Shabbat Shalom.
For three months I have been studying this
week’s parasha, Toledot. In the beginning I struggled with the learning, but
now I feel fully confident. When I was studying the stories of Toledot, I was
interested in how Esau threw his birthright away like it was nothing, but then
got upset when Jacob actually took Esau’s blessing in Isaac’s old age. I felt
like Esau should have known better than to give his birthright away, if he
cared so deeply about the blessing.
A birthright is the inheritance to the
first-born son when a father dies. The son inherits all the power, land, and
blessings of his father. Later in the parasha you find out that Isaac is dying.
Rebecca helps Jacob steal the blessing, because Rebecca favors Jacob over Esau
while Isaac favors Esau over Jacob.
For the last three weeks as I’ve studied Toledot,
I’ve felt a ton of pressure on getting the prayers fluent. Now that the day is here I am relieved that I
wont have a lot of pressure anymore. Even though I wanted to get my bar mitzvah
over-with and I wished that time would slow down, instead time seemed to speed
up. The day has come and I couldn’t wait to get on the bimah. As I have become a
bar mitzvah I have learned that stuff that sounds easy is only easy if you work
hard. I feel like getting ready for my bar mitzvah has been like Esau in my
parsha: Esau threw his birthright away not knowing that it would be helpful
later in life. This is like how I wish that I tried harder in Hebrew school.
I’m going to end this dvar torah in a wish that
every one would follow in the footsteps of Jacob who always thought of his
future more than his present, rather then Esau who only thought about what he
needed in the present.
Shabbat Shalom.