Jacob Wrestling The story of Jacob’s wrestling match with an unnamed adversary, alone at night, is surely one of the most enigmatic in the entire Torah. With whom was Jacob wrestling? The text itself calls him “a man.” According to the prophet Hosea, it was an angel. For the sages, it was the guardian angel of […]
Leah’s Tears We sometimes forget that the phrase Keriat Ha-Torah does not simply mean “reading the Torah.” In biblical Hebrew the verb likro means not “to read” but “to call.” The phrase mikra’ei kodesh, “festivals,” literally means “holy convocations,” days on which the people were called or summoned together. Every seven years – in the […]
Chosenness and its Discontents It is one of the most emotionally affecting scenes in the Torah. Jacob, dressed in Esau’s clothes, has taken Esau’s blessing. He leaves, and shortly thereafter, Esau enters. What is remarkable is not what happens next but how the Torah describes it, its use of language and narrative art: After Isaac […]
Isaac and Prayer One scene in this week’s sedra has left a mark on Jewish law. Abraham has sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac. He does so, and brings back Rebekah with him. The first glimpse she has of her future husband is significant. Isaac had “gone out into the field towards […]
The Music of Ambivalence The Torah does not have a word for ambivalence (the nearest is Elijah’s question to the Baal-worshiping Israelites, “How long will you waver between two opinions?”). It does, however, have a tune for it. This is the rare note known as the shalshelet. It appears three times in Bereishith, each time at […]
The Heroism of Ordinary Life “G-d said to Abram, ‘leave your land, your birthplace and your father’s house and go to the land I will show you’.” These words are among the most consequential in the history of mankind. With them a new faith was born that has lasted for two thirds of the course […]
A Story of Heaven and Earth Set between the pre-history of humanity as a whole and the particular covenant with Abraham, the story of the Tower of Babel is one of the turning points of the biblical narrative, central to its vision of what can go wrong in civilizations and societies. The story itself – […]
The Garments of Light The context is one of the best known stories of the bible. Together in the Garden of Eden, surrounded by the rich panoply of creation, the first human couple have everything they could possibly want – except one thing, a tree from which they are forbidden to eat. Needless to say, […]
