This week's Torah portion, Toldos, opens with Isaac and Rebecca praying for a child. In time, Rebecca conceives and, after a difficult pregnancy, gives birth to twin boys--Esau and Jacob. While the two boys seem similar as children, they begin to take different paths at age 13. Esau enjoys hunting, while Jacob loves studying Torah. One day, Esau comes home from a hunting expedition exhausted and famished. He finds Jacob cooking a pot of lentils. He demands some lentils to eat. Jacob agrees to give him the lentils--at the cost of Esau's "firstborn privileges," which include the right to perform the service in the Temple. Esau accepts the deal saying, "Here I am about to die; of what value is the firstborn privilege to me?"

Years later, an elderly Isaac, nearly blind, decides to bless his oldest son, Esau. Isaac tells Esau to prepare him a meal to he can bless him while feeling content. Rebecca, guided by prophecy, instructs Jacob to dress up as Esau to cause Isaac to give him the "firstborn blessings" (which rightfully belonged to him after the deal the brothers had made years before). Jacob arrives first and receives the blessings. He is blessed with wealth and that all the nations of the world will fear and respect him. When Esau realizes that Jacob has "stolen" his blessings, he plots to kill him. The Torah portion concludes as Jacob flees for his life from Grar to Charan, where he will stay with his Uncle Laban.