A word of Torah:    
        In this week leading up to Thanksgiving, we begin the story of Jacob. He will spend his whole life seeking to be blessed. He often will maneuver to get those blessings. He trades a pot of soup to get his brother Esau’s birthright. Jacob dresses in his brother’s clothes to deceive his father Isaac into giving him the blessing meant for Esau. He is a deceiver who will then be tricked into marrying the wrong sister. Ironically, he will be deceived into believing that Joseph, his favorite son, is dead. Once again it is clothing, a coat of many colors, at the center of the deception.  
        When Jacob is finally reunited with Joseph in Egypt, where he will spend the last years of his life, Joseph presents his father to Pharaoh who asks him how old he is. Jacob responds: “The years of my sojourn [on earth] are one hundred and thirty. Few and hard have been the years of my life…” It is striking that he looks over his life as ra—hard or bad, even now when his whole family is together and prospering in Egypt. Jacob has spent his life angling for more and yet remains disappointed with what he has received. He focuses on his failures and losses.
        Jacob is always seeking blessings/approval from others. Even at a moment of success, when he has wrestled all through the night with a “being”—he asks to be blessed. He doesn’t understand that others can’t bless us. We are blessed when we are a blessing to others.
        I think this is why Jacob is chosen to be the father of the Jewish people. He is the most flawed of the patriarchs.  He is most like everyone else. He too often gets lost in a distorted sense of reality. Yet he shows that we all have the ability to wrestle with that which seems beyond us even in the deepest nights of our existence. He has moments of insight when he understands that instead of clutching in fear, he can open his hands to hug his estranged brother in welcome.
        Jacob’s life was a difficult one. His son Joseph’s life was at least as difficult, having been sold into slavery by his own brothers. Yet, at the moment of revelation of his identity to his brothers, Joseph tells them he does not bear them a grudge because his life has been good and has led his family to safety in Egypt during the famine. In contrast to Jacob, Joseph sees that everything in his life had purpose.
        The facts of our lives are true, but our perspective can make all the difference. Are our lives filled with blessings or disappointments?  So much depends on how we choose to see the story of our lives.