What I learned about the Book of Genesis through Rabbi Sacks' "Not In God's Name"

In his book Not in God’s Name, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks says that “sibling rivalry is . . . a central motif of the book of Genesis,” and he provides the following examples:

• Cain kills Abel (Genesis 4:8).
• Ishmael and his mother are cast out from living with Abraham, Isaac, and Sarah because Sarah doesn’t want Isaac to share the privileges of being Abraham’s son with Ishmael (Genesis 20:10).
• Jacob lies to his father in his successful attempt to steal the birthright from Esau (Genesis 27:19). In response, Esau says he will kill Jacob (Genesis 27:41) and Jacob then flees from his father’s home (Genesis 27:43, Genesis 28:10).
• Leah and Rachel are jealous of each other. Leah acutely feels the fact that Jacob loves Rachel more than Leah (Genesis 29:30), as evidenced by the names she gives to her children (Genesis 29:32-34). Rachel is not initially able to have children leading to her envy of Leah (Genesis 30:1).
• Joseph’s brothers plot to kill him because of his claimed superiority over them (Genesis 37:18). At Judah’s suggestion, Joseph’s brothers sell Joseph into slavery instead (Genesis 37:27).

We can add one more example of sibling rivalry to our list if we expand our notion of “sibling” to include women married to the same man.

• Sarah insists on Hagar leaving the family not once but twice (Genesis 16:6, Genesis 20:10), which nearly results in Hagar and her son’s death (Genesis 21:14-16).

Within the book of Genesis, there is a sense of momentum: stories of familial conflict become increasingly detailed and once-estranged parties reach deeper levels of reconciliation over time.

Source of Conflict	Ending
The Lord accepts Abel's offering, but not Cain's (Genesis 4:4-5).	Cain kills Abel.
Isaac and Ishmael are forced apart by tensions between Abraham's wives (their respective mothers).	Ishmael and Isaac reunite to bury their father (see Genesis 25:9).
Jacob steals Esau's birthright, Esau tries to kill Jacob in revenge, Jacob runs away.	Jacob initiates contact with Esau (Genesis 32:3-4), gives Esau lavish gifts (Genesis 32:13-18), introduces his entire family to Esau, calls himself Esau's servant, bows before Esau, and the brothers have an emotional reunion (Genesis 33:1-4).
Joseph boasts of being the favorite son; his brothers conspire to kill him (Genesis 37:21-24), but at Judah's suggestion, the brothers sell Joseph into slavery instead (Genesis 37:27-28).	Judah tells a disguised Joseph that he would be willing to be Joseph's slave in place of Benjamin (the new favorite son and thus a type of Joseph) as long as Benjamin can go home free (Genesis 44:18-33). Seeing how his brothers have changed, Joseph reveals his identity and the brothers are reconciled (see Genesis 45:1-16).

What of the women? It is heart-wrenching to think of the pain of Hagar, a single mother in an era when that was unthinkable, and of Leah, the unloved wife. There is no reconciliation in Genesis between Sarah and Hagar or between Rachel and Leah. Rabbi Sacks points out that there is some evidence that the authors of Genesis and the law of Moses resonated with the pain of Leah and Hagar. Deuteronomy 21:15-17 states that if a father has a preferred wife and an unloved wife, the father is not allowed to give the birthright to the firstborn of the loved wife if the firstborn of the unloved wife is older than the firstborn of the loved wife. Rabbi Sacks says that the law in Deuteronomy uses the exact same Hebrew word for ‘unloved’ as is used in reference to Leah and can therefore be understood as a direct critique of Jacob’s behavior in giving his birthright to the Rachel’s son rather than the Leah’s son (page 164-165).

So the Book of Genesis provides evidence that deep familial wounds can and should be healed. The stories get better in the end. For Rabbi Sacks, this promise carries great meaning when we consider that Jews, Christians, and Muslims are all part of the Abrahamic tradition: we are members of the same family. According to Genesis, as well as both Islamic and Jewish tradition, Isaac’s descendants are the Jews and Ishmael’s descendants are the Muslims. Rabbi Sacks interprets these stories of family reconciliation in Genesis in light of modern religious conflicts, tackling thorny questions of chosenness on the way.