{"id":77738,"date":"2020-07-20T16:40:14","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T13:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=77738"},"modified":"2020-07-20T16:40:14","modified_gmt":"2020-07-20T13:40:14","slug":"redeeming-edom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/redeeming-edom\/","title":{"rendered":"Redeeming Edom"},"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":[],"acf":{"old_id":"77738","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":73524,"related_cahpter":"528","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Mutual animosity is a fate that can be changed","content":"

Obadiah presents a harsh prophecy against Edom, but ultimately, the principles that Obadiah espouses reflect natural, universal justice. All the nations that stood against Jerusalem will share Edom’s fate – however, his singling out of Edom is crucial. Rabbinic thought has succinctly encapsulated the tricky relationship between the Jewish people and Edom in a well-known Midrash that describes the reunion of Esau and Jacob after decades of separation:<\/span><\/p>\n

And Esau ran toward him [Jacob] and embraced him, and he fell on his neck, and he kissed him, and they wept (Genesis 33:4). “<\/span>And he kissed him<\/span><\/em>” is dotted (in the Torah, there is a dot over each letter) because he did not kiss him sincerely. R\u2019 Shimon bar Yochai said: It is a known principle of law (<\/span>halacha<\/span><\/em>) that Esau hates Jacob, but at that moment, he kissed him with all of his heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

For many, Esau’s attitude reflects the attitude of the other nations to the Jewish people in general. As Rabbi Moshe Lichtenstein has noted, rabbinic thought identified Edom with the Roman Empire. However, this identification was one-directional:<\/span><\/p>\n

Pagan Rome never had any pretensions about a special relationship with Israel, but rather it viewed Israel as a nation like all others \u2026 their attitude towards us was not one of competition or rejoicing over our misfortune \u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, history intervened, and suddenly a new entity appeared, who appeared to fit the criterion of Edom perfectly:<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the ascendancy of Christian Rome replaced this model with an entirely different one. Christianity claims to have replaced Israel and finds itself in constant competition with it. Its attitude toward us is one of happiness over our misfortune and the pretension of having replaced us as the chosen people who received special blessings\u2026 Christianity is Edom, who claims to have inherited Israel’s role and no longer recognizes Israel as the chosen people.<\/span><\/p>\n

For many, the past two millennia of exile in Christian Europe were full of animosity and misery. To them, Obadiah’s vision of a future in which the \u201cEdoms\u201d of the world will be decimated, Mount Seir destroyed, and Mount Zion raised, was a source of comfort and hope.<\/span><\/p>\n

We can understand Obadiah differently, however. The Midrash stated “It is <\/span>halacha<\/span><\/em> that Esau hates Jacob” \u2013 yet no law commands that Jacob hate Esau. The animosity is not inevitable. The rabbis understood that even Edom was worthy of respect and dignity:<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the prophecy here declares, “There shall be no remnant of the house of Esau” (1:18), Rabbi (TB Avoda Zara 10b) interprets this as follows: “(This applies to) those who act like Esau.” This implies that an Edomite may still be redeemed from the fate of Esau. If he abandons the tradition of evil, then he no longer belongs to Esau’s descendants. The close relations between Rabbi and Antoninus prove that not only is the hostility between Israel and Edom not a necessity \u2013 they are even able to recapture their brotherly relationship\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Jacob Steinhardt, Jacob and Esau, woodcut, 1950, courtesy of Yosefa Bar-On Steinhardt<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":49397,"id":49397,"title":"dt2-Jacob Steinhardt, Jacob and Esau","filename":"dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/esau-is-not-rejected\/dt2-jacob-steinhardt-jacob-and-esau\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt2-jacob-steinhardt-jacob-and-esau","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":49383,"date":"2019-02-13 16:55:44","modified":"2022-04-10 11:21:57","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":500,"height":394,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau-300x236.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":236,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","medium_large-width":500,"medium_large-height":394,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","large-width":500,"large-height":394,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","1536x1536-width":500,"1536x1536-height":394,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","2048x2048-width":500,"2048x2048-height":394,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","post_full_size-width":500,"post_full_size-height":394,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","home_baner-width":500,"home_baner-height":394}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Redeeming Edom","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Mutual animosity is a fate that can be changed","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":49397,"id":49397,"title":"dt2-Jacob Steinhardt, Jacob and Esau","filename":"dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/esau-is-not-rejected\/dt2-jacob-steinhardt-jacob-and-esau\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt2-jacob-steinhardt-jacob-and-esau","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":49383,"date":"2019-02-13 16:55:44","modified":"2022-04-10 11:21:57","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":500,"height":394,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau-300x236.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":236,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","medium_large-width":500,"medium_large-height":394,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","large-width":500,"large-height":394,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","1536x1536-width":500,"1536x1536-height":394,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","2048x2048-width":500,"2048x2048-height":394,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","post_full_size-width":500,"post_full_size-height":394,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt2-Jacob-Steinhardt-Jacob-and-Esau.jpg","home_baner-width":500,"home_baner-height":394}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77738"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77739,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77738\/revisions\/77739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}