ויקח אשה ושמה קטורה, “he married a wife whose name was Keturah.” Although in years to come, Israelites were not permitted to marry Egyptians, seeing that the Torah decreed in Deuteronomy that only commencing with the third generation after conversion were Egyptians acceptable as potential marriage partners, even if it was Hagar who had been converted, the fact that her father was Pharaoh that made her only a second generation even if we consider him as a first generation convert. According to B’reshit Rabbah 61,4, Avraham married her at the express command by G–d.

ויתן אברהם את כל אשר לו ליצחק, “Avraham gave all that was his to Yitzchok.” How could he have done so, seeing that the Talmud in tractate Baba batra folio 133 denies a father the right to transfer his estate even from a unworthy son to a worthy son, the reason being that the son from whom his potential inheritance is taken away may have a worthy son himself, whereas the son to whom it has been transferred may have an unworthy son. (Compare Talmud tractate Pessachim 49) We read in Job 27,17 concerning the definition of a righteous person that יכין וצדיק ילבש וכסף נקי יחלק, “the just will put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.” [The problem is how could Avraham disinherit his firstborn son Yishmael legally? Ed.] It is especially puzzling since according to the Talmud in tractate Yuma folio 28, credits him with even having observed Rabbinic ordinances, such as certain procedures for preparing food when a festival day is followed by the Sabbath when preparing food is forbidden. We have to conclude that both Avraham and Yishmael were actually converts, neither having been born as Jews. Converts do not legally inherit their fellow converts, neither by Biblical law nor by Rabbinic decree. (Talmud tractate Kidushin folio 17). Rabbeinu Chananel bar Sh’muel suggests that Avraham gave all he had to Yitzchok before the sons of Keturah had been born, This is indicated by this having been reported already in Genesis 24,36: where he is reported immediately after Sarah having given birth to him as receiving all of his father’s estate. [Seeing that Yishmael, as Hagar’s son was the son of a slave woman, he could not legally own anything that had been Avraham’s or Sarah’s as slaves do not own their master’s or their mistress’ property. So where was the problem? Ed.]

נתן אברהם מתנות, “Avraham had already given gifts.” According to the Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin folio 91, these “gifts” were the ability to utter the names of the holy name of the Lord without thereby incurring severe harm. Even nowadays, according to our author, the Moslems who are trained in theology are able to do this without coming to any harm thereby. It was difficult for Rabbi Moses to understand how Avraham a great and devout man could possibly have taught the holy Name of the Lord to wicked people. In view of this problem, Rabbi Yaakov, son of Rabbi Nachman, interpreted that line in the Talmud differently by saying that the word טומאה used in the Talmud there refers to the names of certain demons. The names of these demons are associated with the evil spirits making their homes in certain ruins, or certain cemeteries as described by the Talmud in tractate Chagigah folio 3. This is alluded to by the fact that the spelling of the word “matanot” is spelled as if it were a singular, the letter ו having been omitted. As spelled in the Torah here, the numerical value of the letters in the words נתן אברהם מתנת equals the numerical value of למדם להשביע השדים. [I have not quite figured this out. At any rate, the idea is that Avraham taught these sons of his how, when they used the names of deities when swearing an oath, they could do it in such a way as not to be guilty of violating the third of the Ten Commandments. To The reader who is interested in pursuing this further I suggest that he turns to the commentary on Sanhedrin 91 by Rabbi Reuven Margolies, page 136 מרגליות הים. Ed.]

יצחק בן אברהם, אברהם הוליד את יצחק, “Yitzchok the son of Avraham; Avraham sired Yitzchok. The numerical value of the letters in the word הוליד, is equivalent to the numerical value of the word דומה, “to be a look a like;” it suggests that Avraham and Yitzchok’s facial features made them look as if they were clones.

ויהי יצחק בן ארבעים שנה, Yitzchok was forty years old, etc.” According to Rashi, the forty year old Yitzchok married a three year old Rivkah. This is difficult as we have learned from the Sifri that there were three people who reached the same age, i.e. Kehat, Ben Azzai and Rivkah, and the Torah stated that Kehat died at the age of one hundred and thirty three. (Exodus 6,18.) If this were correct she must have been eleven years older than three when she married Yitzchok. [There is no Sifri on the Book of Genesis, but the Midrash hagadol, which originated in Yemen, also claims that Rivkah was 14 years old when she married Yitzchok. Ed.] Rashi’s calculation goes as follows: Rivkah was married at 3 years, and was 23 years old when she gave birth to Esau and Yaakov. Yaakov was 63 years old when he fled to Padan Aram as Rashi explains at the end of this portion. He then spent 14 years in the academy headed by Ever, great grandson of Noach. After that he worked 20 years for his uncle Lavan. He spent 2 years on his return journey home during which time he was informed by Rivkah’s nursemaid that his mother had died, as Rashi explains at the end of parshat Vayishlach, in connection with the burial of that nursemaid called Devorah, and the naming of an oak tree after her. According to this calculation, Rivkah could not have lived to an age older than 123 years. This is also the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah according to whom Rivkah must have been 14 years old when she got married. If you accept that view, Rivkah died at the age of 133. According to this calculation, what we read in seder olam, chapter 1, that Avraham was informed about the birth of Rivkah while on the way home from the binding of Yitzchok, she must have been 11 years old already at that time. This is what bothered Rabbi Moshe Shlomoh ben Avraham known by the acrostic אנסימא"ן, when discussing that a virgin is given 12 month between betrothal and consummation of the marriage (Talmud tractate Ketuvot, folio 57) The Talmud there derives this from the words in our portion, when Rivkah’s family demanded 12 months delay from Eliezer before Rivkah going with him. If Rivkah had been 14 years old already, she would have been considered an adult, and her father would not have had the right to tell her what to do (unless she still continued to live in his house) The Talmud there gives a girl who is over twelve and a half years old at betrothal only thirty days before becoming wed to her fiance, just as the length of time required before a widow can remarry. Our author leaves the question open, not having heard how to reconcile these data to the satisfaction of all scholars.

לנח אשתו, “in the presence of his wife.” The numerical value of the word אשתו=707, is the same as the combined numerical value of the words: אש וקש, “fire and straw.” This is a hint that Rivkah would give birth to one son, comparable in spiritual values to fire, and another whose value in terms of spiritual values was no better than straw. The prophet therefore compared Yaakov to fire and Esau to straw. (Ovadiah 18)

ורב יעבוד צעיר, “and the older one will serve the younger one.” Our author understands the word רב here not as “older, senior,” as do most commentators, but as meaning הרבה, “many, a great number.” Esau himself used the word in that sense when he told his brother Yaakov: יש לי רב, “I have lots,” (Genesis 33,9) The word may mean “lots” in terms of “time;” i.e. Esau would serve Yaakov for a long time.

ויצא הראשון אדמוני, “the first baby emerged, reddish looking;” according to a Midrash, when his father saw that, he concluded that the blood of the infant had not yet matured to the stage when he could be circumcised without that operation endangering his life, and that is why he delayed the date for the circumcision. Something similar is related in the Talmud, tractate Shabbat, folio 134, where Rabbi Nathan relates that he once met a lady who had lost two of her children as a result of circumcision. She asked him if she had to circumcise her third son also and risk losing him too. When Rabbi Nathan looked at the infant, he noted that his skin looked extremely red. He therefore told his mother to wait with circumcising him until this red skin would become normal looking. She did so, and circumcised him in due course and he survived without further problem. When Yitzchok waited a year or two for the skin colour of Esau to change and it did not happen, he assumed that this son was going to remain in that condition, but he still did not circumcise him. When he turned 13, he still restrained himself from circumcising him. He had waited all this time thinking that seeing he had not been circumcised at the age of eight days he would circumcise him at the age Yishmael had been circumcised. This is what was meant in the Book of Ezekiel chapter 35,6: אם לא דם שנאת ודם ירדפך, “surely though you have hated blood, blood shall pursue you.”

ויקרא שמו יעקב, “he called his name Yaakov.” The name Yaakov has four letters, symbolising the four crowns with which his descendants would “crown” the Almighty. The letter י symbolises the Ten Commandments. The letter ע symbolises the seventy elders. The letter ק symbolises the length of hundred cubits of the Sanctuary built by King Solomon. (Kings I chapter 7) The letter ב symbolises the two Tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were inscribed. The Israelites were redeemed from slavery in Egypt due to the merit of Yaakov. We know this from Psalms 105,10: ויעמידה ליעקב לחק, לישראל ברית עולם, “He confirmed it as a decree for Yaakov, as an eternal covenant for Israel.” If it had not been for the fact that G–d wanted Yaakov to be born, He would not have saved Avraham from Nimrod’s furnace. (B’reshit Rabbah 63,2).This is what the prophet Isaiah 29,22, had in mind when he wrote: כה אמר ה' אל בית יעקב אשר פדה את אברהם, “thus said the Lord to the house of Yaakov which had redeemed Avraham. A different interpretation of that verse in Isaiah [which begs the question, Ed.] by Yalkut Shimoni: Yaakov released Avraham from the heartache associated with trying to raise children. [He did so by successfully raising all his children in his spirit, something neither Avraham nor Yitzchok had been able to do. Ed.]

ויגדלו הנערים, “the lads grew up;” according to Rashi and the Midrash, as long as the twins had not attained the age of 13 one could not tell their characters apart. As soon as they reached that age it became evident that they pursued totally different objectives in life. The matter can be compared to thorn bushes growing up next to myrtles. Until they have developed, they look alike and neither emits any fragrance. After a while, the fragrance emitted from the myrtle distinguishes it drastically from the thorns of the thorn bushes. You might question that according to Rashi, Esau was only thirteen years old when he already chose to worship idols, while the same Rashi claims that when Esau sold his birthright he was `15 years old on the day of Avraham’s burial, and he claims that Avraham died five years earlier than originally decreed by G–d to spare him watching his grandson become an idolater; how can these two statements be reconciled, if Esau became an idolater already at the age of thirteen? This question has actually been raised in the Jerusalem Talmud! The answer given there is that Esau hid his idolatry for two years so that during the last two years of his life, Avraham had not become aware and grieved by it. As soon as Avraham died, Esau no longer hid the fact that he had become a heretic.

הלעיטני נא....על כן קרא שמו אדום, “please let me swallow some of this red stuff.... this is why henceforth he is called Edom.” According to the plain meaning of the verse,-i.e. when read superficially,- his name now became associated with his having referred to the stew Yaakov was cooking as “red stuff.” He was referring to a few lentils. We are told this, as from now on Esau called himself “the red one,” whereas at birth only other people called him thus on account of the colour of his skin.

כי עיף אנכי, “for I am tired, worn out;” according to tradition, on that day Esau had killed Nimrod the foremost hunter in the world up to that time, and its ruler. Nimrod had challenged him to a duel as he had not asked him for permission to use his hunting grounds. He had consulted with his brother what to do about this. Yaakov had told him that as long as Nimrod was wearing the garments which had once belonged to Adam he was invincible. As soon as he would take off those garments he could easily be overcome. Esau engineered to find him without those garments and killed him. On that day he was exhausted from that effort. Our author quotes Jeremiah 4,31: כי עיפה נפשי, “for my soul is worn out,” as an allusion to that incident.

מכרה כיום, “sell to me as of today!” Yaakov refers to the value of Esau’s birthright as of that day, and offers to pay that price. Seeing that the value is completely potential, Esau not knowing if Yaakov will outlive him or will outlive his father, the price must surely be minimal. In either of those two events the birthright would be completely without any value.

ויאמר עשו הנה אנכי הולך למות, Esau said: “seeing that I am likely to die young (due to my lifestyle), I am willing to sell my birthright for a mess of pottage, seeing it is only an intangible asset. In light of these considerations, I might as well sell it to you.”

ויבז עשו את הבכורה, “Esau had already displayed disdain for the asset known as birthright.” This is why Yaakov bought it from him. We find that Rabbi Yehudah Hachassid, referring to this verse, claims that if one finds a confirmed sinner in the possession of holy texts such as a Torah scroll, it is permissible to use subterfuge to get him to sell it.