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"Strummin' on Her Ol' Banjo"
Hebrew College, Newton Centre, MA, USA
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC;Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
Most of the commentary on this portion is deeply shaded by the times in which they were written. Talmudically, these were times under Roman conquest. The period of Rashi's time, circa 1060 C.E., was under church domination and relentless persecution. Even up to the twentieth century commentaries are overshadowed by the Shoah and anti-Semitism. In all of these, Esau is painted as being evil. Esau is called
The Talmudic rabbis say that Esau is the father of the Romans. They say he stuck a stick into the
We first need to remember that it was Jacob who stole from Esau. When Jacob heard that Esau was coming toward him with 400 men, he became frightened. He did not know Esau's intentions at the time, but assumed they were bad, so he prepared militarily. Jacob strategically divided his camp and prepared a tribute for Esau. When Jacob saw Esau, he walked toward him, bowing seven times. Esau on the other hand, ran toward Jacob and, "embraced him, fell upon his neck, and kissed him, and they wept." (Gen. 33:04). Jacob's emotion was fear, but Esau felt love and joy. Jacob begged Esau to accept his gifts, but Esau said that he that he already had plenty.
Esau wanted to help Jacob by assigning him some of his people. Esau wanted to ride along with Jacob, hoping that they would become brothers once again, but Jacob lied to Esau, telling him that his caravan was slow and that Esau should go on ahead. Jacob's group would catch up with Esau at Seir. Esau agreed. Jacob however, took a different direction and went to Succoth, and eventually to Shechem.
The Torah is clear that Esau harbored no bitterness toward Jacob, yet Jacob projected his belief system unto Esau. In Jacob's world, if you cheat someone, there would be payback. Laban cheated Jacob with the wife-swapping episode and Jacob retaliated by tricking Laban with a bit of genetic animal husbandry. Jacob assumed that Laban would be upset, so he sneaked way from Laban, never allowing Laban's four daughters and grandchildren to say goodbye. Laban then came after Jacob. Jacob once again became afraid (Gen. 31:31).
The rabbis of the Roman Diaspora parse the words of this portion to make sure that Esau is 100 percent bad. They place dots over the words for kiss to tell us that the kiss was insincere. They say that Esau, when he fell on Jacob's neck, was really planning on biting Jacob's jugular vein and killing him. The rabbis write that when Esau said he had plenty, he was boasting. Jacob said that he had everything (Gen. 33:11). The rabbis posit that a righteous man always has everything, as he trusts in God, but an evil man has plenty because he continually counts his possessions.
They say that because the Torah does not say that Jacob and Esau kissed when Esau left before Jacob. The implication is that Esau's intentions were evil. The Midrash says that Jacob gave Esau annual tribute to appease Esau. The Talmud says that when he refused Jacob's gifts, Esau was being insincere.
The Midrash records that before the Rabbis would negotiate with the Romans, they would read this parasha first. They said it taught them to pray to God for strength and guidance, to act obsequiously, to give tribute, to keep apart from the Romans, and be secretive. The rabbis used this same technique for two millennia after. The Talmud records how Rabbi Yannai went to negotiate with the Romans and forgot to read this portion before he went. His trip was a dismal failure.
The Midrash blames Jacob for the eventual Diaspora. The rabbis write that Jacob should have taken the long way around
Jacob and his family settled in Shechem. Dinah, "the daughter of Leah...went out to look over the daughters of the land." (Gen. 34:01). The Talmud says we are reminded that she was the daughter of Leah because Leah also "went out." In Genesis 30:16 Leah is described as going out to meet Jacob to tell him that it was her turn to have sex with him that night. The Talmudic rabbis say that this behavior is appalling and call Leah "she who is fond of going out." They say, regarding Dinah, "like mother like daughter," and blame the rape on Dinah's behavior. We still see this thinking in some courtrooms today. Some Arab tribes today will kill family members who are raped, as it brings shame to the family.
The men of Shechem wanted to live in peace with Jacob's family. They offered Jacob land to live among them and to trade and intermarry. The brothers told the Shechemites that they must be circumcised. This is the Hebrew method of conversion. The Shechemites, though, did not convert for sincere reasons. They thought it would be good for trade, as well as for a source of wives for them, and husbands for their daughters.
The sons of Jacob deceitfully accepted them into the covenant of Abraham, only to kill them three days later. The rabbis say that this is allowed, as the men of Shechem were not going to be sincere Jews and accept Torah values. Are they reading the same Torah we are today? What values did Jacob and his sons possess? Jacob is a master of deceit. He learned this well from his mother and his uncle Laban. Even two of his wives, Leah and Rachel, were in cahoots with Laban; because how else would Leah have tricked Jacob into thinking she was Rachel on the wedding night?
The Talmud says that Rachel was under the bed, talking to Jacob, while he was having sex with Leah, so that he thought he was with Rachel. The rabbis say that Jacob's sons were justified in killing all of the men of Shechem, as rape is one of the seven prohibited Noahide laws. But 400 years later, we learn in the Torah that if a man rapes a virgin, he has the option of marrying her or paying her father a fine. There is no death penalty for rape of a virgin. If you rape another man's wife, it is adultery and therefore punishable by death.
We also learn in the Torah that before a war is fought, your enemy must be given a sincere chance to make peace. Further, when a Jewish army attacks, it must leave open an avenue of escape for the enemy. When is it a Torah value to condemn an entire nation for the sin of one man? Jacob's only concern about this annihilation was not based on Torah morality. It was based only on his fears. His only concern was that friends of the Shechemites would "band together and attack" him. (Gen. 34:30).
What is the Torah trying to teach us? Are we being taught that xenophobia and deceit are admirable traits? Are we being taught that wholesale slaughter is good? Of course not. If anything, we will learn in a few portions later that this behavior against neighbors will eventually turn brother against brother. In the Sephardic Haftarah, Obadiah says, "As you did, so will be done to you." (Ob.1:15). Obadiah prophesied during the reign of King Ahab and his Queen Jezebel.
In the Askenazic Haftarah, the 8th-century B.C.E. Hosea says that Jacob's sons lie, deceive, and were "wayward toward God." (Hos. 12:01). Hosea accused Jacob of stealing from Esau while they were still in the womb by "taking his brother by the heel" (Hos. 12:04). The prophets deplore this behavior and agree that the ends do not justify the means.
We are taught in this parasha that Jacob wrestled until dawn with a man (Gen. 32:25). When dawn broke and the fight was over, Jacob asked the man for a blessing, and Jacob was given the new name of
Remember, the rabbis of this time assign evil to
When Abram received the new name of Abraham (father of nations), he is never referred to again as Abram. Abraham's new name is permanent, but Jacob does not get a permanent name change. This is because Jacob did not wrestle with the guardian angel of Esau, or with Satan. Jacob wrestled with himself. Jacob wrestled with the spark of God that is inside each of us. All of us have the potential to be "heels" and therefore deceitful (as the name Jacob means in Hebrew). Yet all of us have the power to be Godlike as well. We have to continually struggle and wrestle to be truly
What we learn from this Torah portion is not how to behave like our Talmudic rabbis thought, but how not to behave. The fight is never over. It is never over internally nor externally. Someone will always try to be "in the kitchen with Dinah, strummin' on her ol' banjo." We cannot control others' behavior. We cannot control outside forces. We can control our attitudes and responses to events over which we have no control. It is up to us to find ways of dealing with life's tragedies in ways that do not pull us spiritually down, along with the physical or emotional pain we experience. This is our eternal struggle. Jewish Spiritual Renewal helps with this spiritual process. This is why we are the Children of Israel.
Shabbat Shalom:
Hebrew College, Newton Centre, MA, USA
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC;Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
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