JCC Association's Early Childhood Curriculum Project 'This New Month'

November 11 - December 9 2007

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This Month's Torah Portions:

Overview
The Birth of Jacob and Esau
The Blessings of the First Born

The Birth of Jacob and Esau

Verses:

Verse 22: "Vatahar Rivka Ishto"
"And Rebecca his wife became pregnant"

Verse 24: "Vayimli'u Yameha laledet, Viheenei Tomim Biveetna"
"And her days to give birth were filled, and behold, there were twins in her womb"

Verse 26: "ViYitzchak ben Shishim Shana Biledet Otam"
And Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them"

Chapter 26, Verse 34: "ViYa'akov Natan Li'Eisav Lechem Unizeed Adashim... Vayeevez Eisav Et Habichora"
"And Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew...and Esau disgraced the birthright."

Overview of the Biblical Text:

After twenty years of marriage, Rebecca finally gave birth to twins. However, the birth of her children was highly unusual and the Torah goes into great detail about the entire chain of events. These twins, were destined even from before their births to represent the two forces which a person struggles with during their entire lifetime: the forces of good and evil.

At the birth, the first baby to emerge, came out red and hairy. He was called Eisav/Esau from the Hebrew root Asei- to make.

Esau was born fully 'made' or developed, with hair like a mature adult. Grabbing on to Esau's heel, the second twin emerged. He was called Ya'akov/Jacob from the Hebrew root Akeiv-heel. Just as the twins had two distinct looks, they also had two very distinct personalities. Esau was a hunter, a wild man of the fields, who was an expert at deception, while Jacob was a sincere man who studied G-D's word.

Through his slick tongue, Esau was able to deceive his father into thinking that he was righteous. Therefore, Isaac loved Esau very much. Rebecca was not fooled by her evil son and she loved Jacob instead. (Here we see how the veneration in which she held Isaac played itself out. She did not want to upset her husband so she didn't inform him of his son's tricky nature.)

It happened one day that Jacob was cooking red lentil stew. Rashi tells us that this was the day that Abraham died. [It is the Jewish custom to feed a mourner round foods such as eggs or lentils as their first meal after their loved one's death. The shape symbolizes the "Galgal Hachozer"-- the human life cycle. It is for this reason that Jacob had prepared lentil stew for Isaac, his father.] As Jacob was finishing, Esau came in from the fields starving and exhausted.

Esau saw the food Jacob was cooking and desired it. Being so tired he requested that Jacob just pour it down his throat. Jacob agreed to give him the stew with one condition-- that Esau sell him his birthright as payment. (As the first born, Esau was entitled the birthright of the eldest son. The birthright included the inheritance of his father as well as special blessings that his father would bestow upon him.) Jacob, who valued the blessings, but who was born second, very much wanted the "rights" to them. Esau who considered the birthright worthless, was eager to swear to this unusual transaction and the deal was made. By his behavior, Esau indicated that the birthright had no value to him, and he went on his way.

Discussion Questions/Activity Ideas:

Think of things that siblings have in common--same family, same parents, same home, same pet, same family experiences, shared interests, etc.
Think of things that are different about siblings-- they can look different, like different sports, have different friends, have different interests, etc.
This is an excellent opportunity to have a discussion about twins. If there are twins in the school, they can be special guests to talk about what it is like to be a twin.
Have a discussion with the children about the fact that although two people may look alike, each is special in his or her own unique way.