A Taste of Torah - Vayishlach

This week, more kissing. However, this time, it's not of the romantic variety like last week's kiss between Jacob and Rachel. In this week's Torah portion, Vayishlach, Jacob reunites with his brother, Esau. To recap, you might recall that Jacob and Esau had quite the falling out. Jacob stole his brother's birthright and their father's blessing, after which the two separated. This week, they reunite. Jacob, having been prosperous, shows up with his wives, his children, and a great deal of his possessions. Esau shows up with 400 men. From other places in the Bible[1], we learn that the presence of 400 men is metaphorical of an approaching battle. But when Esau arrives with 400 men, he doesn't engage Jacob in a battle. Instead, they embrace and kiss. What gives?

The Hebrew word for Esau kissing Jacob is vayishakehu: . In the text of the Torah, the letters are dotted on top. Rashi explains that there is a discrepancy of opinions about why the letters are adorned with dots. Some say that it indicates Esau's insincerity in the moment, but the prevailing opinion is that we would expect Esau to be insincere. The dots must indicate that something unusual is happening. Rashi teaches that according to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, we would expect Esau not to get along with Jacob. The dots, he says, teach us that this kiss was uncharacteristic. In this moment, Esau had genuine, tender feelings for his brother. Why? Because only he showed up with 400 men. Jacob didn't. Jacob didn't approach ready to wage a battle. Instead, he approached ready to reconcile with Esau and his willingness to reconcile warmed Esau's heart, allowing him to show mercy. If we approach one another with an open heart, then we set the tone and allow them to embrace us in a similar fashion.

[1] I Samuel 25:13, I Samuel 30:10, I Kings 22:6, among others.

A Taste of Torah - Vayetze

Parashat Vayetze, this week's Torah portion, details the meeting of Jacob and Rachel, when Jacob experiences love at first sight as the woman who will become his beloved wife approaches the well in town to water her father's flock. As Rachel approaches the well, the townsfolk are unable to get the stone off the well to water their flocks. Jacob is introduces to Rachel and when he discovers that she is Laban's daughter, the family whom he's been seeking, he demonstrates his strength by rolling the stone off the well and then embraces Rachel and kisses her.

This kiss, though, is more than just a kiss. It is a moment that calls us back to his own parents' union. When his grandfather Abraham's servant seeks the right partner for Isaac, he knows that Rebekah is the one because she provides water not only for him, but also for his camels. At this moment, Jacob shows up and opens the well to provide water for the flock Rachel tends and also for the townsfolk. But then, a strange thing happens. Jacob kisses Rachel. We'd think that, perhaps especially in Biblical times, these two single people would have known better than to have kissed on their first date, especially in front of others. But the Hebrew lets us know that this is more than just a chance kiss. In Hebrew, the word used for Rebekah's providing water for Abraham's servant's camels is hishkatah. When Jacob provides water for the sheep, the text tells us, vayash'k. And when he kisses Rachel, the text says, vayishak. Though the verb for providing water comes from a different root (shin-koof-hay) than the one for a kiss (nun-shin-koof), the parallel in sounds is clearly important. This is more than a kiss. It is beloveds meeting for the first time, ready to care for one another, just as one of them learned from his parents.

A Taste of Torah - Tol'dot

Picture this scene: A mother dresses her son in goat skin to disguise him as his hairier brother so that he can steal his brother's blessing from their father. This is the scene in this week’s Torah portion, Tol’dot. Rebekah wants the son she favors, Jacob, to get the blessing from her husband, Isaac. But Esau, Jacob’s brother is hairier, so certainly, Isaac will know the difference. Isaac reaches out his hand to identify his son. His eyes have been dimmed by old age; he can no longer see the difference between his sons. Isaac says, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, yet the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22) It seems as though Isaac is on to Rebekah’s scheme, yet he still gives Jacob the blessing that was deserving of Isaac.

As Reform Jews, we know that we need to look at Biblical text in its own context in order to understand its message for our time. Rebekah’s maneuver was not just a costume change. It was a shepherding trick. Check out the closing scene from the movie “Cold Mountain." Fast-forward to 6 minutes and 20 seconds into the clip:





What Rebekah did would have been recognized by the shepherding audience of the Torah as a technique for getting a parent (a sheep) to accept a child (a lamb) that isn’t its own. Of course, this method doesn’t speak to us today, but we make use of the tricks we know to win the affection of those whose love we desire.

A Taste of Torah - Chaye Sarah

Parshat Chayei Sarah from G-dcast.com

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In this week's Torah portion, Chaye Sarah, we move on to the next generation of our Genesis ancestors. At the beginning of the portion, Sarah dies. At the end, Abraham dies. In the middle, Isaac begins to create a family of his own. Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for Isaac. The servant asks for guidance to know which girl will be the right one for Isaac. It is not her beauty that identifies Rebekah as the right one for Isaac, but rather her compassion. She not only takes care of Abraham's servant, but his camels, too. Her care for others is the quality that the servant identifies as the necessary quality in choosing her for Isaac. All too often, we focus on the things that don't really matter. In Pirke Avot, Rabbi Meir teaches us, "Al tistakel b'kankan, ela b'mah she-yesh bo - Do not look at the flask, but rather at what is inside." Or, as we know, don't judge a book by its cover.

A Taste of Torah - Vayera

This week’s Torah portion, Vayera, is filled with family conflict. In it, Sarah and Abraham fear that they will not be able to conceive a child; Sarah asks Abraham to have a child with her maidservant, Hagar; Sarah becomes jealous of Hagar and the latter’s son, Ishmael; and Abraham takes his son, Isaac, to the top of a mountain to kill him at God’s request. It’s neither an easy nor a pleasant portion. But from conflict and controversy come growth and reconciliation.

When Sarah becomes jealous of Hagar and Ishmael, she demands that Abraham cast them out. Abraham doesn’t know what to do. He goes to God and asks how to remedy the situation. Though we might not agree with how God, Abraham and Sarah handle things, God says to Abraham, “Sh’ma b’kolah ~ Listen to her voice.” God tells Abraham to do what Sarah asks, thus keeping peace between Abraham and Sarah. According to the midrash, this moment, where Abraham yields to Sarah’s wishes, teaches us that in matters of prophecy, Abraham was secondary to Sarah. That’s not what we’d expect from Torah in its own day, for a man to be secondary to a woman, but that’s what our tradition tells us. Sometimes, when we find ourselves amidst conflict, we need to listen carefully, because the answer may not come from where we’d expect.

A Taste of Torah - Noach

In Noach, this week's Torah portion, the legend of Noah and the Ark is followed by the story of the Tower of Babel. In the narrative, the people all band together to create a tower that will reach heaven. They indicate that their intention is to make a name for themselves. They want to be remembered. But according to the midrash, in building the tower, the people become more concerned with the structure and lose sight of their connection to one another. As bricks fall, they become enraged at how their loss delays the project, but when people fall from the tower, no one seems to care.

The people of the Tower of Babel do make a name for themselves, in the end. Their tower does not reach heaven, but they are remembered for losing sight of what really matters, the people who are in our lives. We often focus on how much we can acquire, how much we can do, but at Judaism's core is an intention to see how much we can be. We are, after all, human beings, not human doings.

A Taste of Torah - B'reishit

This week we begin the Torah again with the first portion, B’reishit, at the beginning of the book of Genesis. One of the narratives in this portion is the story of Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel are Adam and Eve’s sons. Each makes an offering to God. When Abel’s offering is accepted and Cain’s is not, Cain becomes enraged and kills his brother. God confronts Cain and asks him, “Where is your brother, Abel?” Cain responds and says, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s guardian?”

The Hebrew words that translate as ‘am I my brother’s guardian’ are ‘ha-shomer achi anochi.’ The Hebrew letter hey at the beginning of the phrase is translated as what is called an interrogative hey, a hey that indicates that a question is coming. But the other use of a hey at the beginning of a Hebrew word is to indicate the word ‘the.’ So, the sentence could read, “The guardian of my brother is ‘Anochi.’” Anochi is one of the Hebrew words for ‘I.’ It is the word for ‘I’ that God uses to refer to God’s self. Cain could be saying to God, “The guardian of my brother is Anochi; You, God, should have been looking out for my brother.” Up until this point in Torah, no one has ever died. It is possible that Cain didn’t even know that he was capable of killing Abel and he reminds God that God is responsible, too. We bear responsibility for our actions, but we have the authority to hold God accountable, too.