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The story of Isaac blessing Jacob instead of Esau is one that resonates with that feeling, and the Rabbis of the Midrash grappled with it intensely. What was going on in Isaac’s mi...
Our ancestors grappled with this very question of agency and divine intervention. to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Boo...
Take the tale of Isaac, Jacob, and Esau. We all know the basics: Jacob deceives his father, Isaac, and steals Esau's blessing. But what happens after? What was Isaac really thinkin...
You know, the one where he says, "Behold, from the fat of the earth will be your dwelling, and from the dew of the heavens from above." It sounds pretty good. But the sages of Bere...
That feeling is at the heart of our story today, a story about brothers, blessings, and a whole lot of bad blood. We're diving into Bereshit Rabbah, specifically section 67, a Midr...
Take the story of Jacob and Esau, a tale filled with sibling rivalry, deception, and a mother's desperate attempt to protect her son. When Rebecca realizes the danger Jacob is in a...
"Isaac summoned Jacob and he blessed him. He commanded him and said to him: Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan" (Genesis 28:1). Simple enough. But Rabbi Abahu sees som...
Take the tale of Esau, brother of Jacob. He wasn't exactly winning any popularity contests with his parents. Genesis 28:8 tells us, "Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were obje...
Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman begins our story in Bereshit Rabbah 68, by interpreting a verse from Psalms (121:1) as referring directly to Jacob’s experience. “A song of ascents. I lift ...
