Parashat Toldot – Mahar Hodesh - Congregation Beth David

By Lynn Crocker Shabbat Bulletin October 31, 2013

Candle lighting time for Friday, November 1, 2013, 5:35 p.m.

Parashat Toldot – Mahar Hodesh

29 Heshvan, 5774 / November 2, 2013
Triennial Cycle Year I: Genesis 25:19-26:22
Humash Etz Hayim, page 146
Haftarah: 1 Samuel 20:18-42, page 1215

(25:19-26) Isaac marries Rebecca. While pregnant, she is told that two nations are in her womb, and bears twins, Esau and Jacob.
(25:27-34) Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a pot of stew.
(26:1-16) Isaac and Rebecca flee famine to Gerar. God renews for Isaac the covenant He made with Abraham. Isaac, fearing the Philistines, says Rebecca is his sister.
(26:17-22) Isaac moves to the Gerar valley, but still has problems with the Philistines. He finds a peaceful place to settle and names it Rechovot.

DRASH

The Family That Prays Together Stays Together
Rabbi Philip Ohriner

Genesis 25:19-22
This is the story of Isaac, son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac. Isaac was forty years old when he took to wife Rebekah (ishto), daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac pleaded with the Lord lenokhakh his wife (ishto), because she was barren; and the Lord responded to his plea, and his wife Rebekah conceived….

Genesis Rabbah 63:5
This teaches that Isaac prostrated himself [in prayer] here and she there [opposite him], and he prayed: “Master of the World, may all the children you grant me be from this righteous woman.” And she likewise prayed: “May all the children you will one day grant me be from this righteous man”.

Genesis 24:67
Isaac then brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he took Rebekah as his wife. Isaac loved her, and thus found comfort after his mother’s death.

Radak on Genesis 25:21 (Rabbi David Kimchi, 12th C, France)
Isaac prayed abundantly for his wife to bear children because he loved her so much. Because of his great love for her, he did not want to take another wife in addition to her, or to marry one of her maidservants.

Rabbi Shai Held, In Praise of Isaac: The Bible’s Paragon of Marital Empathy
In comparison with both his father and his son, Isaac can appear to lack independent will. It often seems as if things happen to him, but he is not a major actor in the unfolding of his own life. It has also often been noted that Isaac appears bumbling and confused at times – how, for example, can he possibly miss all the signs that Jacob is deceiving him and attempting to take Esau’s blessing for himself (27:20, 21-23, and 27:27 in light of 27:15)? And yet in one crucial respect, Isaac is very much “his own man”: he is a husband who loves his wife and is utterly committed to her, who learns from his father’s mistakes how both to communicate empathy and to act on it. In this moment, he is a hero of genuine love and relatedness

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mitzvah a Month

Embrace -A-Family

KOL Foods South Bay Thanksgiving buying Club – Order by November 12th for reduced shipping rates

Hadashot Religious School

Minyan – Sunday 9:30 am & Monday – Thursday 7:00 p.m.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Saturday, November 2: Ruah Rally – Noon – 12:15p.m.

Friday, November 1: Shabbat Mishpaha (Family) Experience and Siddur Ceremony – 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, November 9: Book Discussion Group: Hitlerland – 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.

Sunday, November 10: Trajectories on Divergent Paths: The Development of Rabbinic Judaism and Classical Christianity – 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, November 10: Z’Havah Women and Sisterhood Wine Tasting Tour – 3:00 p.m.