Vayishlach: independence

Vayishlach: independence

Twice, on  November 29, the United Nations voted for the partition of Israel and Palestine.  Once, in 1947 and again in 2012.  It is ironic that this comes when we read the parsha that partitions Jacob from Esau ( ) and records the first decimation of Shechem. .

It is hard on the American in me.  I read that Dina goes out to meet the local girls, to have a social life, to mix with the locals, to be normal.  She is raped and abducted.  The rapist (Shechem)  now wants to do the honorable thing - he wants to marry Dina. Shechem's father proposes  that his Hivite people and the children of Israel unify through intermarriage.  A one state solution. The United State of Hiev- Israel.  Dina's brothers, protectors of her honor (cf Lavan and Bithuel), the sons of Israel, hatch a plot that is clever ( so that the few overcome the many [getting ready for Chanukah]) and has religious overtones ( it involves circumcision).  The first family of Shechem sells the idea to the nation (what is good for the wealthy is good for the common person). The plan succeeds and the patriarch Jacob/Israel is disturbed by the destruction and its consequences. The nation of Israel moves on.  No International Court.  

The major theme of the parsha is the identity of Israel  and the separation from other peoples: from Esau, from intermarriage, from internal strife [Reuven] ( this is only beginning). What  is this identity?  The name is Yisrael, wrestle with the power, fight with Gd,  battle against all odds, The  نس   is an ambiguous letter.  If it is read  shin, then the name means straight (Yashar)  power, use of power for the good.  An appealing idea. 

Vayetze: The Outsider

Vayetze deals with economics.  It starts with Yaakov's deal with Gd. Yaakov offers to pay Gd for services that include protection and sustenance, based upon a vision of angels ascending and descending ; from heaven to earth and back to heaven.  The vision means that there is a connection between heaven and earth; the earth is not left to its own devices, the intervention of heaven is possible.  That possibility becomes a certainty in the mind of the believer.  That certainty of Divine intervention  is the basis for Thanksgiving and its national holiday. It unifies Thanksgiving and Chanukah.

 

An aside: Thanksgiving provides insight into the origin of the animal sacrificial rite. There are traditions surrounding the proper food and how it is served  and who comes to the meal.  This is how it starts. 

 

Vayetzeh should be subtitled, "Lets make a deal." There is even a beautiful model ( Rachel) behind door number 2.  A deal is an interaction between a the insider ( the owner, the landlord, the native) and the outsider (often a Jew), the one who has gone out to make his fortune,,, or so it seems.  But the parsha suggests that this interaction is merely a dance, orchestrated by the Divine, to redistribute wealth.  Lavan sees that it is  Gd has made Yaakov  a successful rancher (30:27).

Even the 11 sons born to Yaakov are often named for their (exchange) values ( e.g.Issachar, Dan).  The naming of the sons suggests some ambiguity about the belief system. Gad, ...what is that about? What  role does good fortune ( Gad) play in a world of visible angels? My Gad!

 

 

 

 

Toldoth: power lunch

Toldoth: power lunch

The value of a meal in Toldoth is remarkably high.  Yaakov buys  the birthright  for lentils.  Yitzchok sells the dominion  for a roasted kid.  A meal with Avimelech leads to a Palestinian peace treaty.

Yaakov's sale of the lentils  for the birthright could be price gouging.  It depends upon how objectively,  literally one takes Esau's statement: (25:32) "I am going to die, so what is ( the value of ) my birthright to me?" If this is an immediate, literal statement, and  Esau thought he would die imminently if he was not fed (the lentils), then this is a gouge.  If Esau was making a general statement, that the fact that all people die makes remote, vague rewards - like the (double portion of the ) firstborn - worthless, then the price is fair. 

However, it is clear ( 27:36) that Esau felt cheated by the sale of the right of the first born.  He describes the transaction as: vayaakveni, he Jewed me out of it. He  uses that word to describe his relationship to both the bechorah and the brachah. 

Yitzchok's "brahca" is similar to Noach's curse.  Both are associated with wine. Noach establishes one child as the slave, another as the master. Yitchok's blessing is also one of dominion, and the partial retraction, when Esau appears, is a blessing of rebellion and war.    Is that a joke?

It seems that the intention overcame  the facts on the ground.  Yitzchok actually gave the blessing to  Yaakov, but he made it clear that he had intended the blessing for Esau.  It is interesting to see how this ambivalence has payed out over the last 3500 years.

It is a good time to invoke the peace treaty with Avimelech, but given how the other promises in the parsha worked out, I am not sure.

Toldoth past posts (2011 and links)

Toldoth: Dominance

 
When Rivkah wonders about the turbulence in her womb, Gd tells here that there are 2 nations and the older will serve the younger.  The dominance theme is already set. 
Did that information color the way the boys were raised?  Did she inform Yitzchak, the father? If she did, how can we understand his behavior, initially favoring Esau? Did he want to fight fate?
 
Why is the blessing set up as the domination of one brother over the other?  Is there no solution that involves sharing?
 
Why must Yitzchok endorse a blessing given under false pretenses? Because the claim was not false.  When Yaakov announced that he was the first born Esau, he had bought that identity for the purpose of obtaining the blessing.  Did Esau not understand?  Did the sale of the birthright include the blessing?
 
What is this story of Avimelech.  The people of Grar  could not tolerate Yitzchok’s success.  Is this the model for Yaakov and Esau?
 
 
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2009

2008
 
2007

Chayeh Sarah: Chemistry

How things in the world combine is a great mystery. Chemicals combine to form compounds, stable molecules; people combine to become families.  Difference become points of attraction, all of the parts that need protection from the outside world are sheltered in the new entity.  This is one of the works of the destiny aspect of Gd [ after the creation, Gd makes shiduchim]

The main story of the parshah is the marriage of Rivkah to Yitzchok. Avraham has buried his (real) wife, Sarah and thereby purchased a piece of the Promised Land [for its full price,  in a public transaction].  He has acquired a burial plot.  There is no greater  perpetuity than a burial plot.  The intention is clearly that it is bought until the Resurrection.  Sarah is buried there, in Kiriyat Arbah.  She becomes part of the land. My parents are part of the land ( near Bieth Shemesh); my wife and I have reservations nearby -  when our time comes. 

Avraham's negotiation for the land is a dance. It all does not fit together unless he pays full price for land that  is offered as a gift. It is chemistry. 

Eliezer [thinks he] makes up a magical formula to identify the woman that Yitzchok should marry.  Whoever guesses the password [ "and I will water your camels, too] wins the prize.  Eliezer is  shocked when this happens, and the girl is beautiful, marriageable,  and from the right family.  Every dream has a very low probability of occurrence; every occurrence is a certainty with probability =1. Eliezer gives Rivkah's family every opportunity to spoil the match, but the destiny aspect of Gd, the Gd of chemistry and successful negotiations, prevails. 

Monday is my mother's yahrzeit. The parsha evokes the special chemistry of my parents, how they saved each other in the Holocaust ...and its aftermath.  Is it a coincidence that the  haftorah is about the mother of Shlomo?

Vayera: to the limit

Early in the parsha, Avraham pleads with Gd for the people of Sodom ( including the oft saved Lot). The plea turns into a negotiation, the required number of righteous souls drops gradually from 50 to 10, but no lower than ten.  Ultimately, not even the ten required to rescue all the rest are found, the cruel mob behavior of the Sodomites is demonstrated  and only Lot, his wife and 2 daughters escape that holocaust.  Avraham tested the limit of Gd's mercy, and went no further. 

Near the end of the parsha, Avraham obeys the heavenly command to bring his son as a burnt offering ( a holocaust),  His test of faith goes to the limit.  He has the knife in hand when the test is stopped and Avraham is given an A+, with rewards specified. Gd tested the limits of Avraham, to go further would have created a tragedy. 

Before the binding of Isaac, Avraham sent Ishmael and Hagar into the desert.  At the least, he exiled his son and her mother. Were it not for another divine intervention, they would have died of thirst.  Avraham went to the limit of his heart for his loyalty to Sarah. 

May we be spared from the tests of the limits, may we, and the tester, always pass.