To Struggle: What It Means To Be A Jewish
Elena Zafrul
Professor Robert Cargill
Judaism, Christianity and Islam 032:001:A01-A12
16 September 2012
To Struggle : What It Means To Be a Jewish A foundational part of being Jewish is to struggle. Throughout history, the Jewish people have struggled both physically - with the hardships that they had to face – and intellectually - with what is called a cognitive dissonance. In fact, one of the earliest struggles can be traced back to the prophet Jacob, who had to struggle with God himself. By writing this paper, I wish to explain why ‘to struggle’ is such a foundational part in the Jewish tradition through the story of ‘Jacob’s wrestling with God’ and two other examples which are the story of ‘King David and Bathsheba’ and ‘Abraham and Sarah’. From the Hebrew Bible, a story is told on how the name of Israel came to be. Jacob, the son of Isaac was said to have a wrestling match with God himself. “Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.” (Gen 32:25) Before the wrestle, Jacob took his wives, servants and …show more content…
No woman would ever want to be given away by her own husband, and pretend that the man she loves is her brother. Sarah must have had a hard time getting used to what she was told to do. However, even though Sarah kept her struggle to herself, God knew about it, for God knows everything. The Pharaoh later finds out that Sarah is actually the wife of Abraham, so he lets her go. Not only that, Abraham is allowed to bring all his belongings with him as well. God did not put Sarah’s sacrifice to a waste. If Sarah had protested to God’s will, Abraham would have been killed, and he would have never become the ‘father of Israel’. This is why Sarah’s story can be a good example as to why ‘to struggle’ is such a foundational part in the Jewish
Professor Robert Cargill
Judaism, Christianity and Islam 032:001:A01-A12
16 September 2012
To Struggle : What It Means To Be a Jewish A foundational part of being Jewish is to struggle. Throughout history, the Jewish people have struggled both physically - with the hardships that they had to face – and intellectually - with what is called a cognitive dissonance. In fact, one of the earliest struggles can be traced back to the prophet Jacob, who had to struggle with God himself. By writing this paper, I wish to explain why ‘to struggle’ is such a foundational part in the Jewish tradition through the story of ‘Jacob’s wrestling with God’ and two other examples which are the story of ‘King David and Bathsheba’ and ‘Abraham and Sarah’. From the Hebrew Bible, a story is told on how the name of Israel came to be. Jacob, the son of Isaac was said to have a wrestling match with God himself. “Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.” (Gen 32:25) Before the wrestle, Jacob took his wives, servants and …show more content…
No woman would ever want to be given away by her own husband, and pretend that the man she loves is her brother. Sarah must have had a hard time getting used to what she was told to do. However, even though Sarah kept her struggle to herself, God knew about it, for God knows everything. The Pharaoh later finds out that Sarah is actually the wife of Abraham, so he lets her go. Not only that, Abraham is allowed to bring all his belongings with him as well. God did not put Sarah’s sacrifice to a waste. If Sarah had protested to God’s will, Abraham would have been killed, and he would have never become the ‘father of Israel’. This is why Sarah’s story can be a good example as to why ‘to struggle’ is such a foundational part in the Jewish