To act or not to act

Vayishlach

Gen. 32:4 - 36:43

Précis: As he nears his return to his homeland, Jacob sent (vayishlach) messengers to Esau to ascertain Esau’s state of mind after their 20-year separation. While he awaits a reply, Jacob encounters an “adversary” (most assume an angel) with whom Jacob wrestles through the night. As dawn breaks, the adversary announces that Jacob’s name is to be changed to Israel: “He who wrestles with God.” On the following day, Esau approaches, and despite Jacob’s fears, there is a happy reunion. 

            We then read the story of how a local prince rapes Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, and then asks to marry her. Jacob agrees on condition that all of the men of the city are circumcised. While the men are recovering, Jacob’s sons Simon and Levi attack the city and kill all of the inhabitants in revenge for the insult to their sister.

           Jacob soon travels to Beth-el (the site of his ladder dream), and on the way, Rachel gives birth to Benjamin and dies in childbirth. Thereafter, Isaac’s death is noted, as is his burial by Esau and Jacob. The parasha ends with a genealogy of Esau and his descendants.

Gen. 34:33 “And it happened on the third day, while they were recovering, that Jacob’s two sons, Shimon and Levi, Dinah’s brother, took each his sword, and came upon the city unopposed, and they killed every male.”

Dinah, Leah’s daughter and sister of Shimon and Levi, is abducted and raped by the local prince of Shechem (also named Shechem). When he hears about the news, Jacob, the father of the abducted girl, remains silent. Her brothers, however, seek revenge. Shechem had fallen in love with Dinah, and desired to marry her. He comes to Jacob to plead his case. The brothers respond for Jacob “cunningly, with deceit” (Gen. 34:13). They say on behalf of  Jacob that the marriage may go ahead if every male of the town is circumcised. Three days later, when the men of Shechem are at their weakest, Levi and Shimon enter the city and slay all of them.  

            Jacob’s response is unsettling: “You have discomposed me, making me hated by the people here” (Genesis 34:30). He seems to be more upset with the PR than with the rape of his daughter or the murder by his sons.

            Sometimes, a situation arises when our blood boils and we take rash action. This was the way Levi and Shimon acted. Jacob, on the other hand, remains silent in the face of the evil that has been done to his daughter. Was Jacob’s more measured response appropriate?

            We may tend to side with the brothers. On the other hand, we have increasingly become habituated to the instant response by social media. When faced with outrage, perhaps the correct course lies somewhere between the responses of Jacob and his sons.  We need to act, but we also need to take time to contemplate the impact of our acts before we post, text, or email.  

We dare not allow our eyes to be dim

Toldot

Gen. 25:19-28:9

Précis: The introductory phrase to this parasha is “These are the generations (“toldot”) of Isaac.” What follows is the birth of the twins, Esau and Jacob. Their childhood is omitted from the narrative. We learn that Jacob is a quiet man while Esau is a cunning hunter; that their mother Rebecca prefers Jacob, and that Isaac prefers Esau. Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of porridge (or lentils). A famine takes place, and Isaac visits 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 turns to the “great deception” where Jacob pretends to be Esau in order to obtain the primary blessing from his father Isaac. Esau hates Jacob and threatens him; Rebecca urges Jacob to escape to her family in Haran, and he sets off at the conclusion of the parasha.

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.’”

            Traditional Torah study reminds us that there are no unnecessary words in our text. Why does the text tell us of Isaac’s dim eyes, and then that he could not see? Rashi suggests that God made Isaac blind so that Jacob could receive the blessing of the first born. Why? Because Isaac had become metaphorically blind to Esau’s nature.  

            I suggest that the recent massacre of Jews in Pittsburgh puts us to the test. We have been metaphorically blind to the anti-Semitism in American life, but now we cannot remain blind to its existence. What we need to “see” is that our fellow Jews were killed because they were Jews. Let us not “dim our eyes” by stressing that there was an anti-immigrant rational in the killer’s motives, or that somehow it was an attack on religion in America.  No, we need to be clear and focused. Anti-Semitism in all of its horrid aspects is lurking among us.

            As reported in Tablet magazine this week, at least four candidates who espouse support for anti-Semitic conspiracy theories or admire people like Louis Farrakhan were elected to Congress, and their hate-filled voices will be heard in the coming session of Congress.     

            Like Isaac in this week’s parasha, when we lose the ability to see, the results are perilous. Let us continue to see anti-Semitism for what it is, and not gloss over the attack in Pittsburgh as just another mass shooting. Let us also resolve to support the Pittsburgh Jewish community not only this week, but in the months and years ahead, and to thank them for letting us see, through their sacrifice, the dangers we have so long ignored.