Toldos

by Rabbi Yaakov Menken

The commentator Rashi explains the contrast between Esav and Yaakov. Esav "knew how to trap" -- to trap and trick his father with his words. He would ask his father Yitzchak how one tithes salt or straw (which are not and were not tithed in the Land of Israel), causing his father to believe that he was careful to perform Mitzvos. Meanwhile, Yaakov was not like this at all -- "like his heart was his mouth." A person who is not sharp enough to perform trickery, says Rashi, is called "simple."

The Chozeh MiLublin, the "Seer of Lublin," sees a contradiction between the above explanation and Rashi's own comments on a later verse. "And Yaakov told Rachel that he was her father's brother, that he was a son of Rivkah, and she ran and told this to her father." [29:12] Yaakov was her father's nephew, but Rashi explains that "brother" can mean a close relative rather than a literal brother. Avraham described himself as a "brother" to his nephew Lot in 13:8 -- "for men, brothers are we." But in addition, Rashi quotes a Medrash which indicates that Yaakov was saying: "if he is coming to perform trickery, I am his brother in trickery, and if he is a 'Kosher' person, then I too am the son of Rivka his sister, who is 'Kosher.'"

Asks the Chozeh: how can this be? Rashi himself said that Yaakov was called "simple," meaning that he was not sharp enough to perform trickery. Was he a simple man, or was he the equal of Lavan in trickery and deceit?

Our Sages say in the Medrash: "any person who makes himself merciful in a place where he needs to be cruel, will in the end be cruel in a situation where he should be merciful." This, says the Chozeh MiLublin, is the answer to our question. A person needs to know how to conduct himself, and how to control every characteristic. Sometimes a person needs to behave one way, and sometimes the exact opposite -- but in all cases for the sake of Heaven. This, he says, is what the verse means when it describes Yaakov as a "simple man" -- not merely simple. He was an adult, not a child unable to control his behavior. Yaakov was the master of his traits; his trait of simplicity did not rule over him. He was in full possession of the great trait of "simplicity," yet he knew its place.

We are, of course, here to discuss Torah, not current events. As every reader knows, at Torah.org we focus on learning and discussing Torah, without divisive politics. I am not going to depart from that here. But I believe that we can look into recent events and see the vision of the Medrash, "any person who makes himself merciful in a place where he needs to be cruel, will in the end be cruel in a situation where he should be merciful," clearly -- and sadly -- reflected upon reality. There is a corollary: "he who is merciful to the wicked, will in the end be wicked to the merciful." Laud your enemies, and you will eventually condemn your Friends.

For seven years, the Peace Process has been the subject of vigorous debate. We all agree that it would be a great benefit if Israel's Jews were able to live at peace with the Arab population of the Middle East. And we all know that it is possible to make peace with former enemies. Thus the possibility existed for the debate to be vigorous, but yet civil. Yet, as we know, this is not what happened.

What happened instead was that the advocates of the process were called "traitors," while those opposed were called "enemies of peace." The horrendous act of Yigal Amir, the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin, muted those in the first group -- but the second group was never muted. Even today.

Recently, a "noted Jewish leader" (name omitted to protect the guilty) said in a speech here in Baltimore that he viewed "Jewish religious extremists" as a "mirror copy" of Islamic zealots, because both are opposed to the Peace Process. We will set aside the fact that those commonly regarded as the "religious extremists" in the Jewish community are not those identified with the political hard right in Israel. [That right wing is part secular, part religious-Nationalist; given that an inflammatory description makes it easier to marginalize the views of those thus characterized, one is tempted to speculate that rhetoric took precedence over accuracy.]

Let us think for a moment, however, about the idea that these "extremists" are a "mirror copy" of those on the Arab side. Why are many Jews opposed to the Peace Process? Some, of course, do not believe that the State of Israel should cede land, preferring to live in peace but insisting upon Israeli sovereignty. Far more commonly, however, one hears an entirely different view: that this process, bringing an armed Palestinian Authority just a gunshot away from Jerusalem, is going to lead not to peace, but to the loss of Jewish lives. In other words, whether or not ceding land might be possible in the right situation, this process will lead to deaths and war, not peace. And this is what has motivated their opposition. As for the "Islamic zealots?" They are very clear about their goal: they desire that war, to kill all the Jews of Israel and throw them into the Mediterranean Sea.

So on the one hand, we have a group of people who believe in peace, but who believe that this process has led us in the opposite direction. And on the other hand, we have a group of people who want to wage war -- to murder every Jew in Israel.

And -- we have a Jew, a leader of Jews, willing to equate the two. We have seen the Medrash brought to life. Laud your enemies, and you will eventually condemn your friends. This is not politics, just reality: only by placing the goal of an agreement with an enemy, a terrorist and murderer (at whatever cost) ahead of the true goal -- Peace -- could one possibly equate the two groups described above. We should never consider peace with a former enemy impossible -- but should also never forget that our own unity -- and our own safety -- comes first.

One might have thought that the past weeks would have changed this attitude. Regardless of whether or not one considers the process "dead," certainly much credence has been given to the views of these so-called "Jewish extremists" who predicted that Arafat and his minions would inevitably return to war. Apparently it has not. Apparently some in the Jewish community continue to defend those who firebomb Israeli settlements, while demonizing other Jews as no different than the Hezbollah or Islamic Jihad.

We should not be surprised. It's a medrash. But for ourselves, let us acknowledge that such demonization of other Jews is only possible under the pull of a profoundly distorted moral compass. We, in the end, all want the same thing -- peace. And let us remember that our first and greatest priority must be for peace, love, and brotherhood among our "close relatives," our fellow Jews -- "for men, brothers are we."

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