{"id":37883,"date":"2018-08-15T11:26:49","date_gmt":"2018-08-15T08:26:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=37883"},"modified":"2022-03-09T23:02:15","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T21:02:15","slug":"the-challenge-of-complexity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-challenge-of-complexity\/","title":{"rendered":"The Challenge of Complexity"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[482,485,489],"acf":{"old_id":"37883","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33859,"related_cahpter":"25","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Twins were not in the plans - but, behold!","content":"

“Her days to give birth were completed, and, behold! Twins in her stomach!” With the use of \u00a0the word ‘behold’, the text suggests that the birth of twins was a surprise. Not for Rebekah, for the Divine revelation explaining her terrible pregnancy pains had already informed her, but rather for Isaac, whom she apparently had decided not to let in on the secret. <\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps we can understand her reluctance.<\/span> Isaac is the paragon of simplicity, sometimes referred to in rabbinic literature as an <\/span>olah temimah<\/span><\/em>– <\/span><\/i>a pure\/simple offering. Unlike his father, who had multiple wives and his brother who has multiple children, Isaac remains faithful to Rebekah through 20 years of childlessness, perhaps holding out the hope that he will save his sole inheritor the bitter sibling rivalry he needed to suffer through, and eventually resolve, with Ishmael. <\/span><\/p>\n

Twins were not in the plans – but, behold! Isaac’s hopes for simplicity are dashed by God’s plan for complexity. His reaction? He simply chooses the firstborn, and pushes Jacob to the sidelines. He marginalizes him, beginning with the name he gives him: \u201cthe heel.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Ironically, Isaac’s attitude prevents him from recognizing his natural affinity with Jacob, who is also a ‘simple man.’ Isaac pushes Jacob to overcome his natural innocence and to give new meaning to his name by acting subversively to win the birthright. If Isaac isn’t ready for the complexity that comes with recognizing the value of each brother in his own right, then that complexity will come to be embodied within the paradoxical personality of Jacob himself, the man of truth who is always lying. <\/span><\/p>\n

Apparently, a simple legacy is just not meant to be the lot of the Jewish people. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(Starring in the roles of the struggling twins: Noam and Yonah Benstein, c. 1999. Photo: Jeremy Benstein).<\/em><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":37885,"id":37885,"title":"Slide1","filename":"Slide1.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Slide1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-challenge-of-complexity\/slide1\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"slide1","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":37883,"date":"2018-08-15 08:40:45","modified":"2019-07-21 14:11:56","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Slide1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Slide1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Slide1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Slide1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Slide1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Slide1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Slide1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Slide1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"The Challenge of Complexity","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Twins were not in the plans - 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