When the Patriarch Yitzchak passed away, he left all his possessions to his two sons — Yaakov and Esav. “Let us divide everything our father left us into two parts,” proposed Esav, “and I will exercise my privilege as firstborn to choose the portion I favor.”

What did Yaakov do? He took all of the wealth that they had inherited from their father and made that one portion. The other portion was Eretz Yisrael. Esav, of course, chose the wealth, while Yaakov happily took Eretz Yisrael with the Machpela Cave in it. This division was duly recorded and it was this document for which the sons of Yaakov sent a messenger to Egypt when Esav challenged their right to bury their father in that patriarchal burial cave.

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