Jewish academic and Hebrew scholar Irene Lancaster reflects on Jordan Peterson's new book and the story of Jacob and Esau.
Last Shabbat was windy, very windy - more like a gale really. I decided to stay in. Very early the bell rang. This is most unusual for Shabbat and I thought it might be a fallen tree like the previous time, from next door, which had landed in my drive, also on Shabbat.
Thinking it an emergency I rushed downstairs and opened the door, to see no-one but a large package triple-wrapped at least.
Later, twenty minutes were spent trying to unpack all the covers, when, finally, there it was, the most beautiful book you could ever set eyes on, embossed in blue and gold with the words 'Autographed Copy'. I couldn't believe it.
Author, Jordan Peterson, had sent me a signed copy of his latest book, based on a paraphrase of the description of our ancestor Jacob/Israel: We who wrestle with G-d: Perceptions of the Divine.
The reason for my elation was however that the book and its title had arrived just in time for the Torah reading of 'Vayishlach', which includes such gems as Jacob and his ladder and the encounter between Jacob and the Angel ( or was it actually a man), depicted in the very title of the book.
This Vayishlach reading, which encompasses Genesis 32:4 - 36:43, is accompanied by the Haftorah reading of the prophet Obadiah with its famous passage of Jacob's twin brother Esau's eternal perfidy towards the Jewish people.
Peterson's book itself was published a few weeks ago in November and, even before that date, negative reviews had come in thick and fast. These tell us more though about the reviewers than about the book itself. Naturally, Jewish reception has been overwhelmingly positive.
So what does Peterson have to say about the Torah portion?
In a nutshell, our hero Jacob has been tricked by Laban into working 20 years for him and marries his daughters, Leah and Rachel. He leaves Haran and sends emissaries to brother Esau, whose birthright he had stolen through deception, in the hopes of reconciliation. But he is told that Esau is on the warpath with 400 armed men. Jacob prepares for war, prays and sends expensive gifts of livestock to Esau as a bribe. That night, Jacob ferries his family and possessions across the Jabbock River.
He however remains behind and encounters the Angel that embodies the spirit of Esau with whom he 'wrestles' till daybreak. Jacob suffers a dislocated hip, but vanquishes the supernal creature who bestows on him the name 'Israel'. Israel means 'he who prevails over the divine.'
Later, Jacob and Esau meet, embrace and kiss, but then part company. The accompanying Haftorah of Obadiah will depict Esau's real feelings for his brother.
People have spent thousands of years interpreting this encounter between Jacob and this strange being. Was he man, or more?
Rashi, our first major, and definitely most read, biblical exegete (1040-1105), states that 'wrestle' comes from the Hebrew for 'dust', which the two antagonists raised up with their feet during their fight. However 'wrestle' in Aramaic also means 'intertwine' or 'connect', and this is the interpretation Rashi himself prefers.
So what is this physical 'wrestling' exactly? Did animosity turn into love? Could this be possible? Did Esau acknowledge that Jacob's role was no longer to deceive, depicted by the name 'Jacob', but rather that he would now live a life of struggle and sacrifice, becoming the 'Israel' of real life as we know it?
This is certainly how the most Jewishly aware painter, Rembrandt, interpreted the scene in his famous painting of 1659, completed three years after the Jews were allowed back to England by Oliver Cromwell, largely due to the efforts of fellow Dutchman, Manasseh ben Yisrael, who petitioned Cromwell unceasingly.
In Rembrandt's painting, Esau's Angel is depicted in white. Placed higher on the canvas than Jacob, Esau's Angel is more like the Divine Presence. It is this former enemy, now himself transformed, who renames Jacob 'Israel' - 'he who prevails over the divine'.
So what does Jordan have to say about this passage on pages 292-3 of his book?
'On the edge of his homeland - on the very border between who he is now and who he was; on the verge of facing all the consequences of who he was - Jacob wrestles with G-d, as we all do when we face the most difficult of decisions.'
'... The wrestling partner contending with Jacob is first presented as a man, but later revealed as G-d....And who are the truly chosen people, according to this account? All those who wrestle with G-d honestly and forthright and prevail.... He ... faces his estranged brother, atones for his past, and makes a productive and united peace...'
'This agonizing decision transforms him so completely that ... he now has a new identity, a new name, he is now Israel, he who wrestles with G-d.'
Utilizing the insights of modern psychology, Jordan has written an appreciation of the story of our Jewish patriarchs in a style relevant for the broken West of the second quarter of the 21st century and thus revived them for a far wider readership.
Israel itself has been battered and bruised this last year, but is never defeated.
For like our patriarch Jacob who eventually became Israel and in so doing found his real self, the country of Israel has countless times been resurrected and rebuilt out of the dust and ashes of millennia of envy and hate.
No more however will Jacob/Israel be mistreated and despised and this book shows us how to set about the difficult task of transcending suffering and becoming our better selves.
So I recommend this challenging but empathic book as a gift for Chanukah/Christmas, seeing as this year the two religious festivals coincide.
Mazal tov to Jordan Peterson on his achievement in this year of turmoil for Israel. Interestingly, 'We who Wrestle with G-d' is already number 1 on the Amazon best seller list.
Truly well deserved.
