Who We Are - CHRONICLE Online/The WORD 11/20/25

Weekly On-line Rabbi's D'var-Torah

November 20, 2025

29 Cheshvan 5786

Parashat Toldot

Maya Angelou famously taught us, “When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.”  The problem is that many people try very hard to hide who they really are.

We see two instances of it in this week’s Torah portion.  First, in Genesis 26:7, Isaac told Rebecca to pretend that she was his sister instead of his wife.  It’s a little trick he learned from his father Abraham who asked the same thing of Sarah twice.  He was afraid that local leaders might do him harm in order to take Rebecca from him.  When Avimelech – the local king – found out what Isaac had done, he was furious.  I think that most modern readers would agree with Avimelech that it was a terrible thing to do.

Later in the very same Torah portion, we find out that, apparently, Rebecca learned well from her husband.  She told their son Jacob to pretend that he was Esau in order to trick Isaac into blessing HER favorite son instead of HIS favorite son.  It worked.  This time, it was Esau who was angry.

This hiding of identities or taking on someone else’s identity continued throughout the Book of Genesis.  Leah pretended to Rachel.  Tamar tricked Judah into believing she was a harlot instead of his daughter-in-law.  Joseph concealed his true identity from his brothers.

It’s hard to know who people are when they are working so hard to conceal their true selves!

Over the last 2+ years, Jewish Americans have gotten to know who our allies are.  As antisemitism and anti-Zionism exploded across this country, our neighbors showed us who they really are.  They couldn’t hide and they couldn’t pretend to be something that they weren’t.  While we were disappointed by some, we also know that many of our neighbors stepped up to support us and to fight antisemitism.  

Thanksgiving is an opportunity for us to stand side-by-side with our allies to thank them and to thank God for them.  So, I hope that everyone will find the Interfaith Thanksgiving service that is closest to them and join with our neighbors to say thanks.  After all, it’s an opportunity for us to show them who we are.

Shalom,

RAF