Jacob: Deceiver or Overcomer?
Jacob Wrestles with An Angel Genesis 32:24-28. English text below "Jacob is a liar and a thief". " Judaism is a religion of deceit, not to be trusted." Martin Luther himself, who veered into virulent antisemitism wrote that "Jews are a rabble to be burned" in his work " On the Jews and Their Lies" in 1543 mis-translated Jacob as "deceiver" as a foundation for his antisemitic views and suggested violence against Jews. ("Jacob" actually means "he followed", since he was the second of two twins delivered) Jacob as deceiver was a central trope for millennia of antisemites: I believe this Torah portion proves exactly the opposite and makes any thoughtful reader re-examine that idea. The life of being Abraham’s grandson was a lonely one. He always seems to be a man alone: Fleeing his home alone, "with only his staff". Alone in the wilderness sleeping with a rock and seeing a ladder to heaven, ange...