RABBI'S THOUGHTS: TOLDOS

Digging Deeper

Once there were two brothers. One was a noble philanthropist, highly respected in the community, the other a common thief. It happened that the generous brother was walking one day when he saw his brother, the thief, approaching. He quickly crossed the road to avoid his brother. "Hey", yelled his brother, "who do you think you are? You have the audacity to cross the road to avoid me? My brother is a respected pillar of the community - and your brother is nothing more than a common thief. I should be the one avoiding you! Who are you to avoid me?"

This week's Parsha begins with the seemingly double statement "...and these are the generations of Isaac, son of Abraham - Abraham fathered Isaac." The above story demonstrates the concept of "yichus" of lineage as a two-way street. Isaac is identified as Abraham's son - and Abraham is identified as Isaac's father. The Midrash tells us that there are children who are embarrassed of their parents, and there are parents who are embarrassed by their children. Yet with Abraham and Isaac it wasn't like that: Isaac prided himself in that he was "Isaac the son of Abraham," and Abraham prided himself in that "Abraham fathered Isaac."

Shabbat Shalom