Toledoth: consequences

Toledoth: consequences

Toledoth means progeny, it is what is born from an individual  In the parsha, it means Jacob and Esau, the children of Isaac and Rebeca.  Perhaps it also points us to the consequences of actions  which might also be called toledoth. 

The parsha begins and ends with Rebecca questioning the meaning of her life. Initially she wonders about what is going on in her womb.  She realizes that there is a battle going on.  She knows about the story of Cain and Abel,  the inevitable, murderous, rivalry of siblings .  She is determined to prevent that in her offspring  She ends upon protecting the physically weaker brother. 

The first thing we hear about Jacob is how he purchased the birthright from Esau.  He seized an opportunity - Esau's hunger and exhaustion- to buy an item that, at the time, had little meaning.  Jacob and Esau could easily have  understood the birthright to mean  different things.  Jacob could have understood it to mean that he bought the right to Esau's name and trademark, justifying his statements to his father, "I am  your first born, Esau"  Esau could have understood his sale to have meant 

something far more limited...

 the world of contracts

Jacobs gets the blessing. Jacob gets the legacy and the Promise of the Land.  Jacob gets the eternal resentment of his brother. Jacob gets the eternal mistrust of the Gentile.  Jacob gets the reputation of the Jew.  Is it worth it?  

The fact that I question it attests to how  American I have become.  Do I believe that Esau would not have cheated Jacob if he had the chance?