Part I: Brotherhood…or Cloning Around???
By the Bray Of Fundie
DovBear has made a holy crusade out of rehabbing Esav’s reputation. IMO this is at best delusional and at worst ornery and perverse. In an effort to undo some of the incalculable damage that this historical revisionism has caused I offer this post. (Perhaps a series of such posts.)[DB: Please. Its plain as day from the text of the Torah as well as from various strands of the Midrashic tradition that the current mainstream view of Esav you adduce here was not universally accepted 2000 years ago. Midrash is neither binding nor a monolith which is why you've already lost this argument, and which is why YOU'RE the revisionsist, ie: you're REVISING the plain meaning of the text, and you're REVISING and/or ignoring those midrashim which oppose your pre-existing conclusion.]
Many of you here were miffed that I would dare to mention the American Diaspora experience in the same breath as other Diasporas of the Jewish people let alone to suggest that, in certain respects, it compares unfavorably to them. And while the positive effects of "tough-love" are well known everyone seems to be blind to the dangers of being killed with kindness.
When facing his brother for the first time after years of separation our patriarch Yaakov prayed: י וַיֹּאמֶר, יַעֲקֹב, אֱלֹהֵי אָבִי אַבְרָהָם, וֵאלֹהֵי אָבִי יִצְחָק: יְהוָה הָאֹמֵר אֵלַי, שׁוּב לְאַרְצְךָ וּלְמוֹלַדְתְּךָ--וְאֵיטִיבָה עִמָּךְ. =."And Jacob said: 'O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who saidst unto me: Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good"; יב הַצִּילֵנִי נָא מִיַּד אָחִי, מִיַּד עֵשָׂו: כִּי-יָרֵא אָנֹכִי, אֹתוֹ--פֶּן-יָבוֹא וְהִכַּנִי, אֵם עַל-בָּנִים. 12 ="Deliver me, I pray Thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, the mother with the children."
Yaakov had only one brother and many commentaries point out the obvious redundancy of saying "from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau". The Ohr haKhayim HaQadosh explains that Yaakov’s prayer actually contained two separate supplications. Yaakov was saying “if he approaches me with the overt hatred and ferocity characteristic of his reputation as Esav I can be wary and prepared but I still need your help HaShem. However if he is crafty and approaches me with brotherly love then the situation becomes even more perilous because I’ll have no idea how to guard myself from him”
Our sages teach us that of מעשה אבות סימן לבנים = "The narratives of the lives of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs form the archetypes establishing the historical rhythms and patterns of the nation of Israel". Using this principal we know that Rabenu HaQadosh would study the beginning of Parshas VaYishlakh for pointers on how to deal with Rome.
As we are still mired in Galus Edom/Rome it’s important for us to remember that brotherhood and equality are all part of Esav’s Khzair Feesel * sham. We need to be even more wary and prayerful when the various countries of Galus Edom greet us with brotherly love than when their hatred is in-our-faces. The trade-off with these open societies has never been worth it. The deal has always been “I will accept you as a brother as long as you turn yourself into MY clone! Stop looking, behaving and feeling so different.”
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* Our sages interpret the verse יד יְכַרְסְמֶנָּה חֲזִיר מִיָּעַר; וְזִיז שָׂדַי יִרְעֶנָּה4 ="The boar /swine out of the wood doth ravage it, that which moveth in the field feedeth on it." to be symbolic of Esav. Just as the pig extends it's truly cloven hoof to establish it's "purity/kosher" credentials but is not a ruminant and lacks the internal characteristic of purity and kosherness so too Esav is the arch-hypocrite always presenting external signs of piety and morality while concealing the fact that (just as a pig ) he lacks the internal content of same.
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If you feel that being a full fledged American is worth the price of becoming a shell of a Jew then by all means Buy Dov's book. (please)
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