|
|
Nehar Deah
Toldot
From Esau son of Jacob, to Rome and Christianity
The words "these are the generations of Isaac" (Bereishit
25:19) open a new time period in the history of the forefathers: the appearance
upon the stage, of Jacob (Israel) and Esau (Seir, Edom). From this point
onwards, till today, the events that the nation of Israel will be part
are accompanied by the two brothers, the nations that descend from them,
their names and all that they symbolize.
In H. N. Bialik's poem "Jacob and Esau - Recounting by the Nation"
("Shirim" [Songs] - Scientific Version [ed. Dan Meron], Tel
Aviv 5743, Pg 172 and onwards) there is a description of the relationship
between an Eastern European Jewish innkeeper and his crude non-Jewish
customer, using terminology and concepts taken from the Biblical account
of Jacob and Esau. Jacob blames his bitter fate on "From the violence
of a wicked brother I was persecuted up to my neck", "'From
the dew of heaven and the fats of the earth' thus has my father blessed
me - and how did he bless you?" whereas Esau who is hungry for wine
demands from him: "Master of this inn, give wine, but do not tarry
[=deceive]!" This poem is an expression of a long and complex process
that eventually leads to Jacob and Esau becoming symbols for Israel on
one hand and the nations of the world, especially in Christian countries,
on the other hand. We will focus our discussion on this process.
We can follow this process throughout the literature of chazal (acronym
for "our sages of blessed memory"). Its origins lie in the Bible.
In the book of Bereishit, we are told of two bothers, sons of Isaac, and
of the complex relationship between them, and already in the Torah it
becomes a system of closeness-rivalry between two nations. According to
the narrative in the book of Bamidbar, the Edomites say to the people
of Israel: "You shall not pass by me lest I come against you with
a sword" (20:18), while according to the book of Devarim, Moses is
commanded: "You are to pass through the border of your brethren the
children of Esau who dwell in Seir … meddle not with them" (2:4).
As time passed the relationship became further strained and the prophet
Malachi, whose words are read as a haphtarah (additional reading) for
parashat Toldot, places in God's mouth the words "and Esau I hated";
the prophet Obadiah, in the latter days of the Second Temple, mocks the
Edomite nation: "I have made you small among the nations, you are
greatly despised" (verse 2). Slowly the name "Edom" became
a designation for all who hated and fought against the nation of Israel
and indeed the psalm of lamentation over the destruction of the temple
by the Babylonians, beginning with the words "By the rivers of Babylon",
ends with the appeal: "Remember, Hashem, against the children of
Edom, the day of Jerusalem, when they said, "Raze it, raze it, to
its very foundations" (137:7). Here "Edom" is already a
label for enemy in general.
That which began in the Bible, continued to an even greater extent in
the literature of the sages. At a time when the nation or kingdom of Edom
no longer existed on the stage of history, its name became available for
use as a description of any new enemy or despiser, especially the Roman
and Byzantine empires and later still was used to refer to the Christian
religion, the official religion of the empire from the beginning of the
4th century. Many Midrashim talk about Esau when it is obvious that they
are referring to Rome or Christianity. For example, in Midrash Rabbah,
compiled in the 5th century, on the verse "and the children struggled
within her" (Bereishit 25:22), describing the Rebecca's difficult
pregnancy: "when she stood near synagogues and houses of learning,
Jacob would twitch and try get out … and when she walked past houses
of idol worship, Esau would run and twitch to get out" (63:6). Here
Esau and Jacob become symbolic of the nations which descended from them,
different both in terms of their religions and the characteristics of
their cultures: "'The naval (fool) has said in his heart, there is
no God'" (Tehillim 14:1) - this is Esau the evil one. And why is
he called naval? Because he fills the world with neveilot [=despicable
deeds], establishes brothels, theatres, circuses and places of idol worship"
(Midrash Tehillim on this verse). The phrase "it is known that Esau
hates Jacob" is attributed to the Mishnaic scholar, R' Shimon ben
Yochai (2nd century CE) - a timeless assertion that there can be no hope
in hope of friendly relationships between the descendants of the brothers.
In the middle ages the identification of Christianity as Edom was continued
and expanded and in parallel, the widening of the scope of the name Ishmael
to include reference to Moslems and Islamic countries. For example, the
peytan (liturgical poet) R' Abraham ibn Ezra, laments that "by hand
of Ishmael we are scorned / we have fled from Edom and not remained alive"
(from the piyut [liturgical poem] beginning "Where are the prophecies
of the ancient prophets?"), whereas in discussion of the kingdoms
that the nation of Israel was subject to - Christianity and Islam - the
sages who suffered under Islam, repeatedly use the phraseology: "[rather]
under Edom and not under Ishmael" (see Rabbeinu Bachaye ben Asher's
commentary on Devarim 30:7). Another example of the identification of
Christianity with Edom is found in the last verse of the well known piyut,"Maoz
Tzur": "Repel the Admon [literally "red one", = Edom],
in the nethermost shadows", in which God is asked to drive Edom,
the lands of Christianity, into the shadow of death. Many such examples
can be brought.
The traditions of the middle ages continued through subsequent eras.
The author Mendele Mokher Sforim (the Bookseller), for example, describes
the meeting between Jewish wagon drivers, who have become stuck in water,
and their non-Jewish counterparts, who have come to rescue them, with
the words: "The uncircumcised … stood for us in the time of
our need and due to their strong push our wagons emerged from the water
safely … by the strength of the hands of Esau the work was well done.
They pushed as was needed and from their efforts it was apparent that
the hands were the hands of Esau, but us, in contrast, our strength lies
in our mouth - the voice is the voice of Jacob" ( Sefer Hakabtzanim,
Chapter 1, Page 92). Bialik's poem discussed above is very similar in
spirit to this description.
Therefore we have seen how the biblical story is used as a prototype
for the building of the system of relationships between many nations of
the world. In the same way, the story of Abraham leaving his father's
home becomes the story of the many aliyot (waves of immigration) of Jews
to the land of Israel; the biblical story of the Akeida (the binding of
Isaac) becomes the story in each generation of those who were prepared
to die a martyrs death; the story of the exodus from Egypt becomes the
prototype for man's fight for freedom in any time or place. And all these
are aspects of the adage "the actions of the forefathers are a sign
for the sons".
Professor Avigdor Shenan - Hebrew Literature Department
Archaeology - Theatre, Circus and Other Places of Entertainment
The theatre and the circuses are frequently mentioned, many times together,
in the literature of the sages, for example in a passage in Midrash Rabbah
which deals with man having free will: "I he wants - he goes to synagogues
or houses of study, if not - to theatres and circuses" (67:4), or
in the proclamation: "the congregation of Israel said to the Holy
One, blessed be he: Master of the Universe, I have never entered and taken
part in theatres and circuses" (Midrash Eicha Rabbah, petichta 3).
King Herod (who ruled in the years 37 - 4 BCE) was responsible for bringing
Roman leisure time activities into the land of Israel and he established
the first places of entertainment in the land. This type of building flourished
later in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE.
There are 3 different types of Roman buildings built as places of entertainment:
theatre, hippodrome (known as circus or stadium) and amphitheatre. Theatres
were semi-circular buildings, built within the city limits, which seated
between 1,000 and 8,000 and were meant as places to view plays, dances
or speeches or for various social gatherings. The hippodrome was a long
rectangular building; one end had a rounded wall and the other end a gate
for chariots to enter through. Hippodromes were usually built outside
city limits near to main roads and could seat between 10,000 and 16,000
who came to watch wrestling matches, horse races and athletic competitions.
The amphitheatre was also built outside the city and was a closed elliptical
building used for watching gladiatorial contests and contests pitting
man against beast or beast against beast. The amphitheatre seated between
5,000 and 7,000.
The sages usually made mention of theatres and circuses in their literature
as a general description of Roman culture and it was usually in order
to belittle it. Despite the fact that the sages expressed constant censure
of those who went to these places, it seems from their literature that
they were not always successful in preventing Jews going from going and
many such buildings where built in Jewish cities or cities in which the
majority of the population was Jewish; for example Tiberius (where a theatre
was discovered and sources refer also to it having a stadium) and Tzippori
(where a theatre was discovered).
Piyut (Liturgical Poetry) - Maoz Tzur
The piyut, beginning with the words Maoz Tzur (Mighty Rock), is said
in synagogues and at home after the lighting of Channuka candles, in Ashkenazi
communities. The earliest evidence of the existence of this piyut and
the custom to say it on Channuka is from 15th century Germany and it is
reasonable to assume that it was composed by a Jew who lived in that area
at that time or reasonably close to it. We know only one thing about the
composer, his first name: Mordechai, which he brings as an acrostic -
the first letter of the first word of each verse of the poem. Mordechai
added to this signature the blessing "chazak" (Be strong) which
comes from the first letters of the first three words of the 6th verse.
Mordechai opens his piyut with a verse giving praise to God ("O mighty
rock of my salvation, to praise you is a delight", a request for
the rebuilding of the temple and a reinstatement of the temple service
("Prepare the house of my prayer, and there I will sacrifice an thanksgiving
offering") and a prayer for revenge over enemies of Israel ("When
you will have prepared the slaughter for the blaspheming foe"). The
following verses tell of the salvation that God had brought to the nation
of Israel in the past (the exodus from Egypt, the return from Babylonian
exile, the salvation of Purim and the Hasmonean revolt) - a series of
historical precedents upon which is based the request for an act of revenge
over the gentiles in the time of the poet, including a specific reference
to Christianity (referred to as "Admon"). The last verse was
censored at a very early stage from many prayer books due to its strong
wording and due to worshippers' fears that it might provoke angry responses
from Christian authorities.
It seems that this piyut was not composed specifically for Channuka (the
phrase "channukat hamizbeach" [the dedication of the altar]
in a future temple, is in no way connected to Channuka), and while those
who wish to sing it on other occasions mentioned in the song will probably
be met with reactions of astonishment, they will probably have fulfilled
the original intentions of the anonymous poet.
Hebrew Literature - Bialik's "Esau and Jacob"
There are two poem known as "Esau and Jacob" among the poems
of Chaim Nachman Bialik. The first, lesser known poem and is long and
dramatic and is included among his earliest poems and it was written while
he still lived in Volozhin in the year 5651 (1891). In essence it is a
lamentation on the dire situation of the nation of Israel (Jacob) among
the nations (Esau). The second poem is more lighthearted and well known
and is a translation and adaptation of a known Yiddish poem, which points
to the superiority of Jacob over Esau. This second work was probably written
in 5682 (1922) and was first published in 5683 under the title "Pizmon
Am" (Refrain of the Nation) in the newspaper "Al HaMishmar"
(On Guard). The publisher added by way of an an explanation: "I heard
this refrain from Bialik and I present it here from memory". There
are differences between the version brought in "Al HaMishmar"
and a version Bialik eventually included in a compendium of all his works
(5693). It is not clear whether in time Bialik changed the wording of
the poem or whether what was printed in "Al HaMishmar" was in
fact written down from memory and therefore inaccurate.
Here is the poem in its accepted form with differences found in the "Al
HaMishmar" version brought next to the original in italics:
Esau rises early to go to the tavern,
Jacob rises early to the house of prayer,
His mouth will give forth the smell of a barrel of strong drink His
mouth gives forth the smell of a barrel of wine He gives his maker praise
and adoration.
He gives his maker praise and adoration.
Oy, oy, oy, Alas, how good
Oy to Esau the gentile,
Vey to Esau the gentile Is Jacob's portion!
His cup - his life,
To the Rock of his life His sons - his life
He must drink,
He must give thanks He must teach them
It is because of this that he is a gentile.
Since because he is a gentile
Because his name is Jacob. Since because he is Jacob
[According to: H. N. Bialik - Poems: Scientific Version with alternate
wording, edited by D. Meron et al, Tel Aviv 5743-5750]
|
|