There is an old story of a grandparent who was walking on the beach with a grandchild. They were enjoying a wonderful time together when, all of a sudden, a huge wave came onto the beach, sweeping the grandchild away. The panicky, fearful grandparent looked heavenward and pleaded, “Please, God, save my grandchild!”
Within 10 seconds of the completion of the prayer, another wave rolled toward the beach and deposited the grandchild back on the sand, safe and sound. The grandparent looked the child over thoroughly, looked heavenward and said, “You know, God, there was a hat!”
I have a friend who approached me at the end of Simchat Torah and told me that it’s not too early to begin preparing for Pesach, the next Pilgrimage Festival! Though it may not be quite that imminent, this joke brings to mind the joyous Passover song “Dayyenu!”
As you may recall, this song is a Top 10 list of all of the miraculous events that occurred between the Exodus and the establishment of the Israelite nation in the Promised Land. At the end of the recounting of each of these, all sing the refrain, “Dayyenu!” — “It would have been enough!” At each step of the way, we declare, that alone would have been sufficient, yet we are beneficiaries of all of these blessings, and so the Haggadah instructs us to give thanks.
In the first third of this week’s Torah portion, Vayishlach, we study the story of the reunion of the twins, Jacob and Esau. As you will recall, Jacob had beaten a hasty departure from the family after tricking Isaac into giving him his blessing intended for Esau. Upon learning that, once again, Jacob had usurped his position as firstborn, he vows to kill his brother. So, at the urging of his coconspirator, their mother, Rebecca, Isaac flees to live with her brother, Lavan.
Over the years, Jacob became the husband of four wives, sired 11 sons and a daughter and acquired considerable material wealth. As the portion begins, Jacob sends messengers to scout the location of his brother and to ascertain his mood. In addition, he sends a considerable display of wealth with which he hopes to find favor in Esau’s eyes.
When the two brothers meet face to face, Esau asks to whom all of these belong and to whom they are being sent. Jacob responds by informing Esau that these are gifts to him, perhaps as reparation for the blessings that he had obtained through trickery
over two decades earlier. Instead of accepting Jacob’s offering, however, Esau says, “I have enough, my brother; let what you have remain yours.” (Genesis 33:9)
“I have enough.”
Who ever says this? Certainly, no one in our present world. Years ago, there was a bumper sticker that said it all: “Whoever has the most toys wins!” No matter how wealthy individuals may be, they continue to pursue even more.
I know from growing up in retail that there is tremendous pressure placed on employees to produce even more each year, each quarter, each month, each week. In management meetings in one of the hospitals in which I worked, we were told over and over again the importance of each department becoming a revenue-producing one. Even as a nonprofit hospital, there was pressure to increase revenue.
You may recall the 1987 film “Wall Street” in which the phrase “Greed is good!”defined an essential component of American life. I have lived to see the Forbes 500 go from millionaires to billionaires! The lives of the rich and famous fascinate many who aspire to accumulating such wealth as well as those who have no chance at doing so.
The rabbis villainized Esau as the ancestor of Herod and the symbol of Roman oppression but, in the text from this week’s Parashah, there is no doubt that Esau gets it right.
Having just celebrated Thanksgiving, a holiday dedicated to cultivating an attitude of gratitude, we celebrated that we, too, have enough. Dayyenu! We sit at a table filled with magnificent food, surrounded by beloved family and friends. We have the first world problem of what to do with the leftovers. We have our health. We have all of the necessities of life. We have enough. Instead of the pursuit of more and more, we could appreciate the blessings that wealth cannot buy, as well as those that can be purchased.
Esau demonstrates the attitude that leads to peace of mind as well as to gratitude:
“I have enough, my brother, let what you have remain yours.”
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Josef Davidson is a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, which coordinates the d’var Torah for the Jewish Light.
