Parashat: Toldot

Parashat: Toldot
Genesis 25:19–28:9

“Then [Isaac] made for [King Abimelech and his advisors and generals] a feast, and they ate and drank. Early in the morning, they exchanged oaths. Isaac then bade them farewell, and they departed from him in peace. That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug, and said to him: ‘We have found water!’ He named it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheva to this day. ”

—Genesis 26:30–33

This incident in the life of our patriarch Isaac has so much to teach us about both history and present times, not to mention the future. There is something tremendously powerful about sitting down to a meal, carefully and lovingly prepared, with those that you may have had some tension with in the past. The land disputes between Isaac and his neighbors are settled over that shared table, with the clear acknowledgement that neither of them are leaving for another place, and they each will do better when the other is also prospering. The text tells us that only when all agree that mutual cooperation and respect is at the core of neighborly relations does the ultimate and important blessing of water flow from the wells of the deep. Of note, the city being named here — Beersheba — is at the center of Israeli innovation, environmentally responsible development and cultural, educational and economic advancements in the modern State of Israel (look for reporting on Beersheva 2030). Water, coexistence, innovation and mutual benefit are all at the center of what it means to be truly blessed.

— Rabbi Craig Axler