CBI Blogs

September 18, 2024/15 Elul 5784
Rabbi Alan Litwak
“Fraternal Rifts”

The entire biblical book of Genesis is a study in fraternal strife. One set of brothers after another is in conflict. Yet, even as the trauma seems to doom the next generation to more pain, there is also a moral arc that swings towards healing. 

The die is cast when Cain kills his brother. Separated by their parents, Isaac and Ishmael only come together at their father Abraham’s funeral. They never speak again. Jacob and Esau are separated by the deep seated jealousy between them. There is a momentary reconciliation, but when Esau offers to slow down his flock so that the brothers can travel side by side, Jacob declines. Once more, they separate, never to come back together again. We would think that Jacob learned his lesson, but it is his favoritism of his son Joseph that contributes to Joseph’s brothers’ decision to sell him into slavery to a caravan of Ishmaelites. It is only after many years passing that Joseph and his brothers reconcile in Egypt. Embracing, weeping, and kissing ensue, as we finally experience a lasting reconciliation and happy ending to a story of biblical brothers. 

Sometimes healing the rifts takes generations.

“Coming Together”
The rift may be wide, 
like a deep chasm that has cleaved the ice pack 
The rift may be narrow, 
like a stream that runs through the backyard. 
The sides do not come together by themselves, 
Only with a leap, they are traversed 
Like staples that pull together 
two sides of a wound.