Toldot
Jacob and Esau are born arguing. They are described as very different characters. In this parsha, we have the famous story of Esau selling his birthright and Isaac being deceived by his other son Jacob (with a little help from mother Rebecca) to receive his blessing.
David Jacobi
David Jacobi has been a regular participant and presenter at Limmud events since the very first Conference. He is a Pollution Inspector with the Environment Agency, and has also been directly involved with the Israeli Ministry of the Environment.
When writing about Parshat Toldot, which is about the brothers Jacob and Esau, it seemed to me only right to collaborate with my slightly older brother, Richard Jacobi, the Rabbi at the Woodford Liberal Synagogue! What we have are some stories about how brothers should not behave towards each other. In Toldot, we are told that the twins, Jacob and Esau, struggled within Rebecca’s womb sufficiently to cause her distress, and she asks the existential question: "If so, why do I exist?" (Gen. 25:22). This was just a foretaste of the struggles that followed after birth!
Now siblings will get along well sometimes and not so well at other times. However, my brother and I haved shared similar sadnesses that Genesis quotes - the many references that blacken the name and reputation of one brother, while elevating the status of the other. This is particularly so in Toldot. Jacob persuades Esau to sell his birthright for a pot of lentil stew and later deceives his father into giving him Esau’s blessing. Despite this, it is Esau who is depicted as the wrong-doer, which seems unfair and unjust. Esau becomes representative of enemies that the descendants of Jacob have to confront, and generations of conflict seem to come back to two brothers, who are as different as chalk and cheese.
This week, in the "Countdown to Copenhagen", we have heard that there might be a political pledge. Here, the politics of siblings reappears. Who is going to be asked to sell their birthright? Which governments hold the pot of lentil stew, and will withhold it if they’re not given the correct promises? It is a dirty business, seeking to improve the environment and put right the mistakes of previous generations, rather than just repeat them. We can also see how one generation repeats the mistakes of another in the episode further on in Toldot (chapter 26), where Isaac portrays his wife as his sister, following the example of his father Abraham.
In Ellen Frankel's commentary on Toldot in her book, The Five Books of Miriam, in addition to a recipe for lentil soup, she discusses the symbolism of lentils, as follows:
The Rabbis added: Because lentils grow close to the ground, they are a symbol of modesty. As the proverb says: "as lowly as a lentil". Lentils are eaten by mourners, because "the lentil has no mouth" just as mourners should not open their mouths to protest in the face of death.
Maybe, brothers such as Jacob and Esau, or Richard (my co-author) and I, need to remember this dictum in our dealings with each other. Maybe, too, all the representatives in Copenhagen might be served the soup, and taught this message so that they may listen more and speak less. After all, maybe we are facing the death of the world if we don't all change our ways of being.
Another Voice - Juliet Simmons
Juliet is the Creative Director for the JCC for London. She's been persuaded to volunteer for Limmud in the past and has chaired both Conference and the Limmudfest programme.
Martin Buber states: "The older we get, the greater becomes our inclination to give thanks, especially heavenwards. We feel more strongly than we could possibly have felt before that life is a free gift, and (we) receive every unqualifiedly good hour... as an unexpected gift.
"But we also feel, again and again, an urge to thank our brothers and sisters, even if they have not done anything special for us. For what, then, do I thank you? For really meeting me when we met; for opening your eyes, and not mistaking me for someone else; for opening your ears, and listening carefully to what I had to say to you; indeed for opening up to me what I really want to address - your securely locked heart."
Toldot tells of Isaac, Rivka and their twin sons, who from the womb are destined to be rivals. The parsha concludes when, before blessing Esau, Isaac says: "I am old now, and do not know how soon I may die (27:2)". But it is Jacob who will stand in Esau’s place to be blessed.
When we are young we find it hard to imagine being old. The thought of ageing can fill us with fear and trepidation. But when in fact we do grow old, we will have done well if we are content with having known each stage of life as good in itself, without having demanded that time stand still for us, only for us.
