Tol'dot 5773

Twins, one good and one bad, battle each other.  One will ultimately reign over the other.  It’s the story of Jacob and Esau, told in this week’s parsha, Tol’dot.  It’s also the story of other classic pairs of twins:  the Egyptian Osiris and Set, the Roman Remus and Romulus, the Zoroastrian Ahriman and Ahura Mazda—and Tweedledee and Tweedledum from Wonderland.  Just like Jacob and Esau, the Mesopotamian hero Gilgamesh was civilized, while his brother Enkidu was wild.  The good twin/evil twin construction symbolizes opposition and binary thinking.

With a set up that powerful, that mythic, it’s no surprise that the story of Jacob and Esau, struggling for supremacy from within the womb, has captured the imagination of Jews for millennia.  We read their story and see ourselves in it.  For the early rabbis who lived under Roman rule, Esau (also called “Edom/Red”) comes to stand for Rome.  The Jacob/Esau story gave Jews of that day hope for their ultimate triumph over earthly oppressors.

This week, Israel has once again joined the battle against Hamas in Gaza.  Sitting on its hands as wave after wave of rockets fell on civilian centers, Israel assassinated a leader of Hamas.  There can be no doubt but that Israel was within its right to force the shelling of its cities to stop.  No nation can be expected to endure the insult and injury that the Jewish state has endured.  Hamas’ persistent and ongoing bombing of Israel is categorically unacceptable.

In retaliation for the assassination, 300 rockets fell on Israel on Thursday (NPR).  Today, Friday, HaAretz reports that rockets have hit the Tel Aviv area and that a rocket has been fired at Jerusalem.  The shelling is ongoing and will continue.  I’m told that over a million Israelis are sleeping in bomb shelters. According to HaAretz, “The Israel Defense Forces struck some 150 targets (Thursday) night in Gaza.”  IDF reservists are being called up; Israeli ground forces may enter Gaza.  Israel, our beloved, is under siege.

Even as we pray for a cessation of violence, for Hamas to stop the bombing, let us remember that other paths exist.  Just as Isaac and Ishmael came together years after their animosity, Jacob and Esau, too, reconciled years later and crafted a truce.  In our own day, bitter enemies have reconciled in Ireland, South Africa, Nicaragua and elsewhere.  So may, someday, Israel and her neighbors lay down their weapons and get on with the business of living.

Are destined to dance this dance forever?  Surely there is a better way than this pattern of strike and retaliation, retribution and grief.  Surely we can move beyond the false binary opposition of Jacob/Esau, Civilized/Wild, Good/Bad, Yes/No.  Peace and prosperity do not lie down that path. 

For the sake of all, we pray for a quick end to this fighting, and a return to negotiations leading to meaningful, sustainable peace.