Toldot | The Gerar Conundrum

Toldot | The Gerar Conundrum, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

What happened during Yitzchak and Rivka's twenty years of childlessness? 

In reading through the presentation of Yitzchak's life in Parashat Toldot, there seems to be a disconnect between the opening narratives of the birth and early years of Yaakov and Esav, and the subsequent narrative cycle of Yitzchak and Rivka in Gerar (chapter 26:1-33). We propose what at first seems to be a revolutionary explanation for the puzzles this sequencing raises - but, on further reflection, note that it is built upon an approach that is well-anchored in rabbinic sources.

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