Toldot 5777- English

Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik

Congregacion Kol Shearith Israel

In biblical studies, the term “Hapax Legomenon” – from the Greek for “said once” – is applied to those words that only appear once throughout the entire text (there are technical discussions about this) and thus may be difficult to comprehend correctly.  Across the entire Bible, there are approximately 400 words in this situation.

Another linguistic phenomenon associated with this, though less well-known, is the “Dis Legomenon”, words that appear twice in text.  An example of this is found with the verb ‘vayivez’ (despise) which appears for the first time in our Parashah and then again in the Book of Esther. Let us look at both texts:

And Jacob gave Esau bread and a pottage of lentils, and he ate and drank and arose and left, and Esau despised (vayivez) the birthright. (Gen. 25:34)

But it seemed contemptible (vayivez) to him to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him Mordecai's nationality, and Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout Ahasuerus's entire kingdom, Mordecai's people. (Ester 3:6)

The first case is the known story of Jacob trading Esau the birthright for a plate of lentils.  The second case is the moment when the evil Haman decides to exterminate the Jewish people, even though in the end he could not do it due to the intervention of Queen Esther, which we celebrate in Purim. 

This is interesting because the “Dis Legomenon” shows a strong connection between both verses that transcends the grammatical.  In both cases, the despiser is the villain, who will also constitute a serious threat to the continuity of the Jewish people. (As if that were not enough, in rabbinical literature, Esau represents Rome.)

Moreover, Esau and Haman are connected by genealogy (very appropriate for a Parashah called Toldot, “generations”).  The Book of Esther (3:1) tells us that Haman descended from Agag, king of Amalek, and the book of Genesis (36:12) as well as the Book of Chronicles (1:36) tell us that Amalek was 

Esau’s grandson. 

Amalek is the first people to attack the Jews after their exodus from Egypt (Ex. 17:8) and they do it by the rear.  Hence the command to obliterate all memory of Amalek from beneath the heavens (Deut. 25:19).

The “Dis Legomenon” shows us how Esau’s contempt for the birthright and all it represented (according to Rashi it was the service to God) reverberates centuries later in Haman’s attitude and his rejection of Mordechai and the entire Jewish people.  Amalek as the connection between both becomes the enemy par excellence of our people, encompassing all those who have sought throughout history to exterminate us. 

On the other side stand Jacob, Mordechai, Esther and so many others who with decision and courage were able to affirm their ideals and defend them with conviction.

Years pass and history repeats itself. Today, we are the ones who must embrace with determination our identity and preserve it for future generations, protecting it from any type of threat. 

Perhaps in that sense, the Midrash (Bereshit Raba 63:14) explains why Jacob gave his brother a plate of lentils: “Just as lentils are circular, so the world works as a circle.”

Shabbat Shalom

Gustavo