Author: jovial_cynic

Guardian Angels

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ויירא יעקב מאד (upon hearing this) “Yaakov was very much afraid;” you may well ask that after Yaakov had been met by angels, as we read at the end of the last portion, and these angels were clearly meant to protect him, what did he have to worry about? This obvious question is answered by our sages by explaining that one of these angels was Michael, Yaakov’s protective angel, whereas the second one was Samael, Esau’s angel. Knowing this, Yaakov had no way of knowing which of these two angels was more powerful.
Chizkuni on Genesis 32:8

There is a fascinating interpretation in the rabbinical texts that suggest that the messengers involved aren’t merely angels, but are two specific angels:
Michael – the guardian angel of Jacob, and Samael – the guardian angel of Esau.

Breaking Bread

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In Genesis 31:54, Jacob refers to “bread,” but the context makes it clear that he means “food” and not specifically “bread.”

In the Gospels, the Greek word for “bread” is also interchangeable with “food.” This also occurs in Aramaic.

Suppose the Last Supper is about food generally, and not bread specifically. Does this broaden the message? How does it change the story?

On the one hand, every account of the Greek word for bread/food before this point is literally bread. It’s the loaves that are broken and distributed, along with the fish.
But Acts 2:46 uses it in the food sense.

It’s interesting.

The place of Laban

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וַיַּשְׁכֵּ֨ם לָבָ֜ן בַּבֹּ֗קֶר וַיְנַשֵּׁ֧ק לְבָנָ֛יו וְלִבְנוֹתָ֖יו וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֶתְהֶ֑ם וַיֵּ֛לֶךְ וַיָּ֥שׇׁב לָבָ֖ן לִמְקֹמֽוֹ׃

Early in the morning, Laban kissed his sons and daughters and bade them good-by; then Laban left on his journey homeward.
Genesis 32:1 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

Note: In the Hebrew bibles, Genesis 32:1 is the same as Genesis 31:55 in English bibles.

In this passage, the commentators point out that the phrase at the end is a little unusual. Laban didn’t just “go home.” He “returned to his place.” And this phrase, according to the Haamek Davar, this “… foreshadowed the ascendance and subsequent decline of all the nations that hosted and then expelled the Jewish people.”

In the interpretation that views Laban as a symbol of wickedness, likening him to Egypt and other conquering nations, Laban appears to slink back into the depths, as though he is brought up for this purpose, and then returns to his right place of lowness.

This concept of “place” is very interesting, because it makes me think of the Jewish teaching about God calling to Adam. When God says “Ayeka,” (where are you?), God is not asking a question. God is making a declaration, stating that Adam is not where he is supposed to be; he is not where God placed him. This can be viewed as a statement about the relationship, not Adam’s specific GPS coordinates.

This tells me that there *IS* a place where we are meant to be in our relationship to God. If God walks through the garden, we are meant to walk with God, and not hide in the bushes.

But Laban? And the empires that enslave God’s people, rooted back to the original hissing trickster that enticed and enslaved us all? Perhaps “returned to his place” describes a place of outer darkness, where one day he will remain separated from us forever.

It’s after Laban “returns to his place” that Jacob goes on his way, and is met by God, and where Jacob declares, “This is God’s camp.”
Here, perhaps we see a glimpse into the Kingdom, where our lived reality and heavenly truth come together in a living parable.

Two Camps, Two Camps

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Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.[a]
Genesis 32:1-2 (NIV)

When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”
In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups,[b] and the flocks and herds and camels as well.
Genesis 32:6-7 (NIV)

[a] Mahanaim means two camps.
[b] Or camps

Two camps, two camps.
What do we learn from this?

Fear and Faith

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Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”
Genesis 31:3 (NIV)

I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.Genesis 31:13 (NIV)

In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well.Genesis 32:7 (NIV)

It is perfectly ok to be afraid.

Jacob’s Pillars

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וַיִּקַּ֥ח יַעֲקֹ֖ב אָ֑בֶן וַיְרִימֶ֖הָ מַצֵּבָֽה׃
Thereupon Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.
Genesis 31:45 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

As I finally round out Genesis 31 (it’s been over a month, phew!), I can’t help but notice how many times Jacob takes big rocks and sets them up on end as a way to remember. He did it when he first saw the stairs to heaven. He did it when when he makes a covenant with Laban. Again when he encounters God in Genesis 35. And again in Genesis 35 when Rachel dies.

Nobody else does this. Just Jacob.

Laban’s Profanity

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אֱלֹהֵ֨י אַבְרָהָ֜ם וֵֽאלֹהֵ֤י נָחוֹר֙ יִשְׁפְּט֣וּ בֵינֵ֔ינוּ אֱלֹהֵ֖י אֲבִיהֶ֑ם וַיִּשָּׁבַ֣ע יַעֲקֹ֔ב בְּפַ֖חַד אָבִ֥יו יִצְחָֽק׃
May the God of Abraham’s [house] and the god of Nahor’s [house]”—their ancestral deities—“judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac’s [house].
Genesis 31:53 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

In Genesis 31:53, Laban presents a covenant with Isaac, calling upon a god that does not exist: “The god of Nahor.”

Laban, an idolator, the son of an idolator, doesn’t know that the God of Abraham is not merely an idol to manipulate, so he profanes the title of God (אלוהי) by making it level with his own idols.

It’s such a profanity that Jewish commentaries state “אלוהי אביהם: here too the word “elohey” is profane and may be erased from a Torah scroll if the occasion demands it.”

The Irrevocable Decree

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One of the recurring themes in Scripture is the instances of various kings making an irrevocable decree that someone wicked uses to lead the people of God into doom.
The primary example: “Whoever doesn’t bow down and worship will die.”

Each time, the people of God are spared. Either the king makes a subsequent decree (Esther: the people may defend themselves) or a miracle happens (Daniel: the 4th man in the furnace; the lions den).

The whole Bible is set up this same way:

But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2:17 (NIV)

The Irrevocable Decree: “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. In the day you eat it, you will surely die.”

Humanity eats the fruit and is doomed to die. Like the advisors/governers of the kings, the serpent brings the people of God into death.

But like the people of God who cry out for rescue, Adam cries out for Life by naming his wife Eve, which means life.

Like the Kings, God leaves the decree of death in place.

But God makes a new decree: the Resurrection.