I am going to address two questions (which we asked and answered in class, but they still make for an interesting blog post).
Question One: How can Yaakov and Esau transfer the birthright? You are either born first, or you aren't. We read an article by Sarnum, and Sarnum brought proof from other ancient Mesopotamian documents that said one could transfer the birthright. It's important that he uses this as proof, because we need to remember while reading the Torah that times were different. Sarnum also brings proof from the Torah that shows us the people used to transfer the birthright, because the Torah states explicitly that you can't transfer the birthright. It would only tell the people not to do that if they had been doing, or if society allowed it.
Question Two: Did Yaakov do the right thing? Or was it the wrong thing? (Referring to the story of him bargaining for the birthright, as well as the trickery he later uses against his father). Sorna says that technically speaking, Yaakov was allowed to do what he did- it was perfectly legal in those days. But just because something is legal, it does not mean that it is the right thing to do. Sorna says that the fact that we hear this story in the context that G-d had already chosen him and that Yaakov had many negative experiences in his life afterwards shows us that it was not the moral thing to do, and so G-d punished him via the negative experiences.
MY QUESTION FOR YOU: If selling the birthright was legal in those days, do you think G-d should have punished Yaakov? Or do you not agree with Sorna at all. Additionally, what do you think about Esau in this story. He sold the birthright without hesitation- even after he was no longer hungry he didn't try to take back the deal....Do you think that Yaakov was justified from the start and never did anything wrong, as many commentaries say? Who's side are you on- the commentators, or Sorna?
By Samum, I'm assuming you meant Sarna? Haha Zahuba. I really liked the article we read actually and even though we didn't really delve into what the other commentators say, I didn't really relate to their explanations of Yaakov's actions. It seemed like they were merely trying to justify Yaakov's actions based on the fact that he is one of the forefathers of the Jewish people instead of admitting that he might have done something wrong. I think it is definitely true that even Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov made mistakes and that is why they are our role models-they weren't perfect, and everyone has flaws. I think that Rabbi Sarna took a much more realistic approach to the situation and instead of stretching what actually happened to create a situation where Yaakov did not make a single mistake, he showed that Yaakov had to pay for his mistakes throughout the rest of his life.
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