Friday, December 09, 2011

Vayishlach:Who is Aysov?

An outline of the parsha:
Yaakov prepares to invade Canaan, where Aysov is the current hegemon.
Yaakov moves onto Shechem where the interactions with the locals is marred by the rape of his daughter,
The locals offer to unite with the children of Israel as family
The Israelites annihilate the locals
Despite some major crimes (Reuben), the Israelites remain unified
The Aysovites are described in their descent and their tribal organization, emphasizing their integration into the aboriginal (Seir, Hittite, etc) nations.

In verse 36:6 we are told that Aysov moves out of Canaan because of Yaakov’s arrrival. The land is not big enough for the both of them. It is hard to imagine that the population of these two families exceeded the capacity of the land. More likely their cultures clashed too much. They needed to separate as in any civil war and they resolved the conflict without battle (this time).

Who is Aysov? The [Ay]Sov-iet Union? The Red army?
Russia spelled sideways is Seur. (add a P and you have Prussia)
What about the Red White and Blue. Is this the symbol of the parsh - the Red raising the white flag to the Blue (of techaileth)?

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home