Toldot

Last year's post for Toldot suggested several alternative ways to read and understand the parasha.  This year I would like to concentrate on an idea that connects the story of Jacob and Esau with current thinking about education.
James Kugel, in his book How to Read the Bible says the following:

Interpreters ... assumed that the Bible was a book of lessons directed to readers in their own day'

Traditional commentaries tell us clearly that Esau is 'bad', Jacob is 'good'.  And yet today we might look at both of these personalities less as "black and white" and more as "shades of grey".




Big Idea:  People - even 'identical' twins - are not exactly the same.  Identical educational practices are therefore inherently not fair to students.


Important questions you may want to think about.

• How can we support learning in our diverse classes (and all classes are diverse - some more so than others, but in the end all)?
• What are the factors that help us decide how to teach a particular concept?
• What does it mean to focus on learning rather than on teaching?
• What lesson is the Bible trying to teach us as readers today?

Sources you may find helpful

• Torah with Rashi commentary, from Chabad.org presents a traditional understanding of the sons of Yitzhak
• How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel - this link takes you to several different pages, all of which say similar things about how the traditional interpreters describe Jacob and Esau
• Multiple Intelligences, a theory of learning first developed by Dr. Howard Gardner, and since embraced by many educators, could easily have been suggested by the story of Jacob and Esau. 

Assessment:

• Please explain how the story of Jacob and Esau might affect the way your classroom functions.
• Try to be an objective observer in your classroom.  How are you showing respect for different learners?  How do your lessons support alternative strengths your students have?

Be sure to check out Parsha 4 Kids for more ideas on connecting your students to Torah thinking

Toldot

Of all the Torah portions in B'reisheet this may be my all-time least favorite.  Each year I struggle with the character of Ya'akov as it is expressed in his actions here.  I remind myself that this text is here for a purpose - as I believe all the text in the Torah is - and wonder once again what God wants me to learn as I read and re-read the descriptions of the actions of all the players here.

• Yitzhak, whose relationship with his father Avraham had to have been affected by the experience at Har HaMoriah.  He loves his wife, he loves his eldest son, he doesn't really trust his own judgment.
• Rivkah, who left her immediate family to become the wife of a distant relative, who was unable to bear children until her husband intervened with God, and who appears to believe she has the right to manipulate the people around her to further her goals
• Ya'akov, who didn't show much initiative as a youngster, who went along with his mother's ruse and outright lied to his father about who he was in order to receive his father's blessing
• Eysav, who - on the surface at least - seems the most innocent of all the actors in this play.  He hunts, he tries to please his father, he gets taken advantage of by those more clever than he.

So what are we to learn from this?

Are these the lessons?

1. It's OK to lie to your parents if it gets you what you believe you deserve.
2. The ends justify the means.
3. Jews aren't supposed to be good outdoorsmen

Somehow I doubt these are the lessons we're supposed to learn from this section of Torah.

Here are some ideas I prefer:

1. Food can be an expression of love and part of an important experience.  That's the idea in David Kraemer's commentary here
2. Rivkah has amazing clarity about God's Big Ideas.  She knows what the overarching plan is and does what is necessary to advance it.  That thought is expressed in The Women's Torah Commentary in the article by Rabbi Beth J. Singer here
3. Today as in the time of the Bible water is the key to survival.  We have a responsibility to treat the land and its resources with care and respect.  That idea is connected to this week's parasha in the commentary by Rabbi Yuval Cherlow at the website of Canfei Nesharim

How do you understand this parasha?  What Jewish values do you see here?  What do you think God wants us to learn from this portion?

Please feel free to share your ideas as comments to this post.