Unconditional love

“Isaac loved Esav because he ate his game; but Rebecca loved Jacob.” (Genesis 25:28) The actual Hebrew of this verse reads that Rebecca “loves” Jacob, in the present tense. According to Rabbi Isaiah HaLevi Horowitz, we can understand this verse according to a teaching of our sages in Chapters of the Fathers (5:16). “Any love […]
Becoming desensitized

“And they (the two Hittite women that Esav married) were a source of bitterness to Isaac and to Rebecca.” (Genesis 26:35) The Midrash notes that the source of aggravation was because these women were idol worshipers. The Midrash also picks up on an interesting detail in the verse. It doesn’t say they were a source […]