Violence Defiles Us

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, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brother, each took his sword, and came upon the city unopposed, and they killed every male.”

 

As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has noted, Dinah is the only Jewish daughter named in the patriarchal narrative (Covenant and Conversation, 11/17/21), and the story here is terrifying.

            Jacob learns of the rape, but does nothing until his sons Shimon and Levi return to him.  The sons come up with a plan to overcome the hostage-taker/rapist: all the male members of the town must all be circumcised. They agree, are of course weakened, and the two sons wreak vengeance on all of the men of the city. Shimon and Levi rescue their sister.

Jacob is horrified. “You have made me odious to the people of the land” (Gen. 34:30). Jacob’s outrage lasts his entire life, when he utters a curse against the two sons: “Simeon and Levi are brothers - their swords are weapons of violence…. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! " (Gen. 49:5-6)

            This story seems to have no moral message at all. The prince is a rapist, his father fails to discipline him, Shimon and Levi kill everyone, and Jacob seems to remain passive.

            Whether Jacob’s curse against Shimon and Levi was merited became a source of great disagreement among the sages. Maimonides felt that they were justified in their actions, since the other men of the city failed to act and were therefore accomplices. Nachmanides disagrees, suggesting that the principle of collective responsibility does not apply. The debate continues today.

            Sacks notes that text “deliberately deepens the moral ambiguity by refusing to portray even the apparent villains in an unduly negative light”.

            The text refers to the “deceit” of Shimon and Levi, the same word as used to describe Jacob’s taking of the blessing in lieu of Esau. If the story has no moral purpose, why is it told, especially in such detail? Torah means “teaching” or “instruction.” As Sacks reminds us, it is not a history book. He suggests that the true lesson is that “Shechem’s single act of violence against Dinah forced two of Jacob’s sons into violent reprisal, and in the end, everyone was either contaminated or dead. It is indicative of the moral depth of the Torah that it does not hide this terrible truth from us by depicting one side as guilty, the other as innocent. Violence defiles us all. It did then. It does now.”

Inspirational Leadership

 Vayetze

Gen. 28:10-33:3

 

Précis: As Jacob travels towards the household of his uncle Laban, he dreams of a ladder (some translate it as a ramp) to heaven, with angels ascending and descending. He vows to build a great House for God on the spot. Jacob meets and falls in love with Laban’s younger daughter, Rachel. Laban agrees to the match, provided that Jacob works for him for seven years. Laban switches the older daughter, Leah, for Rachel; Jacob works an additional seven years for Rachel’s hand. Jacob then works for Laban another six years, and acquires great wealth and flocks through shrewd husbandry. During the stay with Laban, most of the children of Jacob are born. At the conclusion of the parasha, after tense negotiations with Laban, Jacob leaves with his possessions and family.

 

Gen. 28:16 “And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.”’

            Rabbi Sacks (z’l) posed an important question, as cited by Rabbi Karyn Kedar (10 Minutes of Torah, 11/8/21): What made Jacob, and not Abraham or Isaac, the true father of Israel? After all, we are commonly called the “Children of Israel” or at times the “Congregation of Jacob.” Rabbi Kedar suggests that Jacob is the one who struggles the most, who dreams the most, who wrestles with the unknown. Our tradition sees Jacob as a visionary, as in the cited verse. Indeed, some commentators suggest that he actually was dreaming of Sinai, since the numerical equivalent in Hebrew for “ladder” (130) is the same as it is for Sinai. Jacob is a visionary prophet, one whose imperfections actually inspire us, because we share them, and when he overcomes them, it gives us the hope that we, too, can overcome our imperfections. Jacob is what modern management theory calls an “inspirational leader.”  

            We seek inspirational leadership to give us dreams and purpose, to provide energy and enthusiasm. And yet. Inspirational leadership such as Jacob’s can become perverted into a blind obedience to representatives of the darkest forces.

            Jacob’s name was changed to Israel because he struggled with both divine beings and with humans as well. He prevailed. May we prevail against the rising dark forces in our nation and in our world.