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5 Nov, 20 tweets, 4 min read

@rlefraim

Roger Froikin @rlefraim wrote, "SHABBAT SHALOM

Parsha Toldot
Genesis 25:19–28:9

Parsha Toldot is really a drama between two brothers and allegorically between two peoples and two approaches to defining civilization and it is a story that is repeated throughout history.
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There are lots of interpretations of the relationship between Jacob and Esau. One can look simply at the history as illuminated by the archeological evidence. One can interpret the story as Christians have since the writings of Paul.
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One can interpret it as the struggle between Jews and Rome as did our sages in the Jerusalem Talmud whose more recent history was filled with that ideological and physical conflict.
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The most believable interpretations, in my opinion, are those of our Sages, because while they may have tried to explain things in terms of their more recent history, they knew the language, the metaphoric nature of Hebrew,
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and would have been aware of the meanings beneath the surface comparisons.

Here we have two sons, twins. Jacob and Esau. We are not told whether identical or fraternal twins but we are told how their interests diverged and a bit about their characters.
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It is that divergence that is significant. Each of these sons, represented a different cultural view, an different approach to perceiving the reality of what civilization should be, & it illustrates how these concepts, these approaches, conflict, & how they have to co-exist.
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But what should be interesting to us today, is that “struggle” is still with us today, still part of our reality.
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Esau was associated with Rome by our Sages because Rome was about power, an attitude that the ends justified the means, that dissent from Roman power was bad in itself, even dangerous, and had to be punished even by the most violent means.
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Rome during that era was exploitative, manipulative and devoid of humaneness and empathy. The powerful controlled the weak, and having power and using it was associated with being blessed by the gods.
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Christianity adopted this attitude when it co-opted the Roman Empire, and used belief, controlled from the top as a tool in enforcing conformity and squashing dissent, and demonizing all those who did dissent.
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Esau was about a society controlled from the top, by the powerful and wealthy, about the power of the bully, and of the government that enforces its rule by violence or coersion.
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Jacob was Yisrael, in contrast, was about individual responsibility, humaneness, empathy, deferred gratification for a better future, contemplative, education oriented, & moral judgment & behavior as what made a person of value and respect, and not just power and expediency.
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Jacob was about a society of personal responsibility, people treating one another fairly, and, frankly, personal liberty, all relating to G-d through proper behavior, rather than be subject to the whims of the gods.
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And look at the world today. Nothing has really changed, has it. Esau is still trying to control the world, to enforce his will, to discourage dissent, whether it is the Nazis in the 1930’s to 40’s, or the Communists in almost the whole of the 20th century,
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or the attitudes in the European Union or on the Left worldwide, power, control, a lack of tolerance toward diversity, all the hallmarks of Esau are still there.
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And then there is still Jacob.Surviving intact, not without problems, 3600 years later, teach your children, take care of one another, resist assimilation and conformity, Torah, personal responsibility, relating to G-d by behavior, not just belief.
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And just as with Jacob and Esau, both need to find a way to coexist, especially in a shrinking world of fast travel and mass communication,
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Think about it. But this Parsha goes further. It makes clear in a way that Jacob (Am Yisrael) must be proactive and maintain its special, and unique identity, its ways, its culture, its standards, or lose and be dominated by Esau. That is the key to the Parsha.
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