Jacob is the hero and Esau is
the villain—this is how Jewish tradition has, for the most part, portrayed the
two main characters in this week’s Torah portion, Toldot. For the Rabbis who
interpreted the story, Jacob represents the Jewish people, while Esau becomes a
stand-in for the brutal Roman empire that ruled over them. Thus they read the story as a kind of epic
battle of good against evil.
But the actual Torah text is
far more subtle, blurring moral lines and avoiding simplistic binaries. Esau comes across as a bit simple-minded and
impetuous—he sells his birthright for a bowl of lentils—but also earnest and
well-intentioned. Jacob is clever to a
fault. He connives with his mother to
steal his brother’s blessing, and accrues a fortune through deception. He is the classic trickster.
And so the Jacob and Esau of
Genesis are a complicated mix of good and bad, their relationship a blend of
love and hatred. They are bound together
as friends and enemies and, above all, brothers.
I much prefer this complex
version of the story to the Rabbis’ two-dimensional caricature. It feels far truer to life, which tends not
to follow reductionist notions of virtue and vice. As Biti Roi, an Israeli student of kabbalah
once taught me: Life is not about “either/or” but “both/and.” This is why Jewish tradition often starts out
with binaries—pure and impure, light and dark, holy and ordinary—and then goes
out of its way to blur the boundaries between them. Talmud is all about taking such simplistic
distinctions and intentionally complicating them, in order to better reflect
the multivalent nature of reality.
How fitting, then, that approaching
this week of portion Toldot, the
Reform movement took a historic step away from simplistic binaries of gender as
male-female. At the Union for Reform Judaism’s biennial
conference, delegates unanimously passed a sweeping resolution calling for
inclusion of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals in our
congregations, communities, and institutions.
Among other things, it calls for congregations, clergy, camps and other
movement affiliates to “begin
or continue to work with local and national Jewish transgender, lesbian, gay
and bisexual organizations to create inclusive and welcoming communities for
people of all gender identities and expressions and to spread awareness and
increase knowledge of issues related to gender identity and expression. . .
ensure, to the extent feasible, the availability of gender-neutral restrooms
and other physical site needs that ensure dignity and safety for transgender
and gender non-conforming individuals. . .
and review their use of language in prayers, forms and policies in an
effort to ensure people of all gender identities and gender expressions are welcomed,
included, accepted and respected.”
As a URJ member
congregation, may we at CABI take pride in this milestone—and begin the process
of working to meet the challenges set out by this resolution so that we can be
even more welcoming to all of our community, wherever they fall on the spectrum
of gender identity and sexual orientation.
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