Musical Treats: Cantor Lizzie Weiss Acheinu and Shalom Rav:
During our Kol Nidre service this year, Cantor Lizzie Weiss shared a prayer for the hostages—one we all hope will no longer be needed in the year ahead.
Rabbi Bernie Fox: Toldot What’s So Important About the Soup?
Rabbi Fox observes that the references to “red” in this parashah are prominent: the soup is “very red”. Esav later acquires Edom, which is “red”. He questions why the color is so important. The emphasis on the color “red” is not because the color itself is important, but because it is a tool for remembering the incident, wherein Esau so easily sold his birthright for food.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: Toldot Between Prophecy and Oracle
Rabbi Sacks describes the narrative of Rebecca’s pregnancy and the birth of Jacob and Esau as oracle, rather than prophecy. The text is in fact obscure, letting the reader know that the future is never straightforward, and even the present is not always known until it becomes the past.