And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you have become far too big for us.” So, Isaac departed from there and encamped in the wadi of Gerar, … But when Isaac’s servants, digging in the wadi, found there a well of spring water, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” … And when they dug another well, they disputed over that one also; … He moved from there and dug yet another well… Breysheet / Genesis 26:16-22 (Excerpted)
Our teacher, the Chatam Sofer (1) writes, according to the Philistines, Isaac’s success stemmed from his ability to exploit their land’s fertility; because they were jealous of Isaac, they banished him. Avimelech essentially tells Isaac to go away “for you have become mighty on our account. All your newfound wealth came from us and at our expense. It was only when Isaac continued to thrive in the Negev, an area not known for its fertility that Avimelech reluctantly acknowledges that Isaac was truly blessed by God and had not taken advantage of his people.
There is an eerie familiarity to Isaac’s experience at the hands of Avimelech and the Philistines as he faces false accusations of overreaching, of inordinate power and control. The persistence of these all too familiar antisemitic tropes embedding within conspiracy theories which are proliferating in the American mainstream and normalized in our public discourse as they are platformed by noted online personalities.
Tucker Carlson’s recent platforming of Nick Fuentes reveals a broad ecosystem of digital extremism which is being consumed by a growing audience of young Americans who are embracing these radical viewpoints. It is part of a populist politics that warps structural grievances and societal problems into antisemitic narratives placing Jews at the center of national discontent and marks the Jewish community as a target of their animus. This flood of antisemitic content has left us as American Jews anxious with many in the Jewish community limiting overt expressions of Jewishness in public venues.
The patriarchal narrative above concludes with Abimelech’s realization that his presumptions about Isaac were in error and that he and his people wished to restore the good relations which had existed previously. Throughout these events, Isaac has remained true to himself and authentic in his beliefs; engaging with those who would listen open-mindedly and building relationships with them just as his father Abraham had done. It is a reminder to us to avail ourselves of opportunities for engagement with non-Jewish neighbors, co-workers, and others we encounter in honest discourse and with an awareness that it is the non-Jewish world which chooses to either embrace or reject antisemitism.
I invite you to listen to an excellent discussion of this issue by The Hartman Institute’s Identity/Crisis podcast with Hartman’s Yehuda Kurtzer and Yair Rosenberg, staff writer at The Atlantic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQhKi0VzG5k
Shabbat Shalom –
Rabbi David M. Eligberg
1 Rabbi Moshe Schreiber (September 24, 1762 – October 3, 1839), was an Austro-Hungarian rabbi and one of the leading Orthodox rabbis of European Jewry in the first half of the 19th century.
As the rabbi of the city of Pressburg, now Bratislava (in Slovakia), the Chatam Sofer advocated for strong communal life and excellence in Jewish education establishing a Yeshiva which became one of the most influential in Central Europe, producing hundreds of future leaders of Hungarian Jewry.
Sofer was uncompromising in his opposition to the nascent Reform movement, which was attracting many Jews, and the radical change it represented to him.
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