You get a call from the bank that suspicious-looking charges have been posted to your account. It becomes apparent that someone has gotten a hold of your information and used it. You are now a victim of identity theft. How do you feel?
There is no loss more profound and hurtful than the loss of one’s identity. Money can be replaced, valuables come and go – but the self? The sense of invasion experienced when one can no longer claim ownership over his name runs deep.
Almost everyone these days goes through a mid-life crisis. Here, too, the same theme emerges: identity. At the age of forty or fifty, a successful individual wakes up one day and asks, “Who am I?” Although he may be able to count his figures in the bank and point to a house he calls home, his identity crisis shakes the very foundation of his life. What is anything else worth, after all, if one has no identity?
Fortunately, the loss or theft of one’s identity is avoidable. It requires knowledge – one must actively think about one’s purpose and pursue information about it. One who has explored the existential questions of his existence and discovered his true identity will retain it in all circumstances. No fraud or confusion can take away the Self that one has carefully constructed. Unfortunately, those who neglect to do this may in fact be throwing away their identity by choice.
Such an individual was Esau. In this week’s Torah portion, we learn about how he sold his birthright to his twin brother, Yaakov, for a bowl of lentil soup. Imagine: the exalted status of a firstborn meant so little to him that soup was more attractive! Could there be a greater identity crisis?
Apparently, Esau knew nothing about being a firstborn. He did not know of the extra holiness, the opportunities of serving in G-d’s Temple, the elite status, or even of the monetary advantages. Had he known, he would have valued his identity. Had he valued his identity, he would never let go of it. And had he not let it go, he may have actually lived up to his potential and turned out quite differently.
With the abundance of material available today, no one should have to end up like Esau. There are books, articles, classes, and many other media of acquiring knowledge.
As you go about your busy life, seeking to preserve and protect that which you value – your life, your family and your assets – take the time to do the same for the most important thing you have: your identity. Assess your priorities and connect with the essence of who you are. Learn about yourself. Find out what it means to be a Jew.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Mendy
