Shabbat
shalom!
My
portion is about two brothers, Jacob and Essau. These two people didn’t get
along well – they even wrestled before they were born, in their mother’s womb. Later on, they became the founders of two
different nations, or opposites.
They
were like two halves of a whole. Jacob
was the scholar who stayed in a tent all day and studied and read. Esau was the
athlete, the one who went out hunting. Though the Torah and Rebecca favored
Jacob, Isaac, the father, favored Esau.
One
day, when Esau came back from hunting, Jacob made a stew. Esau was really hungry and wanted that stew,
so he told his brother, “I’ll sell you my birthright for some stew and bread.”
Immediately Jacob agreed, fed Esau and got the birthright in return.
Later,
their blind father Isaac was dying and wanted to give his blessing to Esau, so
he told him to go make some food and prepare a meal. While Esau was doing that,
Rebecca, feeling that Jacob deserved that blessing, decided to help Jacob dress
up as Esau and bring him his favorite dish to eat.
Jacob got the blessing and Esau was, to say
the least, not happy.
Boy, these twins really did love each other!
They
were total opposites, but maybe they are meant to represent two sides of each
of us. Actually I see a little bit of
both of them in me. For instance, there are times when I stay inside to read,
or study, or do homework while some other times I will have baseball or
basketball practice or just a chance to do some jumping on my trampoline.
I think that a lesson in this story is that we should try
to nurture both sides of our characters – to be a little bit Esau-like and a
little bit like Jacob. That means being
prepared to get out of our comfort zones. Maybe one of the reasons they
couldn’t like each other was because they couldn’t connect with each other’s
interests.
If I
were their therapist (and I would love that job), I might have suggested the
old switcheroo. Let Jacob and Esau
switch roles for a day. Jacob would do
the hunting while Essau studies in the tent.
I
think it would be great everyone could do this from time to time.
You know, you may not think the NBA relates to this, but
surprisingly enough it does. What would
happen if point guards and centers switched roles for a day? That would allow each side to experience the
other side and step out of their comfort zone. Maybe the shooters could pass
more, and the passers could shoot more.
Imagine Rajon Rondo and Kobe Bryant pulling a switcheroo.
Maybe
it would be great for republicans to become democrats for a day, and for Yankees
fans to become Red Sox fans for a day. I think the world would truly be a
better place if that would happen – although I would never do that! (Would YOU, Rabbi?).
What
if cat lovers could become dog lovers? Or
if rap lovers could experience classic?
Or worse, 70s music! I’m not sure
I could do that either. Or how about
having everyone wop lives in Alaska move to India for a week to experience hot
weather.
As I
become a bar mitzvah, I understand how important it is to try new things,
always with an eye toward understanding how the other half lives. If Jacob and Esau had only done that, history
would have turned out quite different.
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