parshat Toldot

The whole world will recognize the special status that Avraham and Yitzchak established

...In recent generations, [the] struggle [between Yaakov and Esav] has taken on a new and even more complex nature, and it is important that we not be misled by it. Today, the culture leading the world is Western culture, and the morality leading the world is Western morality. This culture and morality are upgraded versions of X-ianity, with a more refined and pretty face. Many Jews who encounter this Western morality find in it an echo of Judaism, and are inclined to think that it is an "upgraded Judaism," Heaven forbid...

Are you permitted to judge a case in which a friend of yours is one of the litigants? What about someone who davens in the same shul? Or someone who consistently rubs you the wrong way?

Why did the blessings have to come in a disguise? What can we learn from this to our days?

Understanding the difference between Judaism and Christianity via the story of Yaakov and Esav. Challenging the concept of a "Judeo-Christian" culture

Was Jacob right to take Esau’s blessing in disguise? Was he right to deceive his father and to take from his brother the blessing Isaac sought to give him? Was Rebecca right in conceiving the plan in the first place and encouraging Jacob to carry it out?