Today I continued reading Rabbi Jonathan Sacks new book, "Not In G_d's Name---Confronting Religious Violence." It is an illuminating perspective about what makes people altruistically evil and violent. Being someone who has fought unwarranted abuse with love on many levels, I could relate to this daunting issue of illogical attacks on peaceful people. I once had a therapist at UC Berkeley once say to me, "Why do you keep going back to those people [my siblings] with love?" Rabbi Sacks finally explained why I do that.
He starts by saying that dualism is the seed to altruistic evil. Dualism leads people to believe that there are good people and bad people. Really we are all capable of good and bad. Some of us were lucky to be nurtured to choose to behave better, but in our hearts we all have darkness and light. No one people is all darkness and all light, not Jews, not Hindus, not Muslims, not Christians, not Buddhists, not any one people. There is no dualism. We are all loved by the one true G_d of Abraham as we are with all our goodness and all our evil. He knows our thoughts and loves us as we are.
Rabbi Sacks discusses how not Jesus, but Paul started a rivalry between the Jews and the Christians. Both Jesus and Paul were Jewish, Paul just had a different agenda which rewrote the history of Jews in a lesser role. He wrote, "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's [Hagar] son [Ishmael] will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's [Sarah] son [Isaac]." He further implied that Sarah represented Christianity and Hagar represented Judaism which is just a marketing fabrication for Christianity that has lasted to this day.
Interesting enough Rabbi Sacks explains that after Sarah died, Isaac did not want Abraham to be alone when Rebekah was found and brought back for Isaac. So Isaac went to Beer Lahai Roi as Abraham started the search for Isaac's wife. Who was in Beer Lahai Roi? Hagar and Ishmael lived there. Hagar, per Rabbi Sacks is Keturah, Abraham's wife after Sarah died. Isaac brought her back for his father, so he would also have a wife. That is why at Abraham's death both Issac and Ishmael stood together at their father's burial.
G_d always loved Hagar and Ishmael, as did Abraham. G_d always loved Sarah and Isaac as well. Yes, Sarah had Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away, but after her natural death a reconciliation happened and there was peace and love. G_d loves us in His own way in His own time. It is for us to keep the gates of love open and always try to forgive others, especially when we see that even in our own hearts we can find darkness, just as in Sarah's heart she had a moment of darkness, because she bore jealousy toward Hagar and wanted to be like her and bear a child.
Again with Jacob and Esau we have a similar rivalry. Jacob wants to be the first born and grabs his brother's heel, then steals his brother's blessing. Jacob wants to be like his brother Esau and receives the blessing, "May G_d give you of the dew of the heavens, and the richness of the earth, and abundant grain and wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Rule over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you."(Gen. 27:28-29) This blessing was meant for Esau though. Esau was the man of this world and Jacob was the man of G_d.
Jacob did get his blessing that Isaac intended for him, "May G_d Almighty bless you, make you fruitful and increase your numbers so that you become a community of peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing of Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as a foreigner, the land G_d gave to Abraham." (Gen. 28:3-4) So Jacob did not need to steal his brother's blessing which was not appropriate for Jacob. Jacob was the one to carry on the spiritual covenant and was freely given the spiritual blessing.
When Jacob returned to meet Esau after 22 years, he wrestled an angel and wouldn't let him go until the angel gave him a blessing, "No longer will it be said that your name is Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with G_d and men and have prevailed." (Gen. 32:24) This meant that Jacob was ready to not struggle to be Esau anymore. He was ready to struggle being Israel, himself.
Upon greeting his brother Esau, he gave his brother his riches of the earth that he'd gathered and had every member of his family, including himself bow down to Esau as a way of returning the blessing that he'd stolen from Esau, so many years before. Israel did not need these blessings. G_d blessed him with his own blessings, because G_d blesses us according to our lot.
It is said that a happy person is at peace with their lot in life. That person is happy with their role in this world that G_d bestowed upon them with love. That is how we have world peace. We recognize that we each have both bad and good in each of us. We recognize that the stories of rivaling siblings in the Bible were stories of young people striving to be like their sibling and finally realizing to be happy, they must be happy with the life that G_d wanted them to have. Then their was peace and love and reconciliation.
One day my peace and love will be accepted by my siblings. Now at least I know that they must be happy with their lot in life in order to accept my alms. All that I can control is that I am happy with my lot in this world and that G_d loves me for whom I am with all my bad and good wrapped up inside of me.
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