Torah Study Blog

As of a 2015 study by the Pew Research Center, Christians make up 31% of the Earth’s population, and 70% of the American population. A large portion of those people consider the words in the Bible to be sacred. Rabbi Jaech pointed out to us that the people who wrote the biblical stories had no idea that the material would come to be considered sacred. If they had realized the impact these words would have, perhaps they would have reconsidered some of their writing.

Jews being accused of deception is a common trope that has been used against us over the centuries. Although that trope is not necessarily tied to Torah stories, it is interesting that examples of deception abound in the Torah. The Torah portion for this week contains the fourth story about deception when it comes to our patriarch, Jacob. Before we look at that story, let’s look at the first three.

The first deception is one that Jacob perpetrated on his own father, Isaac. Jacob put on a disguise and tricked his visually impaired, dying father into thinking that Jacob was Esau, Jacob’s older brother. Jacob stole the blessing that rightfully belonged to Esau.

Jacob is the victim of the second deception. Jacob agreed to work for his uncle, Laban, for 7 years for the right to marry Rachel. On the wedding day, Laban had his older daughter, Leah, wear heavy veils, thereby tricking Jacob into marrying Leah instead. In order to marry Rachel, his first love, Jacob had to promise Laban 7 more years of his labor.

Laban is the victim of the third deception, which was perpetrated by his daughter, Rachel. When leaving her father’s home, Rachel stole her father’s idols and hid them under a pillow, which she then sat upon. When Laban chased after them to look for his idols, Rachel said, “I cannot rise before you, for the period of women is upon me” (Genesis 31:35).

Jacob is the victim of the fourth deception, perpetrated by eleven of his twelve sons. Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob, and Joseph was a bit of a know-it-all. Joseph’s brothers did not like Joseph, so they plotted to kill

him! But the brother Reuben dissuaded them from killing Joseph and talked them into throwing Joseph into a pit instead. Joseph was captured from the pit and sold into slavery. When the brothers realized that they would be blamed for Joseph’s disappearance, they put goat’s blood on Joseph’s coat and brought the coat to their father, claiming that Joseph was killed by wild animals.

The story about Rachel stealing her father’s idols may sound odd to our modern sensibilities, so we took a closer look at the story. The idols that Rachel stole are, in Hebrew, called teraphim. In order to better understand the meaning of a word, scholars will search for the word in other biblical passages and see how it is used. Through that exercise, scholars understand that teraphim were used for divination, or a supernatural means to learn the unknown.

Rachel was leaving her father’s home and tried to hide her final destination. She knew that Laban would consult his idols in order to find where Rachel had gone, so it makes sense that she would have stolen them. Also, the idea that menstruating women are impure is an idea that carried through to medieval times. The excuse, “I’m having my period,” would have been enough to drive Laban out of the tent.

The story about Jacob thinking that Joseph was killed can also bring up some questions. Jacob, as one of the patriarchs of our religion, had spoken with God in the past. Why didn’t God just tell Jacob that Joseph was okay? The medieval commentator, Rashi, created a midrash, or a story, that the brothers made a pact among themselves to not divulge the truth to Jacob. And then they got their grandfather, Isaac, and God himself to agree to the pact!

Why would God agree to this deception? This is where we, as modern readers, wonder if the Ends Justify the Means?

In the first story, Jacob’s mother, Rebekah, had learned from an oracle that Jacob would be the leader of his people. Jacob could not be the leader without receiving Isaac’s blessing. The deception put the blessing in place.

In the second story, Jacob produced twelve children through his two wives and their handmaidens. If Jacob had only married Rachel, as he intended,

he would not have fathered enough children to begin the Israelite people. The deception made Jacob the father of the nation.

In the third story, Rachel succeeded in keeping the idols away from her father, and idolatry is a sin. The deception saved Laban from sinning.

In the fourth story, Jacob had to think that his son was dead because Joseph had to live in Egypt for a long time in order to, later, save his family.

We do not know what consequences will come about because of our actions today. Which can leave us wondering; does the future happen because of our actions, or in spite of them?

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misquotes or misunderstandings in what Rabbi Jaech taught us are the responsibility of Tara Keiter