Full disclosure: I am an #OldestSibling.
Growing up, I had a soft spot in my heart for oldest siblings in Torah. As I read in Torah the tales in which eldest children like Manasseh and Reuben (featured in this week's Torah Portion) and like Ishmael, Esau and Miriam (Aaron, too - though Miriam is the eldest) were left without the inheritance or pathways to leadership that they had been acculturated to expect. Whether by subterfuge or circumstance, the theme of subversion of birth order in which "the older will come to serve the younger" is commonplace in the Torah - especially in the book of Genesis. And, as a child, I had a soft spot for these forsaken oldest siblings.
As I read these parshiyot as an adult, however, I wonder whether this pattern of the subversion of birth order actually points to an important lesson in what it means to be Jewish - and indeed, human: to question and overthrow oppressive systems.
The Torah paints a picture of a society in which primogeniture (the right of succession belonging to the first born, esp. firstborn son) is the assumed cultural norm. Yet, we see over and over again in our text examples of this system being subverted not merely by human actors - but guided by a divine hand!
When Jacob wrestles with the ish (angel? man?), he begs for a blessing. As the dawn begins to break his adversary says to Jacob, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have struggled with beings divine and human, and have prevailed (Gen. 32:29)." As b'nei Yisrael - inheritors of the tradition of our God-wrestling ancestor - we are also called upon and empowered to "struggle with beings divine and human" and prevail.
But what are these "beings" with which we are called upon to struggle? Perhaps, like Jacob's, these "beings" are not human, but rather are societal structures and assumptions. Like our ancestors did throughout the Torah by subverting the rule of primogeniture and elevating younger-siblings like Moses, Ephraim, Rachel, Judah, Benjamin, Joseph, and David to positions of prominence and leadership, perhaps we in our day are called to do the same. Let us live by their example as we wrestle in our attempt to question and overthrow the oppressive systems of our generation:
xenophobia, hyper-partisanship, systemic racism, ableism, climate denial/ apathy.
As we read Parshat Vayechi this Shabbat and watch as Jacob crosses his arms to place his right hand on the head of Joseph's younger son Ephraim, may we feel a surge of empowerment to do the same: to use our hands to guide the world beyond the easy and the assumed, and towards justice.
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