Isaac's Blessing to Esau and Jacob: A Conversation for the Ages | Aleph Beta

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The Binding of Isaac... Where You Least Expect It

Isaac's Blessing To Esau And Jacob: A Conversation For The Ages

At face value, Parshat Toldot focuses on a conversation between Isaac and his sons Esau and Jacob, in which Isaac blesses them and passes on the family heritage – and in which we have the famous story of Isaac blessing Jacob instead of Esau.

But hidden within that conversation is a reference to another, earlier conversation – arguably the most painful, incomprehensible conversation in the entire Torah. What story is being echoed here in our parsha? And what is the Torah trying to teach us by linking us back to this most difficult of biblical stories?

Rabbi David Fohrman

Founder and Lead Scholar

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