Volume 24 Issue 38 02 Dec 2016 2 Kislev 5777

From the Head of Jewish Life

                                      

Rabbi Daniel Siegel

Rabbi Daniel Siegel – Head of Jewish Life

What’s in a name?

The name of this week’s parashah is Toldot. In Hebrew, names, like words, are of critical significance.

Generally, the name of the parashah derives from its opening words. Thus, the introductory words, in this case, are “these are the toldot of”. Toldot means ‘generations’ (line, descendants).

At the very start, we are told of the birth of Jacob and Esau to Isaac, son of Abraham, and his wife Sarah. The parashah concludes with Jacob setting off to find a wife leading to the expansion of the genealogical line into the twelve tribes. It is the core of this parashah, however, that carries, perhaps, the greatest significance of its name, Toldot.

In this parashah, we see that Rivkah, the mother, favours Jacob, while the father, Isaac, shows his preference for Esau. This causes sibling rivalry and a fracturing of the family. Not surprisingly, we see in the next generation that Jacob, in turn, favours Joseph over his other eleven sons, likewise, resulting in great friction between the brothers and a shattering of the family. Jacob in this parashah deceives his father Isaac and so in the following generation Jacob is deceived by his sons.

The current generation begets the future generation in more ways than one.

Significantly, the word toldot, which means generations also means consequences. This parashah is alerting us, as its name suggests, that one’s descendants are the consequences of one’s actions. While the Genesis narrative is replete with the reproductive saga of our matriarchs and patriarchs, it is the child himself who is of greatest consequence in the story of our people.

Speaking of the Genesis narrative, our Rabbis say ma’asei avot siman le-banim “The actions of our ancestors are a sign for the children”. The child’s challenge, in every generation, is to determine which actions signal a replication of the deeds of one’s parents and which prompt a repudiation of the same. Every generation, our Torah teaches, is of consequence.