Toldot 5776 - English

By Rabbi Daniel A. Kripper

Beth Israel - Aruba.

From a comparative reading on the lives of Abraham and Isaac, father and son, one perceives a notorious contrast, which has already been pointed out by Adin Steinsaltz among other great biblical commentators. 

Abraham reveals monotheism and disseminates it in an active and tireless manner, while Isaac is described in a lesser tone as someone who passively gives continuity to the paternal legacy. 

In the Akedah or the tying to the altar, for instance, he is taken to mount Moriah by Abraham, just like later on he is found a wife through Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, who choses her and brings her to the home of the patriarch. 

Apparently, Isaac is quieter and more patient, a marked difference from the fervent prominence of his father.

This characteristic translates into the title of Parashat Toldot, which means genealogy, history.  The initial verse suggests that we will be told about the life and achievements of Isaac, but after mentioning he was the son of Abraham, the text focuses on the birth and episodes of the next generation, Jacob and Esau.

It would seem his mission in life was to serve as a biologic link between Abraham, founder of the Jewish faith, and Jacob, founder of the Jewish nation.  Therefore, we might ask who really was Isaac and what was his contribution to Jewish civilization.        

Rabbi Steinsaltz discovers a key to Isaac’s unique character in an isolated event:

“Isaac dug anew the wells which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham's death.” (Gen. 26:18)  Also, he assigned them names again, the same names that had been given by his father.  These wells with their respective names refer symbolically to the spiritual sources Abraham discovered. 

Abraham was the motor for his generation, he opened new ethic-spiritual horizons, but without Isaac’s firm dedication and unconditional commitment, his father’s realizations might have been lost.  He constantly repelled the attempt from those, like the Philistines, who intended to profane those sources and block the current of an incipient monotheism. 

Isaac had the difficult task of preserving and strengthening the path set by his father, by reopening the wells of the new spiritual ideology, renaming them with the same name to extend them among people searching for their inspiring waters.  To fulfill this role, he had to put on hold any personal ambition he might have had and consequently act in the shadow of his father. 

Paradoxically, behind that passiveness, there lies hidden -without a doubt- a strong determination to sustain the essence come rain or shine, in spite of social pressure from his time, which reflects his interior strength and moral courage. 

Isaac represents then the paradigm of worthy follower and succesor of his parents’ legacy, a notable example of fidelity and conviction for each generation. 

Rabbi Daniel Kripper

Beth Israel Aruba