There is a discussion going on the point of this post is just to post an excerpt from a book, that I'd meant to translate the last time this subject came up, and now finally have. But just so you know why I'm posting this now, a short and slightly incoherent prelude:

newredshoes made a post about very general elements of being a Jew in the US (I'm trying to both narrow it down and generalize as much as I can). I hesitate to get involved in that discussion, not because I disagree in particular with anything she's said -- I don't even feel like I have the authority to -- but because it's nearly impossible to find a common denominator in Judaism that won't make someone feel excluded. Jewish identity is pretty much a mess, and different cultures and individuals follow different traditions and define themselves differently. I don't have any complaints about the post -- newredshoes makes these disclaimers herself -- and it can serve as a great introduction for learning about a certain type of Judaism, if people are looking for a gateway to start off from. As long as people remember that it's only a fraction of the diversity that's out there, both in traditions and in levels of observance.

(As an aside, I'll add that in fandom, the first thing I do when writing fanfic about Jewish characters that references their religion, is sit down and try to decide what kind of Jews they are. How were they raised? Do they believe in God? Which traditions do they follow, to what extent, and why? How many times a year, if at all, do they go to synagogue? How familiar and how involved are they with the kind of classic-secular-Ashkenazi-Yiddish-Jewish culture and humor that are portrayed in Hollywood, a la Mel Brooks and Woody Allen and Fran Fine, et cetera? Lisa Cuddy, Jeremy Goodwin, Ziva David and Adam Lambert are all very different kinds of Jews, and even the four of them are just grazing the surface.)

Anyway, as had happened in the past in the context of discussions of Judaism, the subject of the "vengeful Old Testament God" arose. Now, I admit: I wasn't really aware of the idea of a vengeful and angry Old Testament God until it was brought up in discussions such as these over past few years on LJ, for a few reasons: One, having grown up in a dominantly Jewish and secular environment, God was just God, never in comparison with some kind of other, transformed, New Testament God. Two, I guess I either wasn't exposed to or wasn't aware of such comparisons being made in the American TV I watched or the English language books I read. Three, honestly, I was never too concerned about the nature of God or his temperament. I enjoyed reading the Bible on a very shallow level -- interesting storytelling and good drama -- but for me, each story stands on its own. I haven't read the entire Bible cover to cover, so even if you asked me to I could never make up a comprehensive assessment of God's character, vengeful or not, especially in comparison with the NT which I have read very little of.

But anyway, as I have grown to realize, the phrase and usage of "vengeful OT God" do in fact exist. And are promptly rebutted whenever these discussions arise, so I'm aware of the fact that I'm not really needed here to flesh out God's character or anything (especially given as I am an atheist). nextian has also made a post about different facets of God in the (Hebrew) Bible, as a response to the same phrase.

One of the BTW examples that I've seen people bring up is the relationship between God and his followers in the Bible, mainly the ones who stand up to him, who negotiate. The ones God actually listens to. And I think those stories are awesome, because -- well, basically because they're awesome, really. And though I'm not a great Biblical scholar, now and then I do enjoy reading a textual/literary analysis of Biblical stories, which is what this entire post has been leading up to, other than letting me ramble and procrastinate.

I've mentioned in the past Meir Shalev's book In the Beginning: Firsts in the Bible, which is basically a collection of meta essays about different stories in the Bible, written by a modern Israeli author. I've posted excerpts before, a few quotes from Genesis, and, in the heyday of my Kings addiction, some excerpts about David.

Today, I bring to you Meir Shalev's interpretation of the story of Jacob and his dream, and the arrangement he negotiated with God. Translation's mine; if it's awkward, it's because I tried to stay true to the source. I used King James for the Bible quotes. I think it's interesting; hope whoever reads this does too.

If God will be with me

And now God returned to repeating the familiar versions of "And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth", and promised Jacob that a great nation would be born of him. Going by his previous conversations with Abraham and Isaac, one can assume that were it up to Him, the dream would end here. But luckily enough Jacob remembered that the dream was his dream, and so God was forced to revert from the festive, national subject of the People of Israel in the far future, to the small yet troubling problem of the lone dreamer right now: the long and frightening journey that awaited Jacob, from his mother's tent in Canaan to her family's in distant Haran.

"And behold, I am with thee," God reassured him, "and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."

The words are surprising and touching. Even Abraham hadn't received so personal a promise before leaving on the same journey, in the opposite direction. And lest we forget that Abraham had journeyed because of a divine commandment, while Jacob's journey was his mother's idea.

Jacob woke up. "Surely the Lord is in this place," he said, "and I knew it not." He was frightened: "How dreadful is this place," and realized: "This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." And so he lay until morning, maybe even fell asleep again, and when he woke he poured oil on the stone he'd used as a pillow and changed the name of the place from Luz to Beth El.

And then Jacob made a vow, and the vow is far more important than God's words in his dream, because God's words hadn't renewed anything fundamental not deviated from anything He'd said before, while Jacob's vow redefined the relationship between God and man. Out of the faith and the awe, the joy and the trembling that accompanied the dream and the awakening, his voice rose, and it was a bold and different voice, that not only the readers but God himself had not heard before. "If God will be with me," he said, "and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God."

On the surface, it seems like an elaboration of technical details to do with the journey, but one must not be mistaken. Jacob's first word – "If" – announced to God that standing in front of him was a new kind of believer. First of all, it is politely skeptic of God's word, and raises the possibility that He won't keep his promise. Second – because "if" is a conditional word, it speaks of a stipulation: if God keeps His word, then He will be my god. And if He doesn't? The answer is unsaid, but it floats in the air, clear and logical: He will not be my god. He may be someone else's god, but not mine. I'll find myself another one.

The impression of his words was so vast, that five hundred years later, on Mt. Sinai, God opened the ten commandments with the words: "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage," and only then did He say: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." In other words – he preceded and announced that He had lived up to His end of the bargain, and only then demanded to be the one and only God of Israel. He had remembered and internalized that conversation with Jacob, with the ancestor of the children of Israel, who were standing at the foot of the mountain. He spoke to them thus, so that so that they would not be able to stipulate Him with "if"s, as Jacob had done.

bread to eat, and raiment to put on

But Jacob was not satisfied with just that. He also took the version of God's proposal as given to him in his dream, worked on it, and like a good lawyer returned it with corrections. The reader is welcome to look at his wisdom and punctiliousness.

First, allow me to quote back God's original proposal to Jacob: "I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."

And Jacob's reply to God: "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God."

The differences are Jacob's corrections, which are fascinating.

God proposed: "And I will keep the in all places whither thou goest."

Jacob corrected: "And keep me in this way that I go."

In other words, I am not interested in general promises, I want protection and security in this particular journey, from here to Haran and back.

God had only mentioned "I will keep (protect) thee", and Jacob added to that protection two other counts: "And will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on." In other words, I am not satisfied with just the safety of my life, God must also care for their standard and quality.

God promised: "And I will bring thee again into this land."

Jacob corrected: "So that I come again to my father's house in peace."

He added the word "peace" to clarify that he would not be satisfied by just returning, but by returning in good condition. And as he had with "whither thou goest", here too he corrected the very general wording of "into this land" to the very specific "to my father's house". That is, it's not enough to return to some place within the borders of the land, but to his family, which he was forced to leave. In fact, he is saying that his father's house, his family, are more important to him than the land that God had just promised him.

This and more: "into this land" can also be interpreted as returning to the place where Jacob is standing right now, and seeing as Jacob had just named the place Beth El [House of God], Jacob's words can be understood as saying: "I don't want to return to your home, I want to return to mine."

God's proposal and Jacob's corrections reveal the conflict of interest that lies between them. God has a grand plan, and is farseeing. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are nothing but milestones on the road He's paving, rungs on the ladder and nothing else. But contrary to Abraham, Jacob wasn't willing to accept this role as is. He made clear to God something that should have been made clear to Him long ago: that not only God, but the man standing before Him also had demands that should be taken into account. That even if this man had an important historical-national role to fill, he also had private needs of here and now, was also troubled by personal issues. "Whiter thou goest" is God's all encompassing, general point of view. "This way that I go" is the particular reality that occupies Jacob's mind, complete with minute details like food and clothing that do not occupy God's mind at all.

The second aspect of Jacob's words is the more important one: as I've said, the preface of "If" sets a clear condition for God, and determines that if He doesn't uphold it He will have to go look for another believer. The underlying basis for this term is the perception that God needs Jacob as Jacob needs God. And no less important: from now on, God knows that Jacob knows it.

This is also the meaning of the angels Jacob saw in his dream. The climb up and down the ladder and thus become a symbol of a symmetrical, two-way relationship. They travel between God and Jacob and indicate giving and taking on both ends. Indeed, the head of the ladder is at the top and the tail is at the bottom, but the angels' movement sets a certain kind of equality between the two sides.

To God's credit it should be said that despite the surprise, he didn't respond too harshly to Jacob's boldfaced words. In my humble opinion, after the initial shock He even felt affection towards what He'd just heard. Up until now He had had foolish and childish believers like Adam and Eve, insulted and murderous believers like Cain, righteous and obeying believers like Noah and Abraham, insolent believers like the builders of the tower of Babylon, evil and sinful like the flood-generation people and the people of Sodom – and suddenly, a kind of skeptic and demanding believer, with an entirely new mindset, almost insolent, but how bold and original and interesting.

And Jacob added another line: "And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house," that is, in this place I will build a temple.

It's possible that these words were given to Jacob by the author, who himself lived at a later time period, of organized and institutionalized religion, and must also give some attention to the income of priests. But I hope that he was trying to characterize Jacob with another bold wink towards the skies. When he promises God to build Him a house, he's pointing out the similarities between them. The difference between us isn't so big, he's telling Him, we both have material needs. And as we took care of my food and clothing, we'll also take care of your house and your sacrifices.

And indeed, in the next verse Jacob goes on to say: "And of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee." This too is a condition: if I receive from you, I will give to your priests, and since a tenth means ten percent, Jacob is making it clear to God: the amount I give to your priests depends on the amount you give me. You can sense the smile on his lips, as if saying: let's not play dumb, let's not hide behind "to the west and to the east" and "even as the sand that is on the sea shore" and all the other big words and grand promises. We both know that religion is not only faith and prophecy, and not just promised land and chosen people and moral prophecies. It's also temple, priests and altars. It’s sacrifices and tenths. It's Chief Rabbis, go-getters, political lobbyists and kashrut supervisors, and their livelihoods must all be taken care of.

As an aside, I'll also mention that Jacob's involvement with calculating tenths also indicates something more personal about his own field of interests. Jacob's first words in the Bible, near the end of chapter 25 of Genesis, are: "Sell me this day thy birthright", spoken to Esau. His final words, at the end of chapter 49, are: "The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth", that he spoke to his children, gathered around him as he died. Jacob's life had love and passion, bereavement and longing, loss and pain, fear and its overcoming. But the Bible preferred to emphasize its business side, began it with talk of selling and ended it with talks of buying. And thus, in a contractual, businesslike manner, not as a foolish devout person nor as an exalted obeyer, as Esau had stood before him and as he would stand before Laban and before the man with whom he will struggle at the crossing of Yabok, Jacob stood in his dream before his God.