The work of the patriarchs, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov was to establish in this world an eternal bond between man and G-d.
Toldot chronicles the struggle for supremacy between two radically different approaches toward leadership: the way of Yaakov, and the way of Esav.
Esav excelled in so many ways he seemed a natural for the part. And after all, he was the first-born.
There was but one thing missing from Esav's understanding of life: the fear and the acknowledgment of G-d.
Forever stymied by his own egotistical take on life, Esav languished, while Yaakov assumed the mantle of leadership.