Questions or Answers? - Reflections on Parashat Toldot

Toldot seems to be my parasha this year, in addition to speaking at CSAIR tonight and tomorrow afternoon, I also have a dvar torah published for the Assembly of Masorti Synagogues in the UK.

For now it's here but since I expect that link to change I have included the text after the jump.

Zalman's Dungeon: The Monster today

Zalman's Dungeon: The Monster today.

Check out my brother Jeremy's post on the subject of Giants and Shelach Lecha. Shabbat shalom!

Sleeping Giants - Reflections on Parashat Shelach Lecha

Gigantomachy, war of the giants, is my new favourite word.

Originating from Greek mythology, the idea that in primeval days great battles were fought against Titans and Giants is common to both Classical and Norse myth - but it also occurs in the Biblical tradition.

The Bible has a three-fold tension with giants, recurring at three key moments in the history of Israel - Gen 6 that discusses the Prediluvian Giants (pre-flood and another of my favourite words), Numbers - Deuteronomy, that deals with the giants of the land, and the story of King David and his followers in Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, that show his great warriors slaying the last of these foes.

But there is a key difference between our wars with the giants and those of other mythologies. The Greek Titans were defeated by Zeus, the Frost Giants were constantly fought by Thor and Odin. Yet in our stories, the giants are fought by normal human beings.

Or were they also giants?