If Rivka was a prophetess then why is Sara the only one...
In Parshat Toldot, Breisheet 26:1-3, there is a famine in the Land so Yitzchak and Rivka head down to Avimelech, king of the Plishtim in Grar (region of the Gaza strip) as Avraham did. God appeared to Yitzchak and said:“Do not go down to Egypt: dwell (shchon) in...
Commemorating Harry V. DuBrow’s YahrzeitYou need to look very hard at Parshat Toldot in order to find Rivka and Yitzchak communicating. When Rivka is having a difficult pregnancy, she goes to seek out God, and is told (Breisheet 25:23) “Two nations...
In Parshat Toldot (Breisheet 27:15), Rivka dresses Yaakov in Esav’s garments in order to make sure that Yaakov receives the better blessing: “Rivka took the garments of Esav, her elder son, that were coveted (hachamudot), that were in her keeping in the...
I grew up in the North Riverdale section of the Bronx, New York in the 1970s. As there were no Modern Orthodox synagogues near my home at that time, we used to take a long walk along the Henry Hudson Parkway every Shabbat morning until we finally reached the Riverdale...
In Parshat Toldot, Breisheet 26:13-15 we read: “The man (Yitzchak) prospered. He continued to prosper until he became very great. He owned flocks of sheep, herds of cattle and many enterprises and the Plishtim were jealous of him. All the wells that his...
Rivka is a very confident woman. In Parshat Chayei Sarah, we see her confidence when giving water to a stranger and his ten camels, inviting him and his camels to stay over at her family’s home, following him to meet Yitzchak and knowing right away that Yitzchak...
Both Yitzchak and Rivka were aware that Esav was not the perfect son. We see this in Parshat Toldot, Breisheet 26:34-35: “Esav was forty years old when he married Yehudit, the daughter of Be’eri the Chitite and Bosmat the daughter of Eylon the Chitite....
At the end of Parshat Toldot, Breisheet 28:5 we read: “And Yitzchak sent away Yaakov: and he went to Padan Aram to Lavan, son of Betuel the Aramian, the brother of Rivka, mother of Yaakov and Esav”. Why does the Torah which does not waste words have...
SPONSORED BY SHARONA, JOSH, DOV, MOSHE & YEHUDA HALICKMAN IN HONOR OF ROSE FRANKEL'S BAT MITZVAH. MAZEL TOV TO DAVID, LYNN & SARAH. Is Lentil Soup Really Red? In Parshat Toldot, Breisheet 25:30, Esav tells Yaakov “Haliteni na min ha’adom...
SPONSORED IN HONOR OF THE BIRTH OF BRADLEY DYLAN LEOPOLD BY PROUD PARENTS JENNIFER AND KEVIN LEOPOLD AND PROUD BROTHER TYLER JONATHAN LEOPOLDIn Parshat Toldot, Breisheet 26:13-15,19-20 we read "And the man (Yitzchack) grew great and went forward and grew until he...
In Parshat Toldot, Yaakov followed his mother Rivka's advice and dressed up like his brother Esav. The reason why Yaakov went to all of this trouble was to ensure that he would receive the first and best blessing.In reality, the true blessing was not the first...
After trying to conceive for twenty years, in Parshat Toldot, Rivka finally became pregnant. Rivka’s pregnancy was different from the pregnancies of the other matriarchs. In the cases of Sara, Rachel and Leah who were all barren, once they were able to conceive...