Dear Friends,
“Save me, I pray, from my brother’s hand, from Esau’s hand!” (Genesis 32:12)
Such was the cry of Jacob, our patriarch, as he was returning to Canaan after twenty years in exile, fearing the murderous retribution of Esau, from whom he had fled decades earlier. When they were younger, Jacob had connived to trade a bowl of lentil soup for the family birthright, which then belonged to Esau, shifting Jacob into the position of primacy. Angered, Esau threatened to kill Jacob, causing our patriarch to flee to Haran to save his life.
Now, Jacob is returning, and had just learned that Esau was marching towards him with 400 men. Hence, his outcry to God, “Save me, I pray, from my brother’s hand, from Esau’s hand!”
Today, that prayer does not sound so foreign or distant. It is too familiar.
Today, as hostages are freed in lots of ten or twelve, we hear the same prayer, knowing that present-day Gazans are understood as descendants of ancient Esau. Learning of the experiences of the hostages, how they were abducted and what they endured, we greatly appreciate their being freed from Esau’s hand.
The tragedy and similarity of the ancient and modern situations is not only that we are still so alike after 3500 years, but that in both antiquity and modernity we identify the two hostile parties as “brother.” Yes, Esau and Jacob were twins. So too, are the Israelis and the Palestinians related – perhaps only distantly – but in powerful, tragic, intricate and inextricable ways. We are related, if not biologically but neighborly, and so our struggle remains apparently intractable. We remain “in Esau’s hands.”
Hence, the further tragedy. This situation is unlikely to be resolved so readily. It has percolated, and sometimes boiled over, for decades. Efforts at peace – the Camp David Accords and the Oslo Accords – each offered some temporary hope, only to dissolve into the next wave of fanaticism. In truth, this discord and warring will only cease when moderates can dislodge fanatics, when the reality that there is nothing more to gain triumphs over the empty dream that either side might someday have the “whole loaf,” and own the entire birthright anew.
Until then, we cry, and we cry out: “Save me, I pray, from my brother’s hand, from Esau’s hand!”
Praying for a Shabbat of Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
“Save me, I pray, from my brother’s hand, from Esau’s hand!” (Genesis 32:12)
Such was the cry of Jacob, our patriarch, as he was returning to Canaan after twenty years in exile, fearing the murderous retribution of Esau, from whom he had fled decades earlier. When they were younger, Jacob had connived to trade a bowl of lentil soup for the family birthright, which then belonged to Esau, shifting Jacob into the position of primacy. Angered, Esau threatened to kill Jacob, causing our patriarch to flee to Haran to save his life.
Now, Jacob is returning, and had just learned that Esau was marching towards him with 400 men. Hence, his outcry to God, “Save me, I pray, from my brother’s hand, from Esau’s hand!”
Today, that prayer does not sound so foreign or distant. It is too familiar.
Today, as hostages are freed in lots of ten or twelve, we hear the same prayer, knowing that present-day Gazans are understood as descendants of ancient Esau. Learning of the experiences of the hostages, how they were abducted and what they endured, we greatly appreciate their being freed from Esau’s hand.
The tragedy and similarity of the ancient and modern situations is not only that we are still so alike after 3500 years, but that in both antiquity and modernity we identify the two hostile parties as “brother.” Yes, Esau and Jacob were twins. So too, are the Israelis and the Palestinians related – perhaps only distantly – but in powerful, tragic, intricate and inextricable ways. We are related, if not biologically but neighborly, and so our struggle remains apparently intractable. We remain “in Esau’s hands.”
Hence, the further tragedy. This situation is unlikely to be resolved so readily. It has percolated, and sometimes boiled over, for decades. Efforts at peace – the Camp David Accords and the Oslo Accords – each offered some temporary hope, only to dissolve into the next wave of fanaticism. In truth, this discord and warring will only cease when moderates can dislodge fanatics, when the reality that there is nothing more to gain triumphs over the empty dream that either side might someday have the “whole loaf,” and own the entire birthright anew.
Until then, we cry, and we cry out: “Save me, I pray, from my brother’s hand, from Esau’s hand!”
Praying for a Shabbat of Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
