Spiritual and
Ethical Issues in the Historical Books of Tanach;
SPIRITUAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES IN THE BEREISHIT STORIES These four books ostensibly are merely the history of Israel from the entry into the Promised Land until the destruction of the Temple and the temporary loss of independent statehood. In fact they are actually, in a specifically Jewish sense, the most deeply religious and spiritual books of the Bible. One does not have to be specifically Jewish to see or feel the religion and spirituality in the revelations of the prophetic writings or in the words of the Tehillim. They speak to all people, as evidenced by the fact that the Bible is still the world's bestseller and there are millions of non-Jews who regularly recite the Psalms. However, it is specifically and intrinsically Jewish to understand that G-d is revealed in the prosaic material, in the political, social and military events in the lives of ordinary men and women, kings and leaders that are described in the Nevim Rishonim. Here are described the ideology and religious thoughts in Judaism, while in Chronicles we have the purely historical. "These are the Generations of Yitschak" [4] Now when Yitschak had to transmit that inheritance, we witness a story of price gouging and fraud that has fueled the false image of the unscrupulous Jew in business, an image that we ourselves often mistakenly endorse. First there is the picture of the tired and hungry Eisav returning from the hunt, asking his brother to give him some food. The brother's reply is to sell him a mess of potage in return for his birthright. In truth, all that Eisav had to do was to wait until one of the many servants in the large encampment would give him food. How- ever, Eisav always needs instant gratification. Then there is the later picture of the deception of Yitschak. "How is it that Yaakov, who was perfect - TAM, and a man of EMET, should so lust after the birthright that was not his and descend morally to the level of price- gouging, that he would offer to buy it for a trivial price like a bowl of lentils? ["One who lusts after another's property and does everything possible to obtain it, transgresses 'lo tachmod and lo tit-aveh, (Hilkhot Gezeila 1:9,10]. We must first understand that the inheritance of the fields, the flocks and herds or the gold and silver that Yitschak possessed, was not at all involved. The law that the firstborn receive a double portion of everything did not yet exist; it was a new injunction of our Torah (D’varim 21:16-17). Furthermore, Yitschak was extremely wealthy so that there was plenty for each of the two sons to inherit. What was at stake, however, was the Abrahamic Promise bequeathed to Yitschak that his descendants would inherit the Land of Israel and would be the People of G-d. How could Yaakov stand by and let his evil brother, who was ruled by his passions, share in such a spiritual, pure and holy mission; one that he mocked by his actions and treated with contempt? Then there was the question of honor and status accruing to the elder brother as the leader and provider of the family when the father was unable to fulfill that task. That status and honor is a halakhic obligation that flows from the mitzva of Kibud Av vaEim. So Yaakov would have been bound to give to Eisav the food he asked for. However, this elder brother observed none of the obligations that seniority entails; rather the reverse was the case. Instead of providing for his younger brother, he asked him to feed him. Yaakov was a dweller of tents, always available when the household needed him, manager of the fields and the flocks. It was he that prepared the mourners meal at Avraham's death. Eisav was a hunter, an adventurer, sometimes home yet often not, sporadically providing venison that was only a luxury in a settled community. Even his marriages, without the advice or opinions of his parents, showed that he abdicated and trivialized the role of the elder brother. Since Eisav trivialized and despised the birthright (25:34), there was no fraud, no hona’a and no exploitation. While the blessing of the Abrahamic covenant was given to Yaakov, unreservedly and knowingly, the blessing that Yitschak wanted to give Eisav was wholly materialistic. Even then it was neither the plenty that only Hashem can grant, nor was it praise rendered unto Hashem [although the Torah uses bracha for them as well]. Rather, it was simply a prayer for the success of the individual being blessed, as are all our brachot to each other. Yitschak, however, wanted that his prayer should be received by Eisav together with the performance of a mitzva, viz Kibud Av, and so linked it with the meal that he asked for. Naturally, Yitschak thought that that prayer should be directed to Eisav the b’chor, as head of the generations to come, just as Yaakov blessed the heads of the tribes rather than the 70 souls separately, and as Yosef blessed Efrayim and Menashe but not each of his other sons. So too, Yitschak did not bless Yaakov separately as he was included automatically in the blessing of the b’chor. Rivka, having received the prophecy prior to their birth, that the elder would submit to the younger and be ruled by him, knew that the bracha would come to Yaakov since this was the Divine Will told to her. She had not told this to her husband either because of her modesty, seeing herself inferior to him in prophecy, or because she was convinced that he too had received it. She thought that if he would have this knowledge he would, out of his love for Eisav, bless both of them and that would cause lifelong struggle and confusion, so she tried a stratagem [that was actually so ridiculous that showed Yitschak how easily he could be fooled by Eisav (S. R. Hirsch). Hashem went along with Rivka's plans since it was necessary to separate out the future rod of His punishment, that is Eisav" (Abarbanel). Whatever explanation or mitigation is offered morally justifying the supplanting of Eisav, Chazal, nevertheless, recognized the deception practiced by Yaakov and the pain caused to Eisav. "When Yaakov rebuked Leah for pretending to be Rachel, she answered:" Did you not deceive your father, saying you were Eisav"? (Bereishit Rabbah, 70:19). "We should not say that Hashem is unjust. One heartfelt cry Eisav uttered at being supplanted; Hashem claimed payment from us with our great outcry and mourning in Shushan at the decree of Haman" (Bereishit Rabbah, 67:4). And so comments Abarbanel: "Moshe appeased Edom when he had to lead Israel along their border, because of the suffering caused to their ancestor Eisav". This is installment #123 in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times” [The
Parshat Tzav Homepage]
|
