By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO–Although we Jews firmly believe we can argue with God, bargaining with God is another story. Of course there is nothing that forbids us from trying to formalize an agreement with God, but if we think we will receive confirmation from above, we are sadly mistaken.
Jacob’s words, therefore, are puzzling. After he fled from his brother, Esau, he married and spent several years outside of Eretz Yisrael. When he decided to return, he fell asleep on the journey and God spoke with him in a dream: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and your offspring. Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth….All the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendant.” (Gen. 28:13-14)
If God had spoken directly to us and given us this great gift, most of us would have simply said, “thanks!” But not Jacob. Instead he played “Let’s Make a Deal” with God: “If God remains with me, if He protects me on this journey that I am making, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and if I return safe to my father’s house-the Lord shall be my God.” (Gen. 28:20-21)
Talk about chutzpah! After all that God had done for Jacob up to that point, how could he be so brazen as to negotiate his faith and obedience conditional on God springing for lunch!
Some commentators, of course, tried to explain away Jacob’s words. Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk wrote that Jacob was not making his faith and obedience conditional on receiving material rewards. Rather, in a forced and questionable interpretation, he said that what Jacob was really asking was that his material blessings come from a divine and not a human source.
Rabbi Shlomo Leib of Lishtena said that Jacob was asking for God to bless the people Israel with health and happiness. Without health and happiness, food becomes mere sustenance rather than a symbol of God’s blessing.
Other commentators, however, found deeper lessons in the literal meaning of Jacob’s speech. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev said: “When a Jew has ‘bread to eat and clothes to wear,’ it is easy to keep in mind ‘the Lord shall be my God.’ However, when a human being is in need, hungry, naked, weak, or ill, physical needs come first. Only after one is fed and clothed and brought back to health do one’s mind and heart turn to that which is spiritual in nature
The Talmud puts it this way: “When there is no bread [food], there is no Torah.” Some religions believe it is their obligation to save people’s souls. Judaism concentrates on saving their bodies. It is only after basic human needs are met that people’s hearts can fully turn to God.
Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (the founder of Chabad Chassidism) and Rabbi Yitzchak of Berditchev once arranged an engagement party for their grandchildren.
Rabbi Shneur Zalman raised his glass to honor and bless Rabbi Yizchak: “Lechaim, my mechutan!* May God grant us material and spiritual blessings!”
Rabbi Shneur Zalman replied. “When Yakov Avinu (Jacob our ancestor) spoke to God, he, too, placed material blessings before spiritual blessings. First he said: ‘If God gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear’ and only then did he add, ‘then the Lord shall be my God.’ If it was good enough for Jacob, then it should be good enough for us!”
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*mechutan is a Yiddish word meaning the parent of one’s son-in-law or daughter-in-law.
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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego