TorahParsha

Jacob / Israel

i
Jacob is named Jacob, Yaakov, because he is born clutching the heel, eikev, of Esau, his older twin brother.

He will live a life following on the heels of his brother. (Or consider the Hebrew, la'akov: to follow).

Jacob is given the family birthright, not because he is born to it but because he purchases that family birthright from Esau.

Jacob is given the family blessing, not because it is meant for him—it is meant for Esau; but because he tricks his father into giving him Esau's blessing.

ii
Then a nameless angel wounds Jacob in the thigh, and calls Jacob Israel.

Now, there is no one for Jacob—Israel—to follow after (the angel is nameless). And with the wound, the symbol of the leg (the source of following) is taken from Jacob.

*
Jacob was one who chased after his brother's life.

Becoming Israel, Jacob is called to have his own, separate life.

To be Israel is to have a life apart.

***
Based partially on comments of Rabbi Matthew Stein and my wife, Kathi.


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Torah Through Mercy

i
God gives the Torah to Moses. But the Children of Israel commit the sin of the Golden Calf. And Moses, in anger, smashes the stone Tablets of the Covenant—the stones of Torah—that God had written.

*
God forgives the Children of Israel. He tells Moses to re-fashion a second set of stone Tablets. He calls Moses back up the mountain.

He gives Moses the Torah again.

*
Moses returns from the Mountain. His face shines.

But Moses does not know that his face shines. The people flee from him. Even Moses' brother flees.

*
Moses calls them back. They return to him. He teaches them Torah.

ii
One imagines that Moses is lonely when the people flee from him. And so his calling them back is more personal than a calling-back-to-holiness, alone. He is calling to them because he needs them.

But it is impossible for them to stand before this shining man. And so, until he calls them back, they flee.

*
So there is the guilt of sin. And there is Moses' need of others.

There is an impasse

Until Moses calls the people back, overcoming their guilt.

iii
Moses reaches out to the people from his loneliness: he ignores their sin.

Moses brings them back: the need for others overcomes sin itself.

That is the essence of Mercy.

*
It is in this way that the Torah is finally given.

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God in Battle

i
The Children of Israel go up from Egypt armed. Yet even so God led them not through… the land of the Pelishtim:… lest they see war and return to Egypt.

*
Though the Children of Israel are soldiers, they do not fight.

ii
Then Egypt threatens to drown the Children of Israel in the sea. Israel cries out to God and God saves them, splitting the sea.

*
Then Israel is thirsty, saying: What shall we drink? God gives them drinkable water.

*
Then Israel is hungry, telling Moses: You have brought us… into this wilderness, to kill this whole congregation with hunger. And God gives Israel the mann: food from heaven.

*
Then Israel is thirsty again. It demands water for us and our children and our cattle. And again God gives Israel water.

*
Then Amalek comes to do war.

And Israel finally goes out to war, beating Amalek back.

ii
The Children of Israel learn that that they want to live; that they have thirst; that they are hungry; that they want to protect their children and their wealth.

They learn what is at stake in their life.

They learn, then, what it is to be human.

*
They learn, too, that it is God who provides for all their needs.

iii
They learn what they need. They learn that it is God Who provides for these needs.

It is only then that they are ready for their encounters with the world.

It is only then that are they battle-ready.

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Darkness is Presence

i
God describes the Plague of Darkness as darkness which may be felt.

This is a new idea. Thus far, we have only known the darkness of absence. The verse at the beginning of the world, for instance, says: The world was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep.

But here is darkness which may be felt.

Here is darkness of Presence.

*
The Plague of Locusts is darkness caused by life. The creatures covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened.

And the Slaying of the Firstborn happens at midnight. This is the first time (to my knowing) that the Torah uses the word midnight.

*
So now darkness has presence. And darkness has life. And darkness is linked to time.

Darkness is tied to meaning.

*
This is the kind of darkness that God introduces in the land of Egypt.

ii
This darkness is Egypt's punishment for enslaving Israel. That enslavement is also characterized by darkness: When God warns Abraham of the slavery to come, a horror of great darkness befalls him.

*
So say that the Egyptians' darkness parallels Israel's darkness.

So that if the Egyptian darkness is tied to meaning, then the Israelite darkness is also tied to meaning.

iii
If darkness is tied to meaning, then darkness can now be tied to the process of God's redemption: the process by which all the world gains meaning.

The horror of darkness can be part of the order of the world.

It can be a part of Good.

*
That is a miracle of darkness. It is the miracle that God delivers in Egypt.

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Israel is Born in Egypt

i
Jacob and his sons come down to Egypt. They are fleeing from famine. This flight begins the time of the Jewish people in that land.

And the verse says, And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen…and they took possession of it.

*
Note how the verse says they. They took possession of it.

Before, Israel was not a they. Israel was a man. Israel was the name that God gave to Jacob, the patriarch, God's angel telling him: Your name will no more be called Jacob, but Israel.

Now, in Egypt, Israel has become a they.

Israel has become a people.

ii
This happens in Egypt.

This happens, too, in Goshen: a land tucked within the land of Egypt.

iii
We are separate from the nations of the world (we were born in Goshen).

We are bound to the nations of the world (we were born in Egypt).

We are both of these things, from our birth.

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The Empathy of Israel

i
Jacob wrestles an angel, at night, before meeting with his brother Esau.

Jacob has not seen Esau for more than twenty years. Jacob fears that Esau may want to kill him.

*
The angel changes Jacob's name. The angel calls Jacob, Yisrael: Israel.

For, the angel says to Jacob, of Jacob, You have struggled (saritah) with God and with man, and you have prevailed.

ii
But struggle brings pain.

Wrestling Jacob, the angel touches the hollow of Jacob's thigh, by the place on the leg called the sinew of the vein.

That touch wounds Jacob and makes him limp.

*
This wound creates a Law.

The verse says: Because of this wound, when we eat meat, the Children of Israel do not eat of the sinew of the vein until this day.

iii
Thousands of years ago, Jacob was hurt in his thigh.

Now, as we enjoy food, we may not enjoy the meat of the place of Jacob's wound.

*
To be of the Children of Israel is to hold empathy for all that has happened to Israel, ever. 

That empathy is tied to the very roots of our name.

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