This week was the 83rd anniversary of Kristallnacht, the violent anti-Jewish pogroms that broke out on November 9, 1938 across Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. Violent mobs, spurred Nazi officials, destroyed hundreds of synagogue and Torah scrolls. Acting on orders from Gestapo headquarters, police officers and firefighters did nothing to prevent the destruction. All told, approximately 7,500 Jewish-owned businesses, homes, and schools were plundered, and 91 Jews were murdered. An additional 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Nazi, playing to type, blamed the Jews and made them pay for the damages. 

This week’s Torah portion, Toledot, is a treasure-house of troublesome, intriguing, entertaining and iconic stories from the oldest part of the Torah.

In it, we read of Jacob and Esau wrestling in the womb, and Jacob being born grasping the hill of his twin.