The parashah Toldot begins by telling us about the family of Isaac: »These are the sons of Isaac.« However, the pasuk (»verse”) tells us nothing about the sons of Isaac.
Since the names of Isaac's sons are not mentioned, Rashi explains that the verse refers to "Jacob and Esau, about whom this parashah speaks.".
Wouldn't we have known this without looking at Rashi? Most of us surely know that Jacob and Esau were the sons of Isaac. So why does Rashi have to explain it?
If we read Rashi's words carefully, we will see that he is trying to teach us something deeper than the names of Itzjak's sons.
With the words "about whom this parashah speaks," Rashi teaches us how to think about Jacob and, even more so, how to think about Esau.
We know that Esau was not always a good person. We don't approve of what he did or the way he spoke. But Rashi tells us, "Jacob and Esau, about whom the parashah speaks." We must look at people, even Esau, in the way our Torah parashah speaks.
What does this mean?
The Torah doesn't determine whether a person is good solely based on their actions. The Torah looks deeper, into their neshamah ("soul"), and seeks the good that resides there. Every Jewish neshamah is good because it is a part of God. Even if a person doesn't perform good deeds, the good within their neshamah is still there, and the Torah tells us that it has the power to reveal itself. Nothing can stand in the way of the neshamah.
Rashi is teaching us that we shouldn't draw our own conclusions about Esau. Instead, we should try to see things the way the Torah sees them. This helps us realize that even a person like Esau has something good within him, and that God is patiently waiting for it to emerge and shine.
Isaac knew this. That's why he was willing to give Esau the precious blessings he had received from Abraham. He hoped that Esau would be able to reveal the goodness of his soul and do good deeds.
Extracted from Please tell me what the Rebbe says.