The Torah portion of Toldot begins with a powerful message of hope and empowerment for the Jewish People throughout the ages:

And these are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham; Abraham begot Isaac.1

Rashi explains:

“Generations” refers to Jacob and Esau who are mentioned in this parshah.

Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the story of the patriarchs knows that Jacob and Esau were Isaac’s children. What, then, does Rashi convey with his seemingly elementary comment?

The Rebbe explains that these words actually teach us a profound lesson: “Esau” refers to our enemies throughout history. We may become overwhelmed and discouraged when we face threat after threat from our enemies, but this verse reminds us that both Jacob and Esau owe their very existence to the fact that they are “mentioned in the parshah.” Esau exists because that is what the Torah dictates.

The Torah is G‑d’s blueprint for creation. Nothing exists outside of G‑d, and everything is a part of His Divine plan. Der Aibershter firt di velt, “G‑d runs the world.” We need only to connect to His Torah, and we will have no reason to fear the Esaus of the world.

Digging Wells

What distinguished the Divine service of our patriarch Isaac from that of his father, Abraham, and his son, Jacob? We can gain insight into this from the story of Isaac digging wells and the resulting conflict with the Philistines.

Chassidic teachings, drawing from Kabbalah, delineate the unique modes of service of our forefathers. Abraham exemplified the attribute of chessed, all-encompassing kindness, benevolence, and flow of good. Isaac embodied gevurah, representing severity, contraction, or restriction. Jacob personified tiferet, denoting beauty or harmony—the perfect balance of kindness and severity.

Abraham served G‑d through his kindness and hospitality. Isaac, representing the attribute of severity, became a well-digger, symbolically serving G‑d by digging and plumbing the depths of self and soul, striving to attain perfection.

Beyond the deep symbolism of Isaac’s well-digging, there is a fundamental message for us, his descendants. Isaac’s unwavering determination to extract inherent goodness from any situation empowers us to follow suit. When we go out into the world, we must also dig, searching for the “water,” the goodness that is always there. The question is only how deep we will need to dig. Sometimes, a little digging yields water, and goodness is easily discovered; other circumstances demand deeper excavation.

Even when the Philistines plug the wells we dig—when the forces of evil attempt to prevent or undo our spiritual achievements—we persist, digging again, forging onward, never giving up.

The act of digging, breaking through the ground, emanates from the attribute of gevurah, signifying fierce strength. Isaac, embodying this attribute, believed he could bring out the inherent goodness in every person, even attempting to unearth the dormant good hidden deep within Esau.

Goodness Within Esau?

Toward the end of our Torah portion, we read the riveting narrative of Jacob intercepting the blessings that were intended for Esau. Isaac instructs Esau: “Go forth to the field and hunt game for me, and make for me tasty foods as I like… and I will eat, in order that my soul will bless you before I die.”2

What exactly is “tasty food”? Is it sweet? Is it sour? Is it a combination of sweet and sour? Could this be the first order of Chinese food recorded in Jewish history?

In Chapter 27 of Tanya, the Alter Rebbe, founder of Chabad, explains:

There are two types of food that are delicacies: one is sweet, and the other is sharp, or sour. The latter is often unpleasant to eat as-is, but when properly prepared with the right spices and accompaniments, becomes a delicacy.

Likewise, explains the Alter Rebbe, there are two kinds of spiritual “delicacies” when it comes to combating the sitra achra (lit. “the other side,” i.e., anything that does not overtly represent holiness) such as the evil inclination and our desire to sin.

The first “delicacy” is characterized by the complete eradication of the evil inclination, a process comparable to converting bitterness to sweetness and darkness to light. This can only be accomplished by the perfectly righteous person, the tzaddik, who no longer harbors even a desire to sin.

The second “delicacy” is when the evil inclination is not eliminated, but subdued. This is accomplished by the average person, the beinoni (lit. “intermediate one”), who, through intense spiritual effort attains perfection in thought, speech and deed, despite an ongoing desire to sin. In other words, the beinoni does not actually sin, even though the desire to do so is still there.

The Alter Rebbe explains that G‑d loves this “sour” delicacy. G‑d favors the repentance of the baal teshuva, the penitent. It’s the baal teshuva, the beinoni, who takes sour elements and transforms them into the palatable, even the delightful.

That’s what Isaac said to Esau: Prepare food for me the way I like it – take that which is sour and make it delicious. Take the negativity that you have and transform it into positivity. Do a mitzvah! Repent! Engage in the transformational service of the baal teshuvah. Bring me some sweet and sour.

Mending Shattered Vessels

In Kabbalah, the world we live in is called the world of tikkun, meaning “order” or “rectification.” Before our world existed, though, there was another world, a higher, more spiritual realm known as the world of tohu, “chaos.” Tohu (not to be confused with tofu) earned its name because G‑d’s Divine energy, or light, was too great for the vessels and overwhelmed them, resulting in the “shattering” of that world.

Consequently, fragmented pieces of holiness “fell” into the lower worlds, ultimately reaching our world—the lowest one—and settling into its lowest places. “The higher you are, the lower you fall.” Thus, these shards of holiness descended into our material world, into the lowest realms of negativity and even the forbidden.

Esau embodies these Divine fallen energies of tohu. Isaac’s intention was to elevate, redeem, and liberate these Esau energies by transforming him into a servant of G‑d. Rooted in the Divine attribute of severity, Isaac believed that if he bestowed a tremendous blessing upon Esau, it would reveal his inherent goodness. He saw only the good—the Divine potential—in Esau.

Don’t See the Weeds

The late Rabbi Dovid Edelman, shliach of the Rebbe and director of Lubavitch Yeshiva Academy in Springfield, Mass., for over six decades, was once interviewed alongside one of his supporters, Jeffrey Kimball.

Mr. Kimball related the following story: One day, he, his wife, and their young daughter visited the school building he helped fund. Upon arrival, Mr. Kimball noticed that the once-beautiful flowers at the front were now overrun with weeds. Turning to the rabbi, he expressed his disappointment that the garden was not properly looked after. “Why are the weeds overrunning the flowers?” he asked. “You must speak to the gardener! This place has to look good.”

Witnessing this exchange, Mr. Kimball’s daughter, quite confused, ran to her mother in the car and asked, “Why is daddy yelling at the rabbi?”

Calming her down, his wife asked if she had seen the beautiful flowers and the weeds. Confirming that she had, the girl’s mother then explained, “Daddy sees the weeds and wants them removed. But the rabbi only sees flowers, not the weeds. That’s why Daddy got upset.”

This is what the Rebbe wanted us all to do—to look at a person and see only the flowers, their positive traits, and not the weeds, their flaws.

When Isaac looked at Esau, he only saw the flowers. He didn’t want to see the weeds. That is why he wished to bestow his blessing upon Esau. It turns out that G‑d said, “No. Esau is not ready for that.” Issac’s strength—even in the form of a blessing—would not elevate Esau, but would actually break him. Isaac’s mission would have to be accomplished by Jacob, which is why Jacob ultimately received the blessing that Isaac had intended for Esau.

Peace from Strength

The coming of Moshiach and the ultimate Redemption will usher in an era of peace and prosperity. Our sages say that at that time, Isaac will take a special place among the patriarchs, attributed to his contribution to ultimate peace.

Let us embrace these profound life lessons from our patriarch Isaac. Be relentless in your pursuit of positivity. Keep digging wells; strive to uncover the inherent goodness in others, choosing to focus on the flowers amidst life’s challenges, rather than getting bogged down by the weeds. May we remain steadfast and resolute in the face of any opposition we encounter – channeling Isaac’s gevura – and may we usher in the ultimate redemption, speedily in our days. Amen!