This week we make the transition from the first patriarch,
Avraham, to the man who will be the last patriarch, Ya’akov. Isaac forms a bridge
between the two, and we don’t really have a whole “cycle” of stories devoted to
him. This week’s parasha shows Isaac rooted in the land, and repeating some of
his father’s story, but the focus quickly moves to Ya’akov. And Ya’akov does
have a cycle of stories, the longest cycle in the book of Genesis.
With Ya’akov’s life, we enter a very sensual, physical human
realm. Like his grandfather, Ya’akov does have visions of God. But Ya’akov more
often lives on the often raw and ugly plane of struggle, deception, confrontation, love,
money, and terrible loss. In these opening stories of Ya’akov’s life, Ya’akov
gains the birthright and the blessing of the first born, which should belong to
his twin brother Esav. We have a scene of suspense and drama as he pretends to
be his brother and steals the blessing. This scene is very much on that human
plane, and touches all five senses. We watch the blind Yitzchak touch Ya’akov’s
deceptively hairy arms, listen to the
sound of his voice, smell his
clothes, taste the food he prepares.
Some Hebrew words we will watch for this week are “blessing”,
“first-born”, and “trickster/deception.”
And as we read, we will keep in mind the question of what it
means for us that by the end of this Ya’akov/Yisrael cycle, we all become known
as this man’s children.
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