FUCHSBERG JERUSALEM CENTER
of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
|
|
THE SHIRLEY AND JACOB
FUCHSBERG JERUSALEM CENTER of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism |
HOME
|
| |
CONTACT US
|
| | PICTURE GALLERY | | | PROJECT ODED CLASSES | | | OVERSEAS STUDENTS IN ISRAEL | | | E NEWS: YEAR IN REVIEW 2010 | | | AUDIO CLIPS | | | VISITORS | | | KOL HAOT PROG FOR SYN MISSIONS | | |
 |
PARSHAT VAYESHEV
By: Rabbi Joel Levy VaYeshev Bereshit 37:1 “And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the Land of Canaan…” At the end of last week’s parasha we were told that Esau and his substantial household could not be sustained on the same plot of land as Jacob’s huge entourage. So, (Bereshit 36:6) “… he went into another country away from Jacob his brother” and then (36:8), “…Esau dwelt in Mount Seir…” This account of Esau’s life contrasts sharply with that of Jacob as presented in the opening words of our parasha: “And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the Land of Canaan…” Many of the medieval commentators point out the stark contrast between the fortunes of the two brothers here. Esau departs for a foreign country and leaves Jacob securely ensconced in The Promised Land (Ibn Ezra). Whereas Esau goes away like a foreigner (Chizkuni), Jacob stays on in the land of his father, because the rights of the firstborn belong to him (Rashbam). But what does it really mean for Jacob to dwell in the land of his father’s sojournings? Isaac, unlike his father before him and his sons after him, never left the Land of Canaan. Isaac is a bland, manipulated character; almost sacrificed by his father, Abraham, and outmaneuvered by his wife and child. What would it mean for Jacob to dwell in Isaac’s land? Chizkuni (Rabbi Chizkiya ben Manoach, France, b1250) reads the opening verse of the parasha closely and exposes another layer of meaning: “…in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the Land of Canaan.” Both of these phrases are necessary here. …If it hadn’t said “in the Land of Canaan” I would have thought that “in the land of his father’s sojournings” refers to Abraham, in other words, in Or Kasdim! According to Chizkuni, Jacob’s immediate biological father may have been Isaac but his spiritual father was surely Abraham. (Look up Bereshit 28:13 if you are interested in exploring this idea further!) What would it mean for Jacob to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps? Abraham was an iconoclast who was prepared to leave behind his own land, his birthplace and his father’s house. Following in the footsteps of a radical means being a radical yourself. Is Chizkuni stating that Jacob could have merely gone back to Or Kasdim to dwell in his grandfather’s place, or is he, more boldly, suggesting that to be the true descendent of a radical one needs to be capable of turning one’s back on that radical ancestor’s expectations? Abraham was called to leave Or Kasdim. Is it possible that Jacob could have found a reason to return there? Chizkuni places us inside Jacob’s head and presents us with a dilemma: what does it mean to be true to tradition - to dwell in the land of our father’s sojournings? Is our path to dwell meekly in the land of our forefathers - like true descendents of Isaac? Or should we go back further, back to our more radical Abrahamic roots, and express our commitment to the past by displaying courage and iconoclasm? 8
Agron Street, Jerusalem |
