The main topic of our Parshah is the conflict between Esau and Jacob. This seems to be a continuation of the conflict between Isaac and Ishmael in the previous generation. Yet there are significant differences between them. Ishmael was Isaac’s half brother, not his twin. Ishmael’s only sin seems to be that he is not Isaac, while Esau is portrayed as a negative character. Ishmael embraced his spiritual heritage by agreeing to be circumcised, while Esau sold it for food. These differences are reflected in the Rabbinical attitude to these to characters. Ishmael is portrayed as a essentially righteous person who was led astray by jealousy but comes right in the end, while Esau is characterised as evil from start to finish. These differences are important because the Rabbis connected these characters to the two great religions that came from Judaism. Ishmael was seen as the progenitor of the Arabs and later Islam, while Esau was identified with Rome and later the Christian Church. While such analogies can be dangerous, it is remarkable how the conflict between these two sets of siblings mirrors the relationship between Judaism and its two daughter religions. The Torah does not consider Ishmael as wicked but rather in conflict with Isaac over his place in the family. Likewise, Islam always accepted the validity of Jews and Judaism but regarded Mohammed’s revelation as superior. In a like manner they tolerated Jews as second class citizens but find the concept of a Jewish state in what they regard as the sphere of Islam as intolerable. Christianity, on the other hand, had a far more sinister approach. Esau fought with Jacob over the spiritual inheritance of Abraham and sought to kill him. In like manner, Christianity denied the continued validity of Judaism and the Jewish people. Christianity was not merely an improvement on Judaism but supplanted it. Furthermore, like Esau and Jacob struggling in their mother’s womb, Christianity and Judaism struggle over the same text, unlike Islam which has its own sacred scripture, as Ishmael came from a different mother. In essence while the struggle between Ishmael/Islam and Isaac/Judaism is over superiority or precedence, the struggle between Esau/Christianity and Jacob/Judaism is about basic identity. Islam is influenced by Judaism but separate from it, while Christianity has Judaism inside it. That is why we need differing approaches in seeking better relations between ourselves and our siblings. We must realise what divides us in order to bring us together.

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 Sidra Statistics

Parshat Toldot

·         has 106 verses ;

·         is the 6th in Genesis, 6th in the Torah

·         9th longest in Genesis, 31st longest in the Torah

·         has no mitzvot.