{"id":108636,"date":"2023-12-05T18:05:52","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T16:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=108636"},"modified":"2023-11-29T11:20:11","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T09:20:11","slug":"23-00-89","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=108636","title":{"rendered":"Enemies Can Become Friends; Until Then, We Must Defend Ourselves"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Enemies Can Become Friends; Until Then, We Must Defend Ourselves<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

Jeremy Rosen<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Reading from a Torah scroll in accordance with Sephardi tradition. Photo: Sagie Maoz via Wikimedia Commons.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In last week\u2019s Torah portion, we read about how Isaac and Ishmael came together to bury their father. And in fact, they lived together at the same place, Be\u2019er Lechai Roi. Their coming together seems to have been complete.<\/span><\/p>\n

This week we are introduced to the rivalry between Esau and Jacob. The character of Esau is complex. He is a hunter; his father prefers him to stay-at-home. Esau betrays character faults that hint at why Rebecca thinks that Jacob would be the better heir. It is true that Esau honors, respects, and serves his father, but he is impulsive, demanding what Jacob is eating when he could so easily have turned to the other tents where at lunchtime his and other mothers were serving up lunch. He marries the first time against his parents\u2019 wishes, even if he tried to make up for it the second time. When he realizes he will not get his father\u2019s blessings, he weeps and yet follows this by swearing he will kill his brother. We know that in due course he will make peace with Jacob. Even so, in rabbinic literature, Esau is described very negatively as the everlasting enemy of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a well known Midrash, \u201cRebbi Shimon Bar Yochai says it is well known (or it is a rule) that Esau will always hate Israel\u201d (Midrash Sifri Bamidbar 69).<\/span><\/p>\n

Rebbi Shimon lived during the reigns of two Roman emperors, Trajan and Hadrian, whose anti-Jewish decrees and persecution led to the Bar Kochba uprising from 132- 135 CE. And Esau became associated with Roman oppression. Why Esau? Because he was also called Edom, after the red lentils of the soup that Jacob had made. Red appears as a symbolic color in many ancient warrior peoples. In Roman mythology, it was associated with blood and courage. It was the color of the god of war, Mars, and the color of the army. Roman soldiers wore red tunics, gladiators were adorned in it.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet, according to the Talmud, the two succeeding emperors, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, had very good relations with R. Judah the Prince, the head of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Things have changed a lot in Christianity these past hundred years since, particularly in the Catholic world. And although some liberal churches have joined the children of Stalin in attacking the Jews for having a homeland, most have not. And some are even our greatest supporters. So, it may be time to re-consider our history with them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, we have new challenges \u2014 largely Arabic and Muslim mobs that have been chanting antisemitic slogans throughout the streets of the world. They don\u2019t represent all Muslims, but it is clear many of the people we are seeing are endemically antisemitic.<\/span><\/p>\n

We must not let hatred demean us or drag us down to the worst level of humanity. I pray that one day, enemies will become friends, and such expressions of antipathy will disappear altogether. But in the meantime, we must defend ourselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The author<\/strong> is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion’68,<\/em>
\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion’68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.
\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:
\n<\/em>webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enemies Can Become Friends; Until Then, We Must Defend Ourselves Jeremy Rosen Reading from a Torah scroll in accordance with Sephardi tradition. Photo: Sagie Maoz via Wikimedia Commons. In last week\u2019s Torah portion, we read about how Isaac and Ishmael came together to bury their father. And in fact, they lived together at the same […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108636"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108636"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108821,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108636\/revisions\/108821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}