After 20 years of marriage, Yitzchak’s prayers are answered and Rivka conceives...twins. The pregnancy is extremely painful. Hashem reveals to Rivka that the suffering is a microcosmic prelude to the worldwide conflict that will rage between the two great nations descended from these twins, Rome and Israel. Esav is born, followed by Yaakov, holding on to Esav’s heel. They grow, and Esav becomes a hunter, a man of the physical world, while Yaakov sits in the tents of Torah, developing his soul.
On the day of their grandfather Avraham’s funeral, Yaakov is cooking lentils, the traditional mourner's meal. Esav rushes in, ravenous from a hard day’s hunting, and sells his birthright (and its concomitant spiritual responsibilities) for a bowl of lentils, demonstrating his unworthiness for the position of firstborn.
A famine strikes Canaan and Yitzchak thinks of escaping to Egypt; Hashem tells him that because he was bound as a sacrifice, he has become holy and must remain in the Holy Land. Yitzchak relocates to Gerar in the land of the Philistines; there, to protect Rivka, he says she is his sister. The Philistines grow jealous of Yitzchak when he becomes immensely wealthy, and Avimelech the king asks him to leave. Yitzchak re-digs three wells that were dug by his father, prophetically alluding to the three future Temples. Avimelech, seeing that Yitzchak is blessed by Hashem, makes a treaty with him.
When Yitzchak senses his end approaching, he summons Esav to give Esav his blessings. Rivka, acting on a prophetic command, arranges for Yaakov to impersonate Esav and receive the blessings. When Esav in frustration reveals to his father that Yaakov bought the birthright, Yitzchak realizes that the birthright has been bestowed correctly on Yaakov and he confirms the blessings that he gave Yaakov. Esav vows to kill Yaakov, and so Rivka sends Yaakov to her brother Lavan where he could find a suitable wife.
