Parsha Toldot
November 22, 2025/2 Kislev 5786
Greetings friends:
This week’s parsha of Toldos, meaning generations or offspring, begins with the miraculous birth of our forefather Jacob to Isaac and Rebecca through the power of prayer. We can learn a lot about prayer from this parsha in observing how Isaac and Rebecca prayed. While Jews may not have coined the phrase “families who pray together, stay together”, in fact we see that Isaac and Rebecca prayed together to harness each other’s strength working together to pray for the fertility of both in their union. Importantly they prayed together as it is stated, “opposite each other.”
We also learn about how to pray from the specific wording of the Torah. The Midrash explains that the meaning of the word for Isaac and Rebecca’s prayers defined as “entreated” is subject to a debate. Rabbi Yochanan relates the root of the word to the same word as “wealth”. Not only did they entreat G-d with an abundance of prayers, but the quality was also rich in that it was infused with a belief that G-d would respond appropriately. Reish Lakish had a contrasting explanation relating it to the root word for “winnowing”. As the Torah states, Rebecca was barren. This is taken to mean it was physically impossible for her to have children! Biologically she was born without the anatomically necessary components to bear children. Yet, just as in winnowing where the grain is overturned, their prayers overturned the decree and changed history.
My daughter once explained this concept to me as “manifesting”. The idea was that if she concentrated on what she wanted long and hard enough, the psychic power of her thoughts would make it happen. I see her point to an extent. There was a time not long ago when I was in a very unhappy place in my work life. I was feeling depressed, but my wife told me that not only would things get better, but I would also have my choice of positions. We prayed together long and hard and when I got the call that I was being offered a promotion and I had 48 hours to respond, I was going to accept immediately. But my wife told me, just wait a day, the position I really want is coming. Sure enough, I received that call the following day. The complete trust I had in G-d (well, that my wife had and pushed me to join her in) is what “manifested” the career path that brings me to today.
Furthermore, the Torah states that G-d “allowed himself to be entreated”. Rabbi Levi in the Midrash compares the word “entreating” to “tunneling”. Just as we tunnel towards G-d with our prayers, G-d too “tunnels” towards us. As parents we want our children to succeed but they need to want it too. When we want to serve and pray and G-d then helps us to succeed also knowing what is best for us, that is when the impossible becomes possible.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Josh
This week’s parsha of Toldos, meaning generations or offspring, begins with the miraculous birth of our forefather Jacob to Isaac and Rebecca through the power of prayer. We can learn a lot about prayer from this parsha in observing how Isaac and Rebecca prayed. While Jews may not have coined the phrase “families who pray together, stay together”, in fact we see that Isaac and Rebecca prayed together to harness each other’s strength working together to pray for the fertility of both in their union. Importantly they prayed together as it is stated, “opposite each other.”
We also learn about how to pray from the specific wording of the Torah. The Midrash explains that the meaning of the word for Isaac and Rebecca’s prayers defined as “entreated” is subject to a debate. Rabbi Yochanan relates the root of the word to the same word as “wealth”. Not only did they entreat G-d with an abundance of prayers, but the quality was also rich in that it was infused with a belief that G-d would respond appropriately. Reish Lakish had a contrasting explanation relating it to the root word for “winnowing”. As the Torah states, Rebecca was barren. This is taken to mean it was physically impossible for her to have children! Biologically she was born without the anatomically necessary components to bear children. Yet, just as in winnowing where the grain is overturned, their prayers overturned the decree and changed history.
My daughter once explained this concept to me as “manifesting”. The idea was that if she concentrated on what she wanted long and hard enough, the psychic power of her thoughts would make it happen. I see her point to an extent. There was a time not long ago when I was in a very unhappy place in my work life. I was feeling depressed, but my wife told me that not only would things get better, but I would also have my choice of positions. We prayed together long and hard and when I got the call that I was being offered a promotion and I had 48 hours to respond, I was going to accept immediately. But my wife told me, just wait a day, the position I really want is coming. Sure enough, I received that call the following day. The complete trust I had in G-d (well, that my wife had and pushed me to join her in) is what “manifested” the career path that brings me to today.
Furthermore, the Torah states that G-d “allowed himself to be entreated”. Rabbi Levi in the Midrash compares the word “entreating” to “tunneling”. Just as we tunnel towards G-d with our prayers, G-d too “tunnels” towards us. As parents we want our children to succeed but they need to want it too. When we want to serve and pray and G-d then helps us to succeed also knowing what is best for us, that is when the impossible becomes possible.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Josh
