By Anya Friedman Hutter

This week we read the famous story of Jacob and Esav, as well as some tales that get a bit less spotlight, including the adventures of Isaac & co. in Gerar, land of the Philistines, and the Torah’s first-ever conflicts over water (ooh, how political and foreboding).

I’d like to put forth the idea that this entire parasha is about mistrust of the Other. Throughout the portion, characters take advantage of each other because of a deep self-interest and xenophobia. This first occurs in an instance eerily similar to the one my good chavera Julia discussed about Abraham: Isaac tells the Philistines that Rebecca is his sister, out of fear that he will be murdered because of her beauty. Next, Rebecca, who favors Jacob over Esav, convinces Jacob to manipulate his dying father into giving him Esav’s blessing. This causes Esav, robbed of his birthright, to mistrust Jacob – and, I would argue, rightfully so. (Although I have no idea why Esav would want to go on Birthright anyway…) Finally, Rebecca goes to find a wife for Jacob. She looks at the people around her and says to Isaac, “I am disgusted with my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries a Hittite woman like these, from among the native women, what good will life be to me?” (Gen. 27:46)

In these examples, our glorious patriarchs and matriarchs base their actions on mistrust of the people closest to them as well as neighboring groups. I found another piece of the parasha that helps shed some light on all of this mistrust and manipulation:

The text tells us that after leaving Gerar, “Isaac dug anew the wells which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham’s death; and he gave them the same names that his father had given them” (Gen. 26:18). Why was it so important for Isaac to REdig and REname his father’s wells exactly as he had left them?

Judaism is proudly passed on “l’dor va’dor,” from generation to generation. So much of what we espouse is based upon the traditions of our parents, madrichim, and ancestors. In this parasha, characters redig their parents’ wells – and remake their parents’ mistakes. Isaac objectifies and endangers his wife just as his father had to Sarah. The way Rebecca looks down upon the Hittite women parallels the way her father-in-law Abraham denigrated the Canaanite women while looking for a wife for Isaac (see Gen. 24:3-4). By the end of the parasha, the divide between Jacob and Esav resembles a bigger version of that of Isaac and Ishmael. Esav threatens to kill Jacob – all signs point to a bloody family dispute between brothers and nations. (Sound familiar?)

Why must we remake the mistakes of the generations before us? As so many of us discuss in the wake of ever-deepening social divides, hatred and violence beget more hatred and violence. (For another image of this, see this awesome poem.) The biases and prejudices that we inherit from our parents, leaders, and histories only serve to further entrench oppression and misery.

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