T orah P ortion
Re-reading Prophecy
BY RABBI NATHAN MARTIN
Parshat Toldot
THIS WEEK IN Parshat
Toldot we enter into a cycle of
sibling rivalry beginning with
Jacob and Esau, a motif that
repeats itself through the rest
of the Book of Genesis.

From the beginning of the
parsha, it seems almost foreor-
dained that struggle and conflict
would become the natural
course of events. God responds
to Rebekah’s entreaties about
her troubled pregnancy with a
prophetic message:
Two nations are in your
womb, Two separate peoples shall
issue from your body;
One people shall be mightier
than the other,
And the older shall serve the
younger. (Genesis 25:23)
Rebekah’s reliance on this
early prophecy seems to guide
her later in the parsha when
she helps engineer Jacob’s
stealing of the birthright and
blessing from his older brother
(Gen. 27).

But what if the usurping of
Tree Continued from Page 6
by the corner of Shady and
Wilkins avenues throughout
the day, with many finding
comfort at the nearby tent,
where therapists and canine
advocates stood ready to
welcome passersby.

Alliyah Kimbrough and
Stephanie Rodriguez, both
from UpStreet Pittsburgh, a
teen mental health program of
JFCS, said some people wanted
to talk, while others enjoyed
petting the dogs. One woman
showed up on a bike and left
cookies that she said Jerry
Rabinowitz would have liked.

20 NOVEMBER 4, 2021
CAN DL E L IGHTIN G
Nov. 5
Nov. 12
5:35 p.m.

4:29 p.m.

the elder son’s power was not
necessarily a fait accompli from
the beginning of their lives?
In his commentary on this
prophecy the Biblical scholar
Robert Alter notes that some,
like Richard Elliot Friedman,
say that the Hebrew syntax can
be read as either its traditional
form of “the elder shall serve
the younger” or in a different
form “the elder, the younger
shall serve (Alter, Genesis).”
This, of course, would have led
to a very different outcome in
the ensuing narrative, avoiding
the years of estrangement Jacob
experienced with his brother.

When we encounter events
or stories in the Torah that
perplex or disturb us, like
Jacob’s outwitting of his
brother Esau, we are faced
with an interpretive dilemma.

Many of our Biblical commen-
tators seek to justify Jacob’s
(and Rebekah’s) deceptive
behavior. Rashi draws from
midrashic readings to paint a
picture of Esau as wicked and
undeserving of the birthright,
and the later Temple service
that it is connected to.

Other commentators are a
variation on the same theme.

They generally conclude that
for the survival of Jacob and
later of Israel, deception was
necessary and justified since
Jacob was interacting with
a sibling who was morally
suspect. I find that this line
of reasoning usually leaves me
unconvinced. A second interpretive strategy
sees the choice of deceptive
behaviors as a cautionary tale. To
ensure his leadership in the clan
Jacob turned to deception and
paid the price twice over. He had
to live on the run and later was
himself deceived by his uncle
Laban when he was forced to
work an additional seven years
to marry his intended, Rachel
(Gen. 29).

In this reading, perhaps we
conclude that we don’t need
to follow a deceptive path to
achieve our goal or, that if we
do, hardship might lay ahead.

But yet a third interpretive
path might be to ask the question
of whether this setup of having
to fight for a blessing and birth-
right was necessary. This setup
is partially based on the idea
that the eldest son is assumed
to inherit a double portion from
the parent, thereby ensuring
sufficient wealth and resources
to maintain leadership in the
clan unit. However, some schol-
arship suggests that this may
not have been the case at all, and
that holding the birthright did
not necessarily mean econom-
ically favoring the elder child
(Hiers, “Transfer of Property
by Inheritance and Bequest in
Biblical Law and Tradition,”
1993). Jacob, Esau and their
parents were operating in a
zero-sum world with the
assumption that birthright and
blessing is a limited quantity —
only enough to go around for
one child.

But what if the prophecy that
Rebekah received was actually
meant to be read both ways —
that each child should serve the
other, and that service could
also be understood as support
rather than enslavement?
In this rereading, the
prophecy suggests that the
peoples who are greater,
endowed with particular
advantages or gifts, might
serve/support other peoples,
spreading knowledge and
wealth for the greatest benefit.

The prophecy might sound
like, “Two nations are in your
womb ... One people shall be
mightier than the other [in
gifts/advantages], and yet each
shall serve the other [to create
the greatest advantage for all].”
In an era when we are in
desperate need of international
cooperation and collaboration
on an unprecedented scale to
solve challenges that affect the
survival and flourishing of the
human race, perhaps we are
in need of rereadings of our
stories that encourage us to see
the potential of new coopera-
tive paradigms that we never
thought may have existed. l
People seemed grateful,
Rodriguez said, that someone
was there to support them.

Around 1:30 p.m. almost
50 middle and high school
students from Hillel Academy
of Pittsburgh arrived at the
Tree of Life building to recite
Psalms. What happened there three
years ago is very much “a part
of their history,” said Rabbi
Yisroel Smith, an assistant
principal at the school. “It’s
important for the students
to come here and reflect on
the people who died and
the event.”
Although most of the
teenagers were in Pittsburgh
on Oct. 27, 2018, two members
of the group were not: Israeli
natives Ruth Goren and Efrat
Schusshein arrived in Pittsburgh
a few weeks ago to serve a year of
voluntary national service.

Neither Goren
nor Schusshein had come to the
corner of Wilkins and Shady
prior to Oct. 27. Standing there
helped them appreciate the city
they’d heard so much about
prior to their arrival.

“Being here makes us feel
connected to the whole commu-
nity of Pittsburgh,” Goren said.

Schusshein said she got the
feeling that people wanted
“to be together and support
each other.”
Barb Feige, Tree of Life’s
executive director, said that
throughout the day several
people walked by and left
mementos. Others signed
the guest book or offered a
kind word to people standing
nearby. Many individuals
drove by and offered acknowl-
edgment by honking or waving
from their cars.

Whereas the first year after
the attack felt very traumatic,
and the second year was largely
dictated by the pandemic, this
year people seemed to be devel-
oping more of a routine in how
they approach the day or the
building, Feige said.

“There’s a lot of us who are
still grieving in our own ways,
and healing isn’t a straight
path,” she said. She thinks
people are beginning to figure
out for themselves “what they
need to do to heal.”
Tree of Life was there to
help with that, having people
on site ready to listen, Feige
explained, because as much as
the congregation is committed
to honoring the victims, the
focus is also on supporting the
community. The aim of Tree of Life on
Oct. 27, and the other 364 days
a year, she said, “is give back
as much as we can, just be here
and say thank you.” l
JEWISH EXPONENT
Rabbi Nathan Martin serves as the
associate rabbi at Congregation
Beth Israel of Media and heads the
Board of Pennsylvania Interfaith
Power and Light, a nonprofit
working with faith communities to
respond to climate change and
pursue climate justice. The Board
of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia
is proud to provide diverse
perspectives on Torah commentary
for the Jewish Exponent. The
opinions expressed in this column
are the author’s own and do not
reflect the view of the Board of
Rabbis. Adam Reinherz is a staff writer with
the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, an
affiliated publication of the Jewish
Exponent. JEWISHEXPONENT.COM