Toldos - Vayeitzei

1) Early life of Yaakov and Eisav
2) Conflict between Yaakov and Eisav
a) Yitzchak in Gerar
b) Marriages of Eisav
c) Yitzchak's blessings
d) Yaakov in Charan

The first section covers from the birth of Yaakov and Eisav until Eisav sells his birthright to Yaakov. This latter event is therefore marked off as the defining event in the lives of the two twins, in which they officially showed signs that they had gone in different directions, one seeking to acquire the holy birthright and one willing to shed it.

The second section begins after Yaakov and Eisav have officially gone in different directions, indicating the beginning of a battle between the two. It does not conclude until the end of P' Vayeitzei, when Yaakov returns to Canaan. At the beginning of this section, he had not achieved anything save the birthright that represented a potential to be actualized. At the end, he had successfully survived the initial threat of Eisav, as well as the assaults of Lavan and, in the process, also created the foundation of the Jewish people. Although even at the end of this section, Eisav was still a threat, perhaps his simple return to the land of his murderous brother in itself can be considered a victory, and the Torah's choice of this point as a division can be therefore read as a premonition that once Yaakov was back in Canaan, he could not be defeated.

This second section can be divided into four subsections. The first is a continuation of the story of Yitzchak, describing his travails, success, and struggles in Gerar and its environs, as well as the treaty that he made there. The second is a short passage describing Eisav's further rejection of his Isaacite heritage, as he marries women whose actions are antithetical to the values of his righteous parents. The third is the episode of Yaakov acquiring his father's blessings to go with the birthright and the fourth is the entirety of P' Vayeitzei, describing Yaakov's departure from and return to the land.

Vayeitzei is clearly within the story of Yaakov, but what of P' Toldos? It seems to zig-zag back and forth between the stories of Yitzchak and Yaakov, while also keeping tabs on Eisav. Perhaps it can be considered a transition parsha between Yitzchak and Yaakov, much as Chayei Sarah was a transition parsha between Avraham and Yitzchak that followed the two parshiyos devoted to Avraham alone. The stories of Yaakov in Toldos are entirely about his moves to become the successor to his father; those of the first section of the parsha represent potential, which the story in the second section shows the actualization of this potential, as Yitzchak gives him the blessing earmarked for the firstborn. The other primary theme of this parsha is Yitzchak's following in his father's footsteps in and maintaining a status quo for Yaakov to take over eventually. The contribution of the passive Yitzchak to our history is not in innovation, but rather in continuation, and the parshiyos devoted to the middle father reflect this idea. The small sections describing Eisav illustrate his travels in the opposite direction from that taken by Yaakov, providing a further background for this transition.