>> Torah portion
The Two
Rebeccas
Parshat Toledot,
Genesis
25:19-28:9;
Malachi 1:1-2:7.
I
t is hard to reconcile the Rebecca
of last week's Torah portion with
the Rebecca of this week. When
we are first introduced to her, she
is kind and generous and compas-
sionate, the ideal wife for Isaac, the
purpose for which she has been
introduced to us. She is
the kind of person that
we revere and want to
emulate.
Now, 20 years have
passed, and we see a com-
pletely different woman.
This Rebecca is manipula-
tive, selfish and "wily" as
one modern Torah com-
mentary describes her.
How did she become
this way? What has hap-
pened to her? Has life
been that hard that she
has become so embittered? It is true
that life has been challenging.
Rebecca struggled with infertil-
ity for nearly two decades, and not
until Isaac pleaded with God on her
behalf did she conceive. Moreover,
once she became pregnant, it was
a very difficult pregnancy in which
her twins tussled and wrestled
inside her womb, making it extraor-
dinarily painful and difficult. In fact,
so much so that at one point, she
cries out, "Why do I exist?"
I suppose on one level we can
understand that the realities of her
life have changed. Her future was
not as she expected. But then again,
life never is as we expect. I believe
the young Rebecca would have dealt
with her circumstances with grace,
while this jaded character turns to
manipulation and treachery.
It is perhaps God's answer to her
question that sets Rebecca on this
path. "Two peoples are in your belly;
two nations shall branch off from
each other [as they emerge] from
your womb. One people shall prevail
over the other, the elder shall serve
the younger." (Genesis 25:23).
God's response is more of a
prophecy for the future than an
answer to her question. But then,
is the question, "Why is this preg-
nancy so painful?" (as we generally
assume), or could it instead be more
literal, "What is the pur-
pose of my life?"
If it is the latter, it bet-
ter explains her behavior,
for as The Women's Torah
Commentary explains,
"Twins signal a special
destiny, and Rebecca is
wondering about her role
in such a [future]." As the
story unfolds, the proph-
ecy seems to take care of
itself — it doesn't really
need her input in order to
be actualized. Esau sells
his birthright to Jacob, and presum-
ably that is enough to ensure God's
prediction.
But then, we still ask, why the
prediction in the first place if not
for her to get involved in order to
guarantee that Jacob will receive the
blessing of the birthright?
These are difficult questions for
which, of course, we have no answer.
But what remains is the change in
personality from the young Rebecca
to the older one. I hate to think that
it is life's adversity that prompted
the change; but even worse to think
that God's prophecy necessitated it.
As a mother of sons myself,
Rebecca's story reminds me of how
important it is to remain faithful to
our core values; that we love all our
children equally and treat them with
fairness, and that as we confront the
challenges of our lives, that we do so
with grace and optimism to ensure
that throughout our lives, we stay
true to our essential selves. I
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Marla Hornsten is a rabbi at Temple
Israel in West Bloomfield.
1606080
November 24 • 201 1
45