Parashat Toldot gives us the backstory of the conflict between Jacob and Esau. It tells of their birth in the account of Jacob coming out with one hand holding onto Esau’s heel, Esau selling his birthright, and Jacob receiving the blessing of the firstborn from Isaac (albeit in an underhanded manner). It also gives us some interesting information about Isaac and his life. When he settled in Gerar, he needed a source of water. Rather than digging new wells, he unearthed the wells his father had dug:
I’m about to introduce you to five books that have changed my life and hopefully will change yours as well. These books are some of the very first books I ever read that helped me discover not only the Jewishness of Jesus and the New Testament, but also why knowing about this is important. Stick around and I’ll share these five resources with you, along with links to where you can pick up copies for yourself.
At one point every spring, after the sun has set, we sit down together with our family and guests in order to commemorate our redemption with the Passover seder. We recall the exodus from Egypt and remember God’s great hand of deliverance. We do this by using a book called the Haggadah. It guides us through our Passover experience, telling us what to say and what to do. One of the passages we recite from the Haggadah is found in our current Torah portion:
