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.

Chayei Sarah

It’s been an intense week, culminating an intense year.

Tuesday saw our president re-elected after a long and expensive slog-fest.  Passions and opinions have run sky-high.  “Red” and “Blue,” it felt like we were living in parallel universes, speaking entirely different languages.  Friends and family with different politics found they couldn’t speak with one another civilly.  One person’s social policy stance felt like a personal attack on another.  Those with wealth and power sought to manipulate the rest of us.  Thank goodness that’s over, at least for a while.

In this week’s portion, Chayei Sarah, Isaac and Ishmael, both sons of Abraham, reunite to bury their father.  You may recall that they had played together as boys, but then their lives diverged:  Ishmael banished (twice!) to the desert, Isaac offered up as sacrifice by his father.  The Torah never recounts their speaking to each other after boyhood; in fact, they go to live in different places.  But they reunite when time and task demands it.

It mustn’t have been easy for the brothers.  What emotions did they have upon seeing each other?  Jealousy?  Bitterness?  Anger?  Guilt?  Regret?  What memories were stirred up in the burial cave?  And yet, to honor their father, the man who had exiled and brutalized them, they were able to look each other in the eyes and do what had to be done.

I pray that our country can do the same.  I pray that we can put partisan passion and brutal bickering behind us, and get on with the sacred task of building a more perfect union.

Va-yera 5773

A tale of contrasts:  Abraham welcomes guests with milk, bread, and beef while “a certain woman,” widowed and in debt, has nothing in her home but a jug of oil. 

We tell both stories this week.  In the Torah portion Va-yera, Genesis 18:1-21:7, there is plenty.  In the Haftarah for Va-yera, 2 Kings 4:1-37, there is want.  And so it is in our society:  bounty and need exist side by side.

Some families eat nutritious food, while others consume chemicals and empty calories.

Some neighborhoods have access to grocery stores and fresh produce is readily available.  Others are served by mini-marts and alcohol is readily available.

Some families have enough all month long; others only eat until the pay check runs out. 

Some families chose to eat out; others chose between food and medication.

Some farmers are paid to grow nothing; some farmers can’t afford to buy seed.

This Friday night, November 2, Temple Emanuel joins over 200 synagogues and Jewish groups across the country in marking Global Hunger Shabbat.  A table will provide information on food and hunger related issues during the nosh.  It’s a great opportunity to learn about food insecurity, US Food Aid, the Farm Bill and the 1 billion people who go hungry every day.

This is the third Global Hunger Shabbat, sponsored by American Jewish World Service (www.ajws.org).  We are the only site in Arizona—thank you to Arnold Maltz for organizing!

This special Shabbat, we are asked to consider and act:  “How does our tradition inspire us? How do we use our power as American Jews to make a difference in the lives of people facing hunger in the developing world? How can we be more effective in our role as advocates and catalysts for change?”