In one of the Torah's most dramatic scenes, Jacob – the younger son – appears before his father, Isaac, to receive his father's blessing. Using guile, Jacob disguised as his older brother, Esau, hopes thereby to fool his father into bestowing the blessing which properly belongs to the firstborn. Using his brother's clothing to deceive, the hairless son covers his arms and legs with the fleece of a lamb, to imitate his more hirsute sibling. When Jacob does answer his father's call, he steps forward so that Isaac can touch his arm. The disconcerted Patriarch responds to the confusing disparity between who his son sounds like and who he feels like by exclaiming, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau!" The allusion to voice as characteristic of Jacob and to hands as being the particular domain of Esau is not surprising. Jacob is portrayed as a thoughtful person, while Esau relishes hunting in the great outdoors. Jacob sits in his tent while Esau pits his might against the stubbornness of nature. No wonder, then, that later generations of Jews read Jacob as the ultimate symbol of the Jewish People (his other name, after all, is Israel) and viewed Esau as the symbol of the other peoples of the world.
The Jewish world was that of words--books, scrolls, and chants-- which transmitted some of the world's greatest concepts.
In the realm of ideas, no people surpassed the contributions made by the Jewish People.
Our ancestors enunciated the notion that all people are made in "the image of God," therefore all deserve dignity, respect and compassion. Our ancestors taught that to be civilized meant to have "one law for the citizen and the stranger," that to be sophisticated meant to "love your neighbor as yourself." Jews were the first to insist that the Creator of the Universe was a God of love who was also passionate about justice.
At the same time that Jewish ideas have attracted millions of people (among them Jews, Christians and Muslims), physical power remained in the hands of non-Jews. The great powers of the world--both ancient and modern--dictated the political fate, and often the economic well-being, of those Jewish communities under their control. The voice was that of Jacob, but the hands were definitely those of Esau. Thus, Beresheet Rabbah notes that "Jacob wields power only by his voice. . .and Esau wields power only by his hands."
That same midrash presents two different interpretations of the same verse, both illuminating a reality of Jewish-Gentile history. Rabbi Pinhas said that "when the voice of Jacob withdraws within itself, then 'the hands are the hands of Esau'."
In other words, if Jews refrain from applying the piercing perspective of Jewish wisdom to the social concerns of the day, then the ensuing moral vacuum will result in the imposition of brute power. We have an obligation to infuse political and social debate with the insight of our sacred traditions, lest discourse be dominated by the short-sighted self interest of the powerful.
A second way to read Isaac's poignant plea is presented in the interpretation of Rabbi Berekiah, who said that "when Jacob speaks wrathfully with his voice, the hands of Esau have dominion; when his voice rings out clearly, the hands of Esau have no dominion."
When we are true to our own rich past, and knowledgeable of the guidelines established by our Torah, our Prophets, and our Sages, when we bring a distinctively Jewish perspective to our lives and our community, then we link ourselves with an unquenchable flame. Then, the light of Jewish piety and Jewish practice can illumine even the darkest of paths, revealing that the climb is indeed possible, and that we are not alone.
Shabbat Shalom.