Summary:
In our portion this week, Rebekah has twins, Esau and Jacob. Esau gives Jacob his birthright in exchange for some stew. In an image that repeats itself throughout the Torah, King Abimelech is led to think that Rebekah is Isaac's sister and later finds out that she is really his wife. At the end of his life, Isaac plans to bless Esau, his firstborn. Rebekah and Jacob deceive Isaac so that Jacob receives the blessing. Esau threatens to kill Jacob, who then flees to Haran.
Lesson from our Haftarah Portion:
In our Torah portion we learn of the competitive and destructive relationship between Jacob and Esau, who battle even in their mother’s womb. Our Haftarah begins with a retelling of the hatred between Jacob and Esau. In Jewish history and writing, Jacob often refers to the people of Israel while Esau refers to non-Jewish peoples, pagans, and even eventually Romans.
The prophet Malachi, about whom we know very little, in this harangue against the Jewish people and their priests, makes an alarming statement. He claims that God is great among the non-Jewish nations that all pagan sacrifices are offered to the God of Israel. With this statement he adds a new dimension of pluralism to religion, one upon which we depend mightily today.
By insinuating that God accepts the sacrifices of all people who worship in sincerity, even if they are pagans, he expands the understanding of religion. Rather than stating that “my god is better than your god” Malachi teaches that Adonai hears the sincere prayers of all peoples, even if they don’t pray directly to Adonai.
His hopeful vision was of pagans who had a pantheon of gods, among whom the Eternal is now added. He understood that when pagans pray with sincerity, they acknowledge a power beyond themselves. Their worship is actually a search for God. Malachi envisioned a time when the pagans would forsake their own gods and recognize that the Eternal is the one and only God. His statement ascribes respect and deference rather than hatred and contempt to those who worship other gods.
Jacob and Esau – Israel and Rome – need not be forever in contention. The rabbis in the Talmud, centuries later, take this lesson to heart when they write: The righteous of all nations have a share in the world to come.” Malachi is a resounding voice for what we moderns would call pluralism – an understanding that Judaism is not the only way to salvation.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Don Goor