Only in Jerusalem: Talking Torah on The Tracks

Yesterday as I was walking the old Jerusalem train tracks, minding my business and admiring the view, a couple of walkers stopped me:

"You're religious. Maybe you can help us."
"OK." I was curious. 

That was a very compelling opening line. What could they want from me?

"I've been trying to teach my friend Parshat Shavua, (Torah Portion of the Week,) and we have a problem. How could a man as righteous as Jacob lie to his father?" One of them asked me. 

Actually, this verse is from an earlier week, Toldot, Genesis Chapter 27:

19And Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you have spoken to me. Please rise, sit down and eat of my game, so that your soul will bless me."

יטוַיֹּ֨אמֶר יַֽעֲקֹ֜ב אֶל־אָבִ֗יו אָֽנֹכִי֙ עֵשָׂ֣ו בְּכֹרֶ֔ךָ עָשִׂ֕יתִי כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבַּ֖רְתָּ אֵלָ֑י קֽוּם־נָ֣א שְׁבָ֗ה וְאָכְלָה֙ מִצֵּידִ֔י בַּֽעֲב֖וּר תְּבָֽרֲכַ֥נִּי נַפְשֶֽׁךָ:

By chance I had read the perfect response to this. I asked them if they were familiar with the power of punctuation and how it can change the meaning of things. Just add a comma or semicolon:

"אָֽנֹכִי֙' עֵשָׂ֣ו בְּכֹרֶ֔ךָ  I am myself; Esau your firstborn"

"Wow. That makes sense. Thank you so much."

And they went their way, and I went mine. Does this happen anyplace else, or just Jerusalem?

According to The Torah, The Jewish Bible, No Two State Solution!

Now that my father is living with us, I can't get to the synagogue on Shabbat.  I have to be home with him.  I still doven, say my prayers, and I read the entire Parshat Shavua, Week's Torah Portion and Haftara, but at home.  It's amazing what once suddenly notices, even though we read the same words every year in the Parshat Shavua annual cycle.  This week's Parsha is Toldot, and this is what it says:

כא וַיֶּעְתַּר יִצְחָק לַיהוָה לְנֹכַח אִשְׁתּוֹ, כִּי עֲקָרָה הִוא; וַיֵּעָתֶר לוֹ יְהוָה, וַתַּהַר רִבְקָה אִשְׁתּוֹ. 21 And Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD let Himself be entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
כב וַיִּתְרֹצְצוּ הַבָּנִים, בְּקִרְבָּהּ, וַתֹּאמֶר אִם-כֵּן, לָמָּה זֶּה אָנֹכִי; וַתֵּלֶךְ, לִדְרֹשׁ אֶת-יְהוָה. 22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said: 'If it be so, wherefore do I live?' And she went to inquire of the LORD.
כג וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה לָהּ, שְׁנֵי גֹיִים בְּבִטְנֵךְ, וּשְׁנֵי לְאֻמִּים, מִמֵּעַיִךְ יִפָּרֵדוּ; וּלְאֹם מִלְאֹם יֶאֱמָץ, וְרַב יַעֲבֹד צָעִיר. 23 And the LORD said unto her: Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

There is nothing about sharing our Land and Birthright.  And the Arabs don't even claim descent from Essau, not that their Ishmael claims are even valid.  If you read further, you'll see that Yitzchak (Isaac)'s blessing to Ya'aqov (Jacob) when he thought he was blessing Essau did not include the Birthright to be the next stage of G-d's Brit, Covenant with G-d.  That was given later to Jacob as Jacob:

Genesis Chapter 28 בְּרֵאשִׁית
א וַיִּקְרָא יִצְחָק אֶל-יַעֲקֹב, וַיְבָרֶךְ אֹתוֹ; וַיְצַוֵּהוּ וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ, לֹא-תִקַּח אִשָּׁה מִבְּנוֹת כְּנָעַן. 1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him: 'Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
ב קוּם לֵךְ פַּדֶּנָה אֲרָם, בֵּיתָה בְתוּאֵל אֲבִי אִמֶּךָ; וְקַח-לְךָ מִשָּׁם אִשָּׁה, מִבְּנוֹת לָבָן אֲחִי אִמֶּךָ. 2 Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.
ג וְאֵל שַׁדַּי יְבָרֵךְ אֹתְךָ, וְיַפְרְךָ וְיַרְבֶּךָ; וְהָיִיתָ, לִקְהַל עַמִּים. 3 And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a congregation of peoples;
ד וְיִתֶּן-לְךָ אֶת-בִּרְכַּת אַבְרָהָם, לְךָ וּלְזַרְעֲךָ אִתָּךְ--לְרִשְׁתְּךָ אֶת-אֶרֶץ מְגֻרֶיךָ, אֲשֶׁר-נָתַן אֱלֹהִים לְאַבְרָהָם. 4 and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land of thy sojournings, which God gave unto Abraham.'

That's the crucial blessing.  The words and their meaning are very clear.  There's nothing ambiguous about them.  Another parallel to today is:

מא וַיִּשְׂטֹם עֵשָׂו, אֶת-יַעֲקֹב, עַל-הַבְּרָכָה, אֲשֶׁר בֵּרְכוֹ אָבִיו; וַיֹּאמֶר עֵשָׂו בְּלִבּוֹ, יִקְרְבוּ יְמֵי אֵבֶל אָבִי, וְאַהַרְגָה, אֶת-יַעֲקֹב אָחִי. 41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart: 'Let the days of mourning for my father be at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.'

We must take it all very seriously and not let PC fancy talk confuse and weaken us.