Dear Friends,
The Torah knew it three millennia ago.
We keep relearning it, over and over again.
This week’s Torah portion makes it clear, describing our matriarch, Rebeccah’s, travail as she carried two struggling fetuses – future children and peoples – tussling in her womb. When she complained to God about her discomfort, God replied:
Two nations are in your womb,
Two separate peoples shall issue from your body;
One people shall be mightier than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.
The poem was properly prescient and is patently clear. Rebecca was not merely carrying twins, Esau and Jacob, but was about to bear the progenitors of two competing peoples, the forebears of both the Arab and the Jewish nations. And, their competition for the limited resources of the land which they shared, and would share till this day, was a prescription for both ancient and modern tensions, and even warring.
Hence, we ask the necessary question. Was the Torah presaging a future, fated reality, or was it warning about a possible potential and alerting the peoples to devote themselves to forefending against the possibility of bloodshed? In other words, was Torah asserting that this was inevitable, or was it an early signal that this relationship would be difficult and required sensitive attention?
In truth, it could be both. This relationship was fraught with competitions from the outset. The narrative following the poem told of Esau surrendering his birthright as the firstborn son for a bowl of lentil stew, and Jacob assuming the head of their father’s people and legacy. Esau would later regret his trade, and threaten to kill his brother. The animosity was there from the beginning, and although the twins did reconcile in a later chapter, the remembrance of their antipathy never dissolved.
Rather, that tense relationship renewed itself in the 20th century when nationalism, political independence from European powers, and newfound natural resources reconfigured the calculus and realpolitik. Fighting since 1948 has not resulted in any advancement for the Arab or Palestinian peoples, and only rightfully strengthened Israel’s resolve to protect itself.
Thus, this week we reread the Torah’s poem with both hindsight and foresight:
“Two nations are in your womb,
Two separate peoples shall issue from your body;
One people shall be mightier than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.”
To which we say, “If only…”
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
The Torah knew it three millennia ago.
We keep relearning it, over and over again.
This week’s Torah portion makes it clear, describing our matriarch, Rebeccah’s, travail as she carried two struggling fetuses – future children and peoples – tussling in her womb. When she complained to God about her discomfort, God replied:
Two nations are in your womb,
Two separate peoples shall issue from your body;
One people shall be mightier than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.
The poem was properly prescient and is patently clear. Rebecca was not merely carrying twins, Esau and Jacob, but was about to bear the progenitors of two competing peoples, the forebears of both the Arab and the Jewish nations. And, their competition for the limited resources of the land which they shared, and would share till this day, was a prescription for both ancient and modern tensions, and even warring.
Hence, we ask the necessary question. Was the Torah presaging a future, fated reality, or was it warning about a possible potential and alerting the peoples to devote themselves to forefending against the possibility of bloodshed? In other words, was Torah asserting that this was inevitable, or was it an early signal that this relationship would be difficult and required sensitive attention?
In truth, it could be both. This relationship was fraught with competitions from the outset. The narrative following the poem told of Esau surrendering his birthright as the firstborn son for a bowl of lentil stew, and Jacob assuming the head of their father’s people and legacy. Esau would later regret his trade, and threaten to kill his brother. The animosity was there from the beginning, and although the twins did reconcile in a later chapter, the remembrance of their antipathy never dissolved.
Rather, that tense relationship renewed itself in the 20th century when nationalism, political independence from European powers, and newfound natural resources reconfigured the calculus and realpolitik. Fighting since 1948 has not resulted in any advancement for the Arab or Palestinian peoples, and only rightfully strengthened Israel’s resolve to protect itself.
Thus, this week we reread the Torah’s poem with both hindsight and foresight:
“Two nations are in your womb,
Two separate peoples shall issue from your body;
One people shall be mightier than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.”
To which we say, “If only…”
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
