The central theme of these two parshiot is JEWISH IDENTITY – Ya’akovism vs. Aisavism, or to put it plainly: as with the practice of medicine where wellness is defined as the absence of sickness; in Judaism, Ya’akovism is defined as the absence of Aisavism. And just as a minor illness excludes the sufferer from the status of wellness, even an infinitesimal dose of Aisavism excludes a Jew from the distinctive, unique, sacred, aristocratic status of Ya’akovism.
In parashat Beshalach (Shemot 17) we read that Amalek attacked the Jews immediately after leaving Egypt. Two questions:
Amalek resided in the area of today’s southern Jordan and in the Negev; how did they come to be so far west in the Sinai Peninsula?
What was their hurry to wage war on the Jews as soon as we left Egypt?
Ya’akov set out for Lavan’s house to find a wife. Yet unlike Avraham’s servant Eliezer, who dozens of years beforehand had arrived at that same well, with a caravan laden with wealth, Ya’akov arrived empty-handed.
Two dominant features regarding Yitzchak: HaShem does not permit him to leave Eretz Yisrael and HaShem is with Yitzchak. This is the heritage of the servants of HaShem, and this is their vindication from me, declares HaShem.
We see this happening now before our very eyes in Eretz Yisrael. It is the miraculous protection of HaShem over his loyal children.
It is “HaShem is with us” in all its glory as Am Yisrael shakes off the shackles of the galut to continue our journey towards the unique destiny that HaShem has determined for us.
The sudden, tragic murders of 11 Jews in Pittsburgh, and yesterday’s horrendous accident near the Dead Sea where the entire Atar family was killed – parents and 6 children, bring forth again that incontestable question – why did HaShem make it happen?
These two tragedies, as with most of Jewish history, have no rational basis in human logic and are not acts of compassion. The reality of our lives leaves one standing in profound anguish before the inexplicable decisions of the Creator.
The Talmud (Megilla 3a) makes reference to the Bible translation composed by the Mishnaic sage Rabbi Yonatan ben Uziel, the most important disciple of Hillel (Succah 28a). The Talmud quotes a problematic verse in Zecharia 12:11: “On that day, the eulogy in Jerusalem shall be as great as the eulogy over Hadad-Rimon in the plain of Megiddon.” Yet where in Scripture do we find a man named Hadad-Rimon being eulogized in the plain of Megiddon?
