1st Aliya: Yitzchak is 40 years old (2088) when he marries Rivkah. After 20 years, Esav and Yaakov are born. The Parsha jumps from their birth to Yaakov's purchase of the 1st born rights from Esav at the age of 15. (2123 – the day Avraham died)
2nd Aliya: The Parasha returns to the story of Yitzchak and Rivkah and the famine which forces them to settle among the Plishtim. Yitzchak, like his father before him, has a moral confrontation with Avimelech, after which his fields are uniquely prolific and financially successful.
3rd Aliya: Yitzchak's financial success leads to jealousy with his Plishtim neighbors. He re-digs Avraham's wells, resulting in a confrontation with the Plishtim over water rights. He moves back to Beer Sheva.
4th Aliya: Hashem (G-d), in a dream, confirms for Yitzchak the future of his children. Avimelech, the King of the Plishtim, and his General, Phicol, approach Yitzchak to make a peace treaty.
5th Aliya: The treaty between Yitzchak and the Plishtim is celebrated. The Parasha returns to the story of Yaakov and Esav. Esav's marriage to two Canaanite women at the age of 40 (2148) brings disappointment to Yitzchak and Rivkah. In 2171, when Yaakov and Esav are 63 and Yitzchak is 123, Yitzchak blesses Yaakov and Esav. The Parasha details the duplicity of Yaakov and Rivkah in fooling Yitzchak.
6th Aliya: Yitzchak blesses Yaakov with spiritual and material gain, after which Esav returns to discover Yakov's plot. He receives his own blessing for material gain, and is determined to kill Yaakov. Rivkah, fearful for Yaakov's life, convinces Yitzchak to send Yaakov to her brother Lavan in search of a shiduch – a wife. Yitzchak confirms on Yaakov the future of the Jewish nation before his departure to Lavan.
7th Aliya: Yaakov departs for Padan Aram, and Esav marries the daughter of Yishmael. (his 1/2 1st cousin)
HAFTARAH
This weeks Haftarah is from Malachi (1:1-2:7) The Navi declared Hashem's love for the Bnai Yisrael by reminding them that they, the children of Yaakov, had been chosen over Esav to be His "holy nation."
The Navi continued by reprimanding the children of Yaakov for their lack of appreciation in having been selected as the Chosen People. The nation acted as if they were true servants of Hashem, but in truth they were only acting. Taking a closer look at the quality of the service in the Bet Hamikdash revealed a disgracing lack of deference on the part of Kllal Yisrael's for their singular intimacy with the Creator.
The Navi concluded by stating that the consequences of true devotion to Hashem and His Torah should be Truth, Peace, Uprightness and Life. These must be the values we teach our children and the world through our own life style. Only then can we claim to truly speak in the name of G-d.
