Ancient Hatred

Toledot

Genesis 25:19-28:9

Précis: The introductory phrase to this parasha is “These are the generations (“toledot”) of Isaac.” What follows is the birth of the twins, Esau and Jacob. Their childhood is omitted from narrative. We learn that Jacob was a quiet man while Esau was a cunning hunter that their mother Rebecca preferred Jacob, and that Isaac preferred Esau. We then have the story of the sale of the birthright by Esau to Jacob for a bowl of porridge (or lentils). A famine takes place, and Isaac journeys to the land of the Philistines where he claims that his wife Rebecca is actually his sister (as Abraham did with Sarah in Lech Lecha) and again, the woman escapes unharmed. The story then turns to the “great deception” where Jacob pretends to be Esau in order to obtain the primary blessing from his father Isaac. Esau threatens Jacob and Rebecca urges Jacob to escape to her family in Haran, towards which he sets off at the conclusion of the parasha.

Gen 25:25 – “The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.”

Esau has been regarded as a villain by the commentators. But this view of Esau is not necessarily supported by the text itself. 

The text begins with a bitter rivalry between the twins, starting from their birth when it appears that Jacob was already seeking superiority by grasping the heel of Esau. Rashi, noting that the text describes Esau as “reddish” considers this a sign that he would be one to shed blood. The Hebrew word for “red” also connects Esau to the traditional opponent of Israel, Edom. The terse text defines Esau as a skillful hunter, which the Sages find as a basis for a negative portrayal (especially when contrasted to Jacob, a man of the tents. (Question: does this say more about the characters or about the rabbis who wrote midrash about them?) The text is not explicitly negative towards Esau. It does not portray him as deceitful, but rather as the victim of deceit. He loves his father, and provides him with food (Pirke Avot praises such support of aged parents as a high ethical principle). Jacob forces a “sale” of the birthright for a bowl of lentils (is this even a lawful transaction when Esau is famished? Can a birthright even be “sold”?). It is Jacob who deceives his father by disguising himself as Esau at the time of the blessing. Esau’s only reaction is a pitiful request to his father: have you no blessing for me?

Why has our tradition chosen to treat Esau so negatively? One response is that Jacob becomes the true inheritor of the birthright after struggling with the angel and receiving a second blessing and a new name. History is written by (or for) the victors. Jacob’s name is changed to Israel, the name we share today, and Esau is now a footnote. In other words, Jacob is too great a figure to be diminished by commentary. Esau, on the other hand, leaves the story arc almost entirely, except to welcome back Jacob after his sojourn with Laban (when Esau bestows a kiss of welcome on his brother’s neck, which midrash claims was an attempt to bite the neck of his sibling!). Jacob returns a rich man. Esau, although powerful and wealthy himself, becomes the ultimate outsider. The Esau/Edom connection is subsequently transformed by the commentators when Edom becomes the metaphor for Rome, another enemy of our people.

Esau, the rejected one, is the alienated outsider to our tradition. How easy it is to castigate those we don’t really know, to relegate the stranger to disrepute, to accept the negative evaluations of others regarding strangers. We see this today, when we imagine whole races or ethnic groups as sharing negative stereotypes, in direct opposition to the Jewish ethical demand of treating the stranger with respect and equality. This is precisely the terrible failure of the terrorists of Gaza who use awful, hateful assumptions about Israelis and Jews to justify their horrendous inhumane actions.