There is a concept in Judaism that the ways of our fathers were closer to the "true" understanding of the torah. The further back we can trace the origin of a law or a practice, the more "fundamental" or "perfect" that law must be. In this concept change and adaptation are not seen as positive Jewish approaches to religion.
In this week's Parsha, I believe we see a challenge to this concept, in the actions and prayers of a personage no less fundamental than our forefather, Jacob....
Howard Thurman, a past Dean of Howard college and Boston University, author, theologian, educator and civil rights leader is quoted as saying, “don’t ask what the world needs, ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.” I hear in this quote a belief that the world needs individuals committed to doing good in the way that they are best equipped to do it based on who they are, what their experiences have been and what is meaningful to them.
I believe that Yaakov in this week's Parsha learns the same message. In the beginning of the Parsha God comes to Jacob in a dream as the God of his father Abraham and the God of Isaac, and assures him that he will be included in the blessing of Abraham, and says, “והנה אנכי עמך ושמרתיך בכל אשר תלך והשבתיך אל האדמה הזאת.”
Remember I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land.
Shortly after waking up from this dream, Jacob says something strange: The verse says, וידר יעקב נדר לאמר אם יהיה אלקים עמדי ושמרני בדרך הזה אשר אנכי הולך ונתן לי לחם לאכל ובגד ללבש, ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי והיה ה' לי לאלקים.
Then יעקב made a vow saying, if God remains with, if he protects me on this journey I am making, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and if I return home safe to my father’s house, then the Lord shall be my God.
But didn’t God JUST promise him that he will protect him and bring him back to this land? What is going on here? Jacob doubts God’s promise to him? And how could he make a deal saying if you do this for me…then you’ll be my God? Does that imply that if God would not do his part that he would no longer be a God for Jacob? What kind of lesson is this from one of our forefathers?!?!?!?
The commentators give us many ways of understanding this statement, but I would like to offer a different way of looking at this verse. We need to first understand this verse in the context of Jacob’s life. Jacob’s grandfather Abraham left Charan, along with all of its culture and his family there to make a better life for himself in Israel. Jacobs’s father Isaac never left Israel, Abraham even sent a messenger to find Isaac a wife so that Isaac wouldn’t have to leave.
And now Jacob is about to leave Israel and go back to exact same place, people and culture that Abraham had left behind. Up until this point Jacob is a simple man, the Torah describes as a simple tent dweller. Now, for the first time in his life he is going to be immersed in a foreign culture, where he will face brand new struggles and challenges. This is a major transition in Jacob’s life and character. In this context when Jacob makes a vow, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains that rather than seeing it as Jacob making a vow. We should understand the verse which says that, “Jacob vowed a vow,” as Jacob setting goals for himself. Jacob was modeling for us a healthy way to navigate transitions in our life. When faced with new struggles and challenges he evaluated his future, and then set up goals for who he wants to be and how he wants this transition to be a positive experience
Through this lens the rest of the verse takes on a deeper meaning:
Let’s look at the verse phrase by phrase:
· if god is with me - it could mean: if I take God with me now that I’m on my own, away from the positive influence of my father’s house.
· And if God watches over me on this journey that I am walking - meaning and God watches over me on this individual path that I’m walking, different than that of my father, and in the exact opposite direction of my grandfather.
· And gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear - Why does he specify bread and clothes? Because cuisine and fashion are perhaps the most pronounced and obvious manifestations of cultural differences, and the Torah is highlighting that Jacob is preparing himself to face this culture different to the one he is used to.
· And I will return in peace to the house of my father - Jacob doesn’t doubt that God will return him safely. He is saying, Even though I will be immersed in this foreign culture and I will be having new experiences, I will return home to the place of my father in peace with who my father is and his way of life.
And the highlight of this inner monologue…
· And God will be for ME a God - I will come through the challenge of these new experiences with a relationship with God as a personal God, not just the God of my father and grandfather. I will bring a unique approach true to the tradition of my father and grandfather, but uniquely my own.
Jacob’s transition is a beautiful lesson about the value of forging your own path and how to do that. He realized that if he had just followed in the strict path of his father and never experienced God for himself, then the blessings of God that he inherited as the offspring of אברהם would always be from the God of his father and Grandfather, but it would not be his own connection to a personal God. He was afraid that without that connection his transition would not be a healthy one.
When facing new experiences, he identified what challenges would come with them and responded accordingly. He wasn’t afraid of being different than what came before him; being different didn’t make him less deserving of the tradition of Abraham; being different was the only way for him to forge his unique relationship with God throughout the transitions of his life.
The lesson for us is no less profound. We need to bring our own unique voice to religion in order to leave our own unique mark. Just like Jacob it behooves us to re-evaluate our struggles and challenges brought on by our life’s situation from time to time, and re-formulate our spiritual goals as our lives change. And like Jacob, we need to find a way of using our tradition to face those challenges, and our relationship with that tradition should transition along with us.
The way we experienced Judaism as a child needs to change as we become adults, our relationship with the Torah as a single person cannot be identical to the way we relate when we get married. The challenges and struggles that come with the responsibilities of life as we have children should inspire us take responsibility for our religious life in a new way. All the transitions of life big and small, a new Job, an empty nest, a loss of a loved one, the birth of a grandchild and so many more, are all opportunities for us to connect in new and different ways.
As life changes, Jacob inspires us to re-evaluate, re-connect, and renew our relationship with Judaism and with God.
No comments:
Post a Comment