EXTRA · classical (not a TT unit)

Toldos 25:26 · EXTRA

Parashas Toldos · Passuk 25:26

The Complete Passuk

וְאַֽחֲרֵי־כֵ֞ן יָצָ֣א אָחִ֗יו וְיָד֤וֹ אֹחֶ֙זֶת֙ בַּעֲקֵ֣ב עֵשָׂ֔ו וַיִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמ֖וֹ יַעֲקֹ֑ב וְיִצְחָ֛ק בֶּן־שִׁשִּׁ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה בְּלֶ֥דֶת אֹתָֽם׃

Then his brother emerged, holding on to the heel of Esav; so they named him Yaakov. Yitzchak was sixty years old when they were born.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Rashi on Bereishis 25:26 (classical source on this passuk; not listed as a numbered Torah Temimah unit here).

Lemma / focus: ואחרי כן יצא אחיו.

Sefaria

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
שָׁמַעְתִּי מִדְרָשׁ הַדּוֹרְשׁוֹ לְפִי פְּשׁוּטוֹ, בַּדִּין הָיָה אוֹחֵז בּוֹ לְעַכְּבוֹ, יַעֲקֹב נוֹצַר מִטִּפָּה רִאשׁוֹנָה וְעֵשָׂו מִן הַשְּׁנִיָּה.

English: I heard a midrash that expounds it according to its plain sense: it was proper that he hold him back, for Yaakov was formed from the first drop and Esav from the second… that which is placed first emerges last; Esav was formed last and emerged first, and Yaakov held him back so that he himself might emerge first as the one formed first.

On the daf / in context: The heel-grasp is read as Yaakov’s claim to priority of formation, not only a name-etiologies device.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Rashi / midrash) — not a formal named middah of the 13: the order of formation and emergence is used to explain the grasp on the heel.

What Is Learned

Yaakov held Esav’s heel because he was formed first and sought to emerge first; the name Yaakov records that grasp, and Yitzchak was sixty at their birth.