Gen. 25:19-28:9
Précis: We begin with the birth of the twins, Esau and Jacob. Jacob is a quiet man while Esau is a cunning hunter. Their mother Rebecca prefers Jacob and Isaac prefers Esau. Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of porridge. Isaac visits the Philistines where he claims that Rebecca is his sister (as Abraham did with Sarah) and again, the woman escapes unharmed. Jacob pretends to be Esau to obtain the primary blessing from his father Isaac. Esau threatens Jacob and Rebecca urges Jacob to escape to her family in Haran.
Gen. 27:1 “And it came to pass when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see, he called Esau, his older son, and said to him ‘My son’ and he said to him ‘Here I am.’”
Torah study tells us there are no unnecessary words in our text. Why does the text say that Isaac’s eyes were dim, and then that he could not see? Rashi says that his eyes were dim (a physical malady) and that he could not see (he was blind to Esau’s nature).
Are we blind to threats against the Jewish People today? The smashing electoral win by Democrats last week included the election of a number of outspoken critics of Israel. Some voices in the Jewish community believe that we (the larger American community in general and Democratic-supporting Jews in particular) have become blind to dangers posed by the increasing opposition to Israel within the Democratic Party. I believe these critical voices have been taken in by the MAGA scaremongering talking points that an evil cabal of Islamists are intent on establishing Sharia law in America. They say that we have passed the canary-in-a-coal-mine status to something equivalent to Nazi Germany in the 1930’s.
I am not blind to the dangers of increasing acceptance of antisemitic tropes in political discourse which must of course be actively and continually opposed. But panic prevents intelligent opposition to those forces which we must fight. The handful of anti-Israel (and perhaps antisemitic) voices were elected in “safe” blue seats where those on the fringes could exert the most power. The Democratic sweep was not a result of DSA-linked candidates, but rather by centrist Democrats who stand for the rule of law. A recent report from Who Funds My Rep shows that 112 Democrats who will sit in the next House received support from pro-Israel funders, whereas a grand total of 11 DSA-linked candidates were elected (7 endorsed by the DSA, 4 aligned with them). Thus, pro-Israel supporters outnumber the DSA and its allies by 10:1. The far left anti-Israel critics are a rounding error. There will be a record number of Jewish Senators and Governors next year.
While most of the criticism has been aimed at the Democrats, we should be equally concerned with the MAGA establishment and far right critics of Israel (Tucker Carlson, et al.) who claim that Israel manipulated the United States into war with Iran, and that Israel (and Jews) are responsible for the high cost of living.
Isaac was blind to reality. We cannot be blind to reality, but we cannot allow fear-mongers to blind us to the need to fight authoritarianism, corruption, and to promote the rule of law. This fight is the safest and only route to Jewish security in America.
