CBI Blogs

September 4, 2024/1 Elul 5784
Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld

This has been a hard year since October 7. The pain of knowing the hostages were taken and brutalized. The massacre of innocent Israelis. The pain and destruction in Gaza as Israel tries to eliminate as much of Hamas as possible.

But more, we now have to live with the divisions these events have created in our own country, on top of the ones we already have. Everyone is talking, but no one is listening, really hearing the other. How do we begin to build bridges of understanding?

We can look to our Jewish tradition for the answer. The Rabbis in the Talmud, seemingly argued about everything. The amazing beauty of those arguments is that the Talmud recorded both sides of the argument, and the final decision. The ancient Rabbis most often went into these debates with the expectation that there might be wisdom in what the “other side” argued AND were open to the possibility that their “opponent’s” argument would have wisdom and validity just as much as their own.

At the end of the discussions, with rare exceptions, the arguments remained respectful and, at the end of the day, once a decision was reached, they still respected each other, dined together, studied together, and returned the next day to resolve more issues.

Would that we, our leaders, and the leaders of the peoples of the world, could do the same.

September 5, 2024/2 Elul 5784
Rabbi Andrew Rosenkranz

I imagine Esau was devastated by the betrayal of his twin, Jacob, upon learning his birthright was stolen.

The siblings couldn’t have been more different. Esau was a man of the field, a red-haired, tough, cunning hunter. Jacob was simple but smart, intelligent but crafty. Even while in the womb together we learn how different they are from one another. It was no surprise that given Jacob’s conspiracy with his mother, Rebecca, the twins ultimately went their separate ways.

Torah doesn’t tell us how Esau fares after the brothers split up. Many years later, however, Jacob gets spooked upon hearing that he is about to encounter Esau after so many years. He expects that Esau will try to kill him, but the opposite happens. Esau throws himself at Jacob and kisses him. Much has been forgiven.

Reconciliation only happens when two people are willing to accept that the experiences of the other person may have had a profound impact on who that other person has now become. It’s not just a matter of forgiveness. It’s also a matter of understanding that people rarely are the same after so much time has passed. Esau understands this, and once he weeps on Jacob’s shoulder, Jacob understands this about Esau as well.

It’s true that sometimes people’s natures don’t change. But sometimes they do.

Just look at Jacob and Esau.