Page 71 - October 7 - Teresa Pirola

“ This piece on Genesis 37, in the light of October 7, emerged as a personal Torah reflection.
14
Is Jacob’s Blindness Ours Too? 10 January 2024 ”
In the Genesis story of Jacob’s son, Joseph, there is a disturbing verse that begins innocently enough, yet leads to violent, tragic consequences.
Jacob sends Joseph on what appears to a simple pastoral errand: ‘Are your brothers not pasturing in Shechem? Go, and I will send you to them ... Go now, look into the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring me back word’ (Genesis 37:13-14).
It is a decision that will prove near fatal for Joseph and we can pause to wonder why Jacob does not seem to realise the danger in which he is placing his favoured son. He is sending the young, naïve Joseph into the midst of his ten older brothers, whom he knows harbour a deep, seething resentment towards Joseph. Further, he is sending Joseph to them in a remote place, far from where he can keep a fatherly eye on things. And he is sending Joseph not to ‘any’ geographical area but to Shechem—a place with a history that is likely to trigger violent memories for the brothers (see Genesis 34:25-26).
What was Jacob thinking? What can we make of this inexplicable blindness regarding what should have been obvious, especially as Jacob himself, with his own personal history in relation to his brother Esau, knows only too well
71