The idea that “history repeats itself” is a well-known cliché. You might also know the other form, in which history may not truly repeat “but it often rhymes.” This is an observable phenomenon in our world and in our personal lives, but it shows up especially strongly in our Torah. While some relegate these similar and perhaps even repetitive narratives to natural consequences of human storytelling, there is a deeper, tangible lesson that we can take from them and their existence.
In this week’s parsha, Toldot, there is (once again, and not for the last time) a famine in the land of Canaan. If you have been following along, you may know that there was also a famine in Abraham’s generation…and if you have read ahead, you probably know that there will be another in the time of Jacob. These instances of famine and hunger are cosmetically the same, but our ancestors deal with their experiences in their own ways in their own time.
When Abraham (then Avram) faces famine, he travels to Egypt to seek refuge. In this week’s parsha, when Isaac also faces a famine, God tells Isaac specifically not to go to Egypt as his father had done. Then, in the next generation, Jacob again brings his whole family down to meet Joseph in Egypt to ride out the famine (and the following 400 years). Each of our patriarchs meets a similarly dangerous situation, and each handles it differently and successfully.
We, too, will face similar situations (some of which, unfortunately, may be dangerous) as the generations before us. We, too, must adapt to each one as befits our moment in time. Sometimes that means that we have to follow our best instincts, and sometimes that means we have to deeply study the practices and approaches of the past to find our own way forward. But no matter what we face, we can and should always turn to each other and turn to God. No matter how our history repeats or rhymes, the Jewish people have come through to the other side with pride and belief in our destiny as Am HaNetzach (The Forever People)! Like our forefathers and foremothers, we will face challenges…and just like them, we, too, will overcome them.