WRJ Voices: Tol'dot

Fifty-one years ago this week, I became a bat mitzvah. Fifty-one years ago, I read from the Torah, and the parashah was Tol’dot – the same words that we read this Shabbat.

Being a “saver,” I still have the composition notebook in which my rabbi had me work on everything for my Bat Mitzvah. As I read through it recently, I realized that my “take” on the verses I was reading was, in fact, what he told me it was. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience of becoming a Bat Mitzvah – the studying, the learning, and the “presenting” – so I never felt that my rabbi had imposed his opinion of the meaning of the portion on me.

What I learned was – Isaac – old, Rebekah - loving mother to Jacob (and not so much to Esau), Jacob – good, Esau - bad. I spent my entire life thinking poorly of Esau.

I am the associate dean of the Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. In that capacity, I have the pleasure of hearing our 4th and 5th year rabbinic students give their sermons. Several years ago, a student spoke about Esau – and my “whole world” was turned upside down. By the time the sermon was over, I was much more sympathetic to Esau’s life and more critical of Rebekah and Jacob. Basically, the student helped me see the full picture and challenged me to view all of them as human beings.

I felt such joy. Not because I no longer felt I had to “despise” Esau but because this young rabbinical student gave me permission to delve into the text and understand the real humanity in it – that Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau were simply human beings trying to find their way through individual challenges. I was reminded that it was and is my responsibility as a Reform Jew to find time to read Torah – to “turn it over and over” – so that I am continually challenging myself to view the text through different lenses. In doing so, I not only grow as a human being but especially as a Reform Jew. I continue to build on the relationship I have had with Torah since I became a Bat Mitzvah, but, via the teaching of new “generations” of rabbis, I am invited to look even deeper into the text and shape an understanding of it for myself. 

When I hear the words of Tol’dot (which I am afforded the opportunity every November!), I am reminded of what I thought I knew when I was 13 and what I have come to understand now. It’s not that I was wrong when I was younger, and now I am right. It is, instead, about Tol’dot – the “generations” of rabbis with whom I have studied and learned (and taught). I have a front seat to watching our Reform rabbinical students evolve into their rabbinate. The best part is that I benefit from their learning as I hear it through their responses in my course in leadership and in the sermons they give.

As Women of Reform Judaism, we have played a critical role in the history of the Hebrew Union College. I challenge all of us – in whatever way possible - to engage in the study for which our rabbinic, education, cantorial, and non-profit management students have been prepared. If you are near one of our three stateside campuses, find out how you might engage in some form of learning. If you aren’t, speak with a Jewish professional with whom you feel comfortable and express an interest in further developing your understanding of the Torah text. Make sure you no longer carry around your own individual “attitude about Esau.” There is much to be learned as we continue to go from “strength to strength!”

Dr. Madelyn Katz is a WRJ Board Member and Associate Dean at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. She led the first WRJ Wilkenfeld International Women's Leadership Seminar in London in 2016.