The Ballad of Jacob Isaacson
Toldot, VaYetzei, VaYishlach
אStanding, as the river at the Ford of Jabbok,and your fleeing heart and your deceitful talk, are flowing.Messengers sent, arrive, return From the place of Red, to where you return, to the land where you are going.You’re a lord, you’re a servant, you’re the younger brother in fact And your story is revealed in the words you speak, and how you act.
Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson
בYou’re Man of two Cultures, born wrestling your twincatch his ankle as he emerges from within your suffering mother Rebecca’s the Matriarch, she’s totally thereBut you’d never dare talk about her with your brotherBecause she favoured one culture, the shepherd, not the hunter; it’s true.She deceived her own blind husband so the blessing would go to you.
Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson
גSun sets; your head, on stones you restthe god,of your father by whom you were blessed,plants dreams of a climbing ladder!You’re a refugee, from the threat of death you fled,Birthright repo man, to the well where flocks are fedYou moved a boulder!Empty-handed lover, seeks a beauty fit to bear future kings;Offer labour for a bride price, 7 years ‘stead of camels and rings
Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson
דYou love that girl, so seven years seemed seven days;That first sight kiss - while she waters, you gaze - led to weeping.Like you, Lavan deceives the blindSo on your wedding night, so unkind,with her older sister you end up sleepingSo you fulfill your week with a veiled unhappy bride;Then you took her comely barren sister, whom you love, to the tent, just outside.
Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson
הWell the birds and bees of goats; to be a shepherdThe laws of the mammal, and of the herd, are your only teachers. By DNA pillars, by trade in mandrakes Not how to kill wild beasts, but how to mate domesticated creatures11 sons, 1 daughter and flocks born in the hills of Harran, 20 years’ worth of grazing, far from the Promised Land. Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson
ו You lived off the land in the great outdoorsBut it’s time to go back. What you did is yours.Wives. And livestock. Sons. And daughter.Salt licks, saddle bags, fruits of your labourCamels you’ll give to gain favour of your estranged brotherFear. Anxiety. A divided camp. You say:“I’m commanded to return. Deliver me, I pray”
Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson
ז At the Ford of Jabbok, the night before not fleeing, You wrestle a divine human being*;He must be your twin.So evenly matched in mindset, resemblance,that you wrestle in all night endurance , and neither one can winAt the break of dawn he yanks your hip socket with pain So you ask for his blessing, and he gives you a new name:
Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson
ח Your twin you surpassed, you give him half a thousand beastsAnd he parts ways with you, founds Edom in the eastDoesn’t kill you; doesn’t share it.For a moral claim, give a material offerFrom the face of God Esau’s face doesn’t differ;* You and your brother each inherit. Leave Laban behind, reconcile with Esau your brotherSo when your father breathes his last you can bury him, both, together.
Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson
אStanding, as the river at the Ford of Jabbok,and your fleeing heart and your deceitful talk, are flowing.Messengers sent, arrive, return From the place of Red, to where you return, to the land where you are going.You’re a lord, you’re a servant, you’re the younger brother in fact And your story is revealed in the words you speak, and how you act.
Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson
בYou’re Man of two Cultures, born wrestling your twincatch his ankle as he emerges from within your suffering mother Rebecca’s the Matriarch, she’s totally thereBut you’d never dare talk about her with your brotherBecause she favoured one culture, the shepherd, not the hunter; it’s true.She deceived her own blind husband so the blessing would go to you.
Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson
גSun sets; your head, on stones you restthe god,of your father by whom you were blessed,plants dreams of a climbing ladder!You’re a refugee, from the threat of death you fled,Birthright repo man, to the well where flocks are fedYou moved a boulder!Empty-handed lover, seeks a beauty fit to bear future kings;Offer labour for a bride price, 7 years ‘stead of camels and rings
Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson
דYou love that girl, so seven years seemed seven days;That first sight kiss - while she waters, you gaze - led to weeping.Like you, Lavan deceives the blindSo on your wedding night, so unkind,with her older sister you end up sleepingSo you fulfill your week with a veiled unhappy bride;Then you took her comely barren sister, whom you love, to the tent, just outside.
Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson
הWell the birds and bees of goats; to be a shepherdThe laws of the mammal, and of the herd, are your only teachers. By DNA pillars, by trade in mandrakes Not how to kill wild beasts, but how to mate domesticated creatures11 sons, 1 daughter and flocks born in the hills of Harran, 20 years’ worth of grazing, far from the Promised Land. Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson
ו You lived off the land in the great outdoorsBut it’s time to go back. What you did is yours.Wives. And livestock. Sons. And daughter.Salt licks, saddle bags, fruits of your labourCamels you’ll give to gain favour of your estranged brotherFear. Anxiety. A divided camp. You say:“I’m commanded to return. Deliver me, I pray”
Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson
ז At the Ford of Jabbok, the night before not fleeing, You wrestle a divine human being*;He must be your twin.So evenly matched in mindset, resemblance,that you wrestle in all night endurance , and neither one can winAt the break of dawn he yanks your hip socket with pain So you ask for his blessing, and he gives you a new name:
Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson
ח Your twin you surpassed, you give him half a thousand beastsAnd he parts ways with you, founds Edom in the eastDoesn’t kill you; doesn’t share it.For a moral claim, give a material offerFrom the face of God Esau’s face doesn’t differ;* You and your brother each inherit. Leave Laban behind, reconcile with Esau your brotherSo when your father breathes his last you can bury him, both, together.
Jacob as Israel redefined: Strive-with-beings-human-and-divineOh! Jacob Isaacson