In this week’s sidra, we have all of the ingredients for a good story. There is joy, there is disappointment, there is struggle, and there is trickery.
Tol’dot, the title of this week’s sidra, means something like “generational stories” — the stories of the generations. Elie Wiesel tells us, “God created mankind because God loves stories.” And, like God, we love stories, too.
There are all kinds of stories, but it is important to remember that every story ever told has a teller. In other words, even though a storyteller may have had to traverse pain and sorrow, the storyteller persevered (evidenced by their story’s existence). The stories of pain and perseverance are, therefore, the most valuable. They are priceless, because without the determination and persistence of the storyteller, what would we be left with?
In particular, Isaac’s story is riddled with pain. And yet, the sidra opens with, “v’eleh toldot Yaakov—these are the generational stories of Jacob.” In a verse, we are to be reminded of God’s covenant with Abraham, the searing pain of Isaac’s near sacrifice at the hands of his father, the lifetime of coping with that trauma, the serendipitously intertwined nature of Isaac and Rebekah’s relationship, the hope inherent in the advent of a new generation, and perhaps a harbinger of the epic story yet to unfold.