Point of View

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth,” – Marcus Aurelius 

Facts may be indisputable, but perceptions are more powerful. Facts be damned, a point of view will be both sword and shield! That’s how the Torah portrays reality.

Jacob was outdoors cooking a lentil stew. Esau returned from the field and was famished. He asked Jacob for some of the red stew. Jacob demanded and received Esau’s birthright in exchange for a bowl of sustenance. “Jacob then gave Esau bread and lentil stew; he ate and drank, rose, and went away. Thus did Esau spurn the birthright.” Genesis 25:35.

Nowhere prior does Esau spurn his birthright. Esau thought himself about to die if he did not eat. But Esau is not to be the hero of this story. That role is reserved for Jacob. Therefore, Jacob’s trickery had to be justifiable. Accordingly, the Torah says the story is about Esau spurning the birthright. When picking heroes, the Torah picks the man whose name will become Israel.

Today, we are picking heroes in the Middle East. I believe that I know the facts about the war between Israel and Gaza.  In recent weeks, I have struggled to understand how anyone could conclude that an immediate ceasefire or nonviolence can be the correct approach. Do they not know the facts as well as I do? Or are we both operating out of sets of perceptions and, perhaps, misperceptions?

For example, I can acknowledge that Jacob was a swindler, yet still love him and his progeny. Or am I safer with the Torah’s one-sided commentary, which says that Esau spurned his birthright? Or can I believe both to be true?

I know the story of the birthright doesn’t fully explain the trade for stew. Looking at the context and history, I can better fathom Torah’s conclusion about Esau. The theme of Genesis is the promise God made to Abraham and his descendants – the land of Canaan and many heirs. If Esau gives so little value to his birthright, then he has rejected God’s plan for the world. With that perception, Esau is the far more grievous sinner. Jacob’s offense was between himself and his brother. Esau’s offense is to deny God.

Some today argue that the children of Jacob are aggressors and swindlers.  They condemn Jacob and support Esau. That is their perception. I would say that they aren’t sufficiently immersed in the history and the context. There may be two diametrically opposite perceptions of the war against Gaza. That does not mean that both are equally valid. The reality is that those who adhere to the lessons of the Torah align themselves with God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob while understanding that our heroes are fallible humans.

Rabbi Evan Krame