Toledoth: the antisemitism

Is the phrase: “ He Jewed him down”  antisemitic?  I do find it annoying.  It stereotypes Jews, characterizes Jews as excessively clever and stingy. Compare that with Esau’s remark after Jacob has taken Isaac’s blessing with subterfuge: 

וַיֹּ֡אמֶר הֲכִי֩ קָרָ֨א שְׁמ֜וֹ יַעֲקֹ֗ב וַֽיַּעְקְבֵ֙נִי֙ זֶ֣ה פַעֲמַ֔יִם

[Esau] said, “Was he, then, named Jacob that he might supplant me these two times?

English translation cannot capture the affront. Esau calls the action of Yaakov (Jacob)  ‘yaakveyni” . This could be translated as he “Yaakoved me”, he Jewed me.  This translation is suggested by first invoking the name Yaakov, and then delivering a derivative of the name Yaakveyni. 

The root עְקְבֵ֙, aikev is a complicated word.  In this week’s parsha it is used three times. The first time is the factual part  of  Esau’s insult. When Jacob is born, he is holding Esau’s heel: 

וְאַֽחֲרֵי־כֵ֞ן יָצָ֣א אָחִ֗יו וְיָדֹ֤ו אֹחֶ֨זֶת֙ בַּעֲקֵ֣ב עֵשָׂ֔ו וַיִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמֹ֖ו יַעֲקֹ֑ב

Then his brother emerged, holding on to the heel of Esau; so they named him Jacob.

This usage echoes the expulsion from Eden. 

וְאֵיבָ֣ה ׀ אָשִׁ֗ית בֵּֽינְךָ֙ וּבֵ֣ין הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה וּבֵ֥ין זַרְעֲךָ֖ וּבֵ֣ין זַרְעָ֑הּ ה֚וּא יְשׁוּפְךָ֣ רֹ֔אשׁ וְאַתָּ֖ה תְּשׁוּפֶ֥נּוּ עָקֵֽב׃ (ס) 

I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your offspring and hers;They shall strike at your head, And you shall strike at their heel.”

This aikev is the target of the deadly serpent. It evokes sneakiness: The snake in the grass.  In that sense, it adds to the insulting term vayakveyni. 

The next usage of aikev in our parsha contrasts with this.  It is part of Gd’ blessing to Isaac (perhaps the core of the blessing he wanted to transmit). 

וְהִרְבֵּיתִ֤י אֶֽת־זַרְעֲךָ֙ כְּכוֹכְבֵ֣י הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְנָתַתִּ֣י לְזַרְעֲךָ֔ אֵ֥ת כָּל־הָאֲרָצֹ֖ת הָאֵ֑ל וְהִתְבָּרֲכ֣וּ בְזַרְעֲךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל גּוֹיֵ֥י הָאָֽרֶץ׃ 

I will make your heirs as numerous as the stars of heaven, and assign to your heirs all these lands, so that all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your heirs— 

עֵ֕קֶב אֲשֶׁר־שָׁמַ֥ע אַבְרָהָ֖ם בְּקֹלִ֑י וַיִּשְׁמֹר֙ מִשְׁמַרְתִּ֔י מִצְוֺתַ֖י חֻקּוֹתַ֥י וְתוֹרֹתָֽי׃ 

inasmuch as Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge: My commandments, My laws, and My teachings.”

This usage of aikev appeared once before, in the blessing of Abraham , immediately after the akeidah ( binding of Isaac) 

Esau did not intend this usage in his insult. Some commentators take the word eikev in Gd’s address to Isaac as a hint that the blessing should go to Jacob. 

Esau’s insult refers to the sneaky way that Yaakov obtained the blessing.  When mother Rebecca heard Isaac instruct Esau to bring him a meal so that he may receive the blessing, she instructed Jacob to execute a plot that would get Jacob the blessing.  Perhaps she was motivated by the prophecy that she received before the sons were born: 

שְׁנֵ֤י (גיים) [גוֹיִם֙] בְּבִטְנֵ֔ךְ וּשְׁנֵ֣י לְאֻמִּ֔ים מִמֵּעַ֖יִךְ יִפָּרֵ֑דוּ וּלְאֹם֙ מִלְאֹ֣ם יֶֽאֱמָ֔ץ וְרַ֖ב יַעֲבֹ֥ד צָעִֽיר׃

“Two nations are in your womb,

Two separate peoples shall issue from your body;

One people shall be mightier than the other,

And the older shall serve the younger.”

Jacob had already bought the birthright identity from Esau. (Possibly, this confuses matters.) It gave him the right to answer Father Isaac, when he asked who had brought him the requested meal: 

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יַעֲקֹ֜ב אֶל־אָבִ֗יו אָנֹכִי֙ עֵשָׂ֣ו בְּכֹרֶ֔ךָ

Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your first-born;

The story tells of  blind Isaac’s skepticism. Jacob did not sound like Esau. They said different things. Isaac blessed Jacob, and when the real Esau confronted him, Isaac said:

וָאֲבָרְכֵ֑הוּ גַּם־בָּר֖וּךְ יִהְיֶֽה׃

and I blessed him; now he must remain blessed!”

Perhaps the guile itself convinced Isaac that Jacob was the proper recipient of the blessing. Isaac owed his own life to the substation of a ram for his person. Substitution has a validity. 

This parsha is  remarkable in its honesty.  Jews have always lived as foreigners. Occasionally, they have been tolerated. More often they have been subjugated and sometimes worse. The hostility of their hosts and neighbors is never far from the Jewish mind. This week’s parsha describes an  origin story for hating Israel that  includes motivation for the hostility. 

It is helpful to understand the opponent. The small amount of truth that underlies prejudice should be recognized. Since Jews were oppressed, they needed cleverness and sometimes guile to protect them and survive. That is also true of many other peoples. It has served us well.