Toldot
Genesis 25:19-28:9
Malachi 1:1-2:7
This week’s portion begins by speaking of the birth of Isaac’s twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Contention between them begins while they are still in their mother’s womb (Genesis 25:22).
Rashi, the medieval French commentator, sides with Jacob. Where the text indicates (Jewish Publication Society translation, Genesis 25:27) that Esau was a “skillful hunter” (in the Hebrew, literally “a knowledgeable hunter”), Rashi renders, “a man understanding how to deceive.”
To the phrase in verse 27 “and the boys grew,” Rashi adds: “Jacob frequented the house of study, Esau the idolatrous temple.”
Rashi was living at a time of intense Jewish persecution. It is understandable that he should favor Jacob who is to father our people. Esau is founder of the Edomite nation, a traditional enemy. But Isaac favored Esau.
In our own generation, when we are privileged to live in concord with neighbors in a land that cherishes human rights, it is appropriate that we be respectful of both. We are gratified by the story’s conclusion in which the brothers are reconciled and participate jointly in the burial of their father (Genesis 35:29).
It is commonly assumed, that like father Jacob, Jews are a peace-loving people. We are counseled in “Ethics of the Fathers” (1:12) to “be of the disciples of Aaron who love peace and pursue peace.” The Amidah, the central element in our worship service, concludes with a prayer for peace.
Not pacifists
But we are not a religion which councils pacifism under all circumstances. Draftees in World War II could receive exemption from combat if they were Quakers, but not if they were Jews.
Our history begins with the conquest of Canaan. To this day, we celebrate Chanukah, marking a successful crusade for Jewish independence. A handful of Zealot warriors arose against the might of the Roman Empire. We take pride in the successful war that gave birth to the state of Israel.
And yet there were always elements in the community that urged a less aggressive stance. The rabbis objected to the militancy of the Maccabees and (unlike the Catholics) excluded the books of Maccabees from the Holy Scriptures.
Rabbi Johanan ben Zakai opposed the war with Rome and opted as an alternative to establish, with the concurrence of emperor Titus, a school of study at Javneh.
While all Jews hail the existence of the State of Israel, there is marked difference in attitude between the Peace Now establishment, which strives for accommodation to the Palestinians, and the more militant among us who are far more aggressive and mistrustful of the opponents.
It is helpful to see the two brothers as prototypes for the man of peace and the man of war. Their reconciliation implies that there is an important place for each of these elements in the fabric of a social or national entity, as well as within the individual soul.
Koheleth (traditionally understood to be King Solomon) advises us that there is “a time for war and a time for peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:8).
Our nation’s existence and well bring, physical and spiritual, was a consequence of successful engagement in the Revolutionary War, Civil War and World War II. We would have been well advised to avoid the terrible cost in wealth and human lives that were a consequence of our involvement in Korea, Vietnam and Iraq.
In our personal lives, the overly belligerent individual, always in contention, represents a threat to others, to the community, and ultimately to himself. But the individual too timid to fight for his rights and the well-being of the community, as he understands it, is also a menace.
The two impulses contend within us and neither should be identified as the better.
Just as there was reconciliation between the brothers, Esau and Jacob, after a painful alienation, so must we avoid falling prey to excess in either our aggressive or passive impulses, but strive for a moderate stance and for certainty that our attitude is appropriate to the circumstance at hand.
Rabbi Jay R. Brickman is spiritual leader emeritus of Congregation Sinai.
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