Parashat Toldot

Don’t worry, parents; you are not alone! Parenting challenges go back to biblical times!

Parashat Toldot is filled with some great drama: parent favoritism, sibling rivalry and trickery, deception, and running away from home. I wish I could say that Toldot gives us a roadmap to follow to avoid some of these parenting missteps in the future. Unfortunately, the parashah ends with Rivka encouraging her younger son, Yaakov, to run away from his older brother Eisav as she fears for Yaakov’s life after he tricks his father Yitzchak into giving him Eisav’s firstborn blessing. Yikes! 

There is a lot to unpack here, but rather than overanalyzing the personal lives of our forefathers, I want to focus on a lesser-known part of the parashah.

In the midst of family drama, there’s a famine in the land, and Yitzchak finds himself living among the Philistines. He becomes quite successful at working the land: “Isaac sowed grain in that region and in that year. He reaped a hundredfold more than he expected, for God had blessed him” (Bereshit 26:12). A little jealousy ensued (add that to the drama list) and the wells of Yitzchak’s father Avraham were closed up by the Philistines in a fitful rage. Rather than seek retribution, Yitzchak decides to re-dig the wells, and despite the locals’ continuing to rival Yitzchak, he just keeps digging. Yitzchak is quite literally providing water (sustenance) to the people, even if they aren’t openly appreciative. I love this perseverance. 

Many commentators see something profound in this quiet persistence. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l notes that while our other forefathers Avraham and Yaakov have dramatic, transformative lives, Yitzchak’s greatness lies in his ability to sustain and renew. Re-digging the wells is not simply a practical act — it is a form of spiritual resilience, a commitment to keeping sources of life open, even when others bury them. 

This, in many ways, is the work we do as educators and parents. We show up day after day, re-digging the wells of curiosity, empathy, and resilience for our students, even when they may try to close off those wells. They may not always recognize it now, but the water is there, waiting for them. May we continue to uncover and tend these wells together, ensuring that every student can draw the sustenance they need to grow.

Shabbat Shalom.