From the Desk of Rabbi Marcelo Bater  November 20/21, 2009   4 Kislev 5770

Toldot, our Parashah of the week hardly discusses Isaac.  It's almost as if Isaac is just a less significant "sandwich generation" link between Abraham, our first patriarch, and Jacob, the dreamer.
 
Of course we know that Isaac suffered his binding and near-sacrifice at Mt. Moriah; that his father's servant, Eliezer, found him a wife; and that he was later deceived by his wife and son in connection with the birthright. 
 
But let's take a closer look at some significant additional evidence of Isaac's relevance as the second patriarch in our Jewish tradition...

• Isaac had access to G-d just as his father Abraham and his son, Jacob did.  When Isaac pleaded to G-d for his wife, Rebecca, to conceive and give birth, G-d listened and Jacob was born. 

• Isaac was a loving husband.  As the Torah says: "Isaac loved her" (Genesis 24:67). In fact, Isaac was the only patriarch that had one wife and this fact was instrumental in setting the "one-wife" example for future generations.

Now, not everyone can be "the first."  Just as it is with our children, we may pay nearly all of our attention to our first one and celebrate anything new that he/she does. But with the second or the third child, the story may be less dramatic.  Nonetheless, it's important that we love them all equally.
 
So, maybe Isaac was not as charismatic as Abraham or Jacob, but he was a solid individual who sowed the seeds of "the fruit trees of Jewish tradition" for future generations to enjoy!
 
We are all Isaac's children, and we all have the dual obligation to enjoy these fruit trees and to keep planting them for our next generations!
 
Shabbat Shalom!