The Bagel: Mysteries. The mystery of separation and the mystery of unification. Who would've thought that two nations could come from the same womb. Think of it, the same mother and father, produced very different children. Jacob and Esau were brothers. Yet the Parashat Toledot reading portrays what God knew all along: That there was an unrepairable divide between the two brothers. It was not because there was a sibling rivalry. That is a normal family experience. Rather, it was as though they were born of different parents. Before they were born there existed the mystery of separation, not only as two irreconcilable nations, but also a separation of Esau from the godly lineage represented by Abraham and Sarah first, then Isaac and Rebecca. The rest of the reading unfolds the outcome of this mystery.

Separated from the womb the separation continues by their actions:

These things Esau despised and rejected, while Jacob loved and received them:

A godly life
The birthright
The blessing
A godly wife

But our story is not complete without including Isaac and Rebecca's role in the mystery of separation. What appeared to be separation between Isaac and Rebecca over the godly heritage turned out to be a unification in the end. Isaac was compelled by the Law of the First born to award the heritage to Esau. But Rebecca knew by prophecy (Gen 25:23) who should receive the blessing. The split was over the letter of the Law, that regulated the inheritance by physical lineage and the spirit of the Law that sanctioned the godly inheritance to be passed on to the godly line. It was the Divine working in the midst of human affairs that brought about the fulfillment of the spirit of the Law. Jacob received the godly inheritance. The parents were united all along as was demonstrated by Isaac's blessing on Jacob in chapter 28.

The Haftarah reading carries the mystery of separation to a new dimension. That is, the spirit of Esau and the spirit of Jacob being found among the people of Israel and among the gentiles. The spirit of Esau was shown by the prophet when God interpreted the actions of some of the spiritual leaders (the priests - Kohanim) as resembling the attitude and actions of Esau. Esau despised the things of God, so did those leaders (and presumably their followers) in Malachi's day. Then Malachi contrasted the normally pagan/idolatrous world of the gentiles with those of the gentiles who manifested the attitudes and actions of Jacob (Malachi 1:11). The new dimension is the mystery of separation within Israel and within the gentile world. Jews and gentiles were separated by physical differences. But there was no unification of the spiritual Esau party among the Jews with the spiritual Esau party among the gentiles. Nor was there any connection of the spiritual Jacob party in either group as well. This had to wait.

The mystery of unification unfolded in the First Century. It took the coming of the Messiah to make the way of salvation open to Jew and gentile alike. This is the spirit of Jacob. The Brit Chadashah describes the completed work of the Messiah Jesus that made a final atonement. The preaching of the gospel on the following Shavuot began the mystery of separation in Israel subsequent to that finished work. When the gospel began to be proclaimed among the gentiles there was the persecution and separation of those believing gentiles from their physical/cultural heritage. So the mystery of separation started among the gentiles.

But the mystery of separation also commenced in similar fashion among the people of Israel. In the book of Acts persecution and rejection of the believers started in those early years. Later, like Malachi, Paul elucidated the spirit of Esau and of Jacob at work in Israel:

"Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to the Jews? No, for not everyone born into a Jewish family is truly a Jew! Just the fact that they are descendants of Abraham doesn't make them truly Abraham's children. For the Scriptures say, 'Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,' though Abraham had other children, too. This means that Abraham's physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. It is the children of the promise who are considered to be Abraham's children. For God had promised, 'Next year I will return, and Sarah will have a son.' This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he grew up, he married Rebekah, who gave birth to twins. But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message proves that God chooses according to his own plan, not according to our good or bad works.) She was told, 'The descendants of your older son will serve the descendants of your younger son.' In the words of the Scriptures, 'I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.' What can we say? Was God being unfair? Of course not! For God said to Moses, 'I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.' So receiving God's promise is not up to us. We can't get it by choosing it or working hard for it. God will show mercy to anyone he chooses" (Romans 9:6-16 NLT).