This weeks torah portion of “Toldot”, we find an Isaac that is both innovator and also traditionalist. As he is travelling, Isaac discovers the wells dug by his father Abraham. He re-opens them and maintains the names that his father had given them. He then goes on to dig three new wells of his own.
Welcome to the “Raising Holy Sparks” podcast! Hope you enjoy these short weekly insights into the torah portion! This week we dive deep into the Parshah of Toldot.
Sources mentioned in connection with this week’s torah portion:
- Genesis 26:18: “Isaac dug anew the wells which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham’s death; and he gave them the same names that his father had given them.”
- Midrash: “Behold the humility of Isaac. A person acquires a house and gives it a name; then his son comes, adds a new part to it, and calls it by a different name. Not so Isaac: all the wells which Abraham dug and named, although they were entirely stopped up by the Philistines, when Isaac redug them a second time he did not give them new names, but reinstated the names given them by his father.
And what reward did he receive for this? The other Patriarchs had their names changed: Abraham was first called Abram and later Abraham; Jacob was initially called Jacob and subsequently given the name Israel. Isaac, however, was given the name “Isaac” from G‑d even before his birth, and his name was not changed for all generations.”
Thanks for listening and looking forward to being on this journey through the books of the Torah with you!
Rabbi Misha Clebaner 