Jacob and Esau is a profound new account of two millennia of Jewish European history that, for the first time, integrates the cosmopolitan narrative of the Jewish diaspora with that of traditional Jews and Jewish culture. Malachi Haim Hacohen uses the biblical story of the rival twins, Jacob and Esau, and its subsequent retelling by Christians and Jews throughout the ages as a lens through which to illuminate changing Jewish-Christian relations and the opening and closing of opportunities for Jewish life in Europe. Jacob and Esau tells a new history of a people accustomed for over two-and-a-half millennia to forming relationships, real and imagined, with successive empires but eagerly adapting, in modernity, to the nation-state, and experimenting with both assimilation and Jewish nationalism. In rewriting this history via Jacob and Esau, the book charts two divergent but intersecting Jewish histories that together represent the plurality of Jewish European cultures.
Similarly, Jew-hatred was not as mysterious or incomprehensible as often presented; its strength in some countries and weakness in others may be related to the fluctuating and sometimes quite different perceptions in those countries of the meaning of the rise of the Jews in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Tribalism in the twenty-first century, as it has since prehistoric times, implies the possession of a strong cultural or ethnic identity that separates one member of a group from the members of another group. Based on strong relations of proximity and kinship, as well as relations based on the mutual survival of both the individual members of the tribe and for the tribe itself, members of a tribe tend to possess a strong feeling of identity. In contemporary times, tribalism has been castigated as a primitive and regressive form of social structure that impedes national development, and numerous instances can be shown where this appears to be an accurate assessment. As will be pointed out in the following study of the origins of tribalism in ancient Jewish history, the biblical narrative appears to corroborate that assessment. However, when considering the more than three millennia of Jewish history, it can be argued that tribalism played a highly significant role in its perseverance from remote antiquity to the present day. Beginning with the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE, and the subsequent dispersion of the children of Israel from their homeland to the diverse parts of the world since then, disconnected communities of Jews persisted in upholding the core teachings of Judaism based on the written laws originally transmitted by Moses, and augmented by differing traditions. In effect, the Jewish diaspora consisted of independent but nonetheless tribal clans predicated on common core biblical teachings distinct from those of the host entities. The present work focusses on the emergence of tribalism as implicitly recounted in the narratives of the Pentateuch. It begins with the first family and concludes with the era of Moses, as the children of Israel prepare to cross the Jordan to enter the land of Canaan as promised to the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The matter of tribalism is not addressed as such by the biblical narrator, whose primary focus is on the relations and interactions between God and man. However, the subject of tribalism can be seen implicit in the narratives when considered from sociological and political perspectives.
This volume records the lives and efforts of some of the prophets preceeding the birth of Mohammad. It devotes most of its message to two towering figures--Abraham, the Friend of God, and his great-grandson, Joseph. The story is not, however simply a repetition of Biblical tales in a slightly altered form, for Ṭabarī sees the ancient pre-Islamic Near East as an area in which the histories of three different peoples are acted out, occasionally meeting and intertwining. Thus ancient Iran, Israel, and Arabia serve as the stages on which actors such as Biwarasb, the semi-legendary Iranian king, Noah and his progeny, and the otherwise unknown Arabian prophets Hud and Salih appear and act. In the pages of this volume we read of the miraculous birth and early life of Abraham, and of his struggle against his father's idolatry. God grants him sons--Ishmael from Hagar and Isaac from Sarah--and the conflicts between the two mothers, the subsequent expulsion of Hagar, and her settling in the vicinity of Mecca, all lead to the story of Abraham's being commanded to build God's sanctuary there. Abraham is tested by God, both by being commanded to sacrifice his son (and here Ṭabarī shows his fairness be presenting the arguments of Muslim scholars as to whether that son was Ishmael or Isaac) and by being given commandments to follow both in personal behavior and in ritual practice. The account of Abraham is interlaced with tales of the cruel tyrant Nimrod, who tried in vain both to burn Abraham in fire and to reach the heavens to fight with God. The story of Abraham's nephew Lot and the wicked people of Sodom also appears here, with the scholars once again arguing--this time over what the exact crimes were for which the Sodomites were destroyed. Before proceeding to the story of Joseph, which is recounted in great detail, we linger over the accounts of two figures associated with ancient Arabia in Muslim tradition: the Biblical Job, who despite his trials and sufferings does not rail against God, and Shu'ayb, usually associated with the Biblical Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses. Finally we meet Joseph, whose handsome appearance, paternal preference, and subsequent boasting to his brothers lead to his being cast into a pit and ending up as a slave in Egypt. His career is traced in some detail: the attempted seduction by Potiphar's wife, his imprisonment and eventual release after becoming able to interpret dreams, and his rise to power as ruler of Egypt. The volume ends with the moving story of Joseph's reunion with his brothers, the tragi-comic story of how he reveals himself to them, and the final reunion with his aged father who is brought to Egypt to see his son's power and glory. This is proto-history told in fascinating detail, of us in different contexts, as well as of others completely unknown to Western readers.
This volume records the lives and efforts of some of the prophets preceeding the birth of Mohammad. It devotes most of its message to two towering figures--Abraham, the Friend of God, and his great-grandson, Joseph. The story is not, however simply a repetition of Biblical tales in a slightly altered form, for Ṭabarī sees the ancient pre-Islamic Near East as an area in which the histories of three different peoples are acted out, occasionally meeting and intertwining. Thus ancient Iran, Israel, and Arabia serve as the stages on which actors such as Biwarasb, the semi-legendary Iranian king, Noah and his progeny, and the otherwise unknown Arabian prophets Hud and Salih appear and act. In the pages of this volume we read of the miraculous birth and early life of Abraham, and of his struggle against his father's idolatry. God grants him sons--Ishmael from Hagar and Isaac from Sarah--and the conflicts between the two mothers, the subsequent expulsion of Hagar, and her settling in the vicinity of Mecca, all lead to the story of Abraham's being commanded to build God's sanctuary there. Abraham is tested by God, both by being commanded to sacrifice his son (and here Ṭabarī shows his fairness be presenting the arguments of Muslim scholars as to whether that son was Ishmael or Isaac) and by being given commandments to follow both in personal behavior and in ritual practice. The account of Abraham is interlaced with tales of the cruel tyrant Nimrod, who tried in vain both to burn Abraham in fire and to reach the heavens to fight with God. The story of Abraham's nephew Lot and the wicked people of Sodom also appears here, with the scholars once again arguing--this time over what the exact crimes were for which the Sodomites were destroyed. Before proceeding to the story of Joseph, which is recounted in great detail, we linger over the accounts of two figures associated with ancient Arabia in Muslim tradition: the Biblical Job, who despite his trials and sufferings does not rail against God, and Shu'ayb, usually associated with the Biblical Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses. Finally we meet Joseph, whose handsome appearance, paternal preference, and subsequent boasting to his brothers lead to his being cast into a pit and ending up as a slave in Egypt. His career is traced in some detail: the attempted seduction by Potiphar's wife, his imprisonment and eventual release after becoming able to interpret dreams, and his rise to power as ruler of Egypt. The volume ends with the moving story of Joseph's reunion with his brothers, the tragi-comic story of how he reveals himself to them, and the final reunion with his aged father who is brought to Egypt to see his son's power and glory. This is proto-history told in fascinating detail, of us in different contexts, as well as of others completely unknown to Western readers.
If God can love Jacob, then He can love anyone.Surprisingly, God associates Himself with Jacob more than any other person in the Bible. God calls Himself the God of Jacob on twenty-four occasions. And He calls Himself the God of Israel (the new God-given name of Jacob) over two hundred times.Jacob is not the biblical "hero" that we talk about. There are no children's songs about Jacob. No one sings "Dare to Be a Jacob." His story is more embarrassing than impressive. Yet God ties His name for all eternity to Jacob.Why? Because all of us are like Jacob in some regard. We are all "heelcatchers," struggling to make life work, wrestling with God, fighting to figure out who we are.Jacob's story is our own.In my own struggle with anxiety, panic attacks, perfectionism, past abuse, and the meaning of masculinity, I discovered the beauty and power of God's grace in Jacob's life. The God who loves Jacob loves us all...and is a refuge to all who cling to Him alone."Be still, and know that I am God;I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!The Lord of hosts is with us;The God of Jacob is our refuge."-Psalm 46:10-1
In this second volume of his long-anticipated five-volume collection of parashat hashavua commentaries, Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks explores these intersections as they relate to universal concerns of freedom, love, responsibility, identity, and destiny. Chief Rabbi Sacks fuses Jewish tradition, Western philosophy, and literature to present a highly developed understanding of the human condition under Gods sovereignty. Erudite and eloquent, Covenant Conversation allows us to experience Chief Rabbi Sacks sophisticated approach to life lived in an ongoing dialogue with the Torah.
Activating the Angelic is an easy-to-read teaching book designed to train and equip you to cooperate with the Person of the Holy Spirit so the gifts will flow through you. You will be taught the KEYS that unlock the miraculous, activate the angelic and set the captive free. The modern-day believer--young and old alike--will demonstrate the power of God in extraordinary realms of Glory no other generation has witnessed as the Holy Spirit restores the Church to its pristine Glory and the faith once delivered to the first century revivalists.
