Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/259

Rh Cod

With Us

is

more, before she died, she might

He

about her.

and was

laid

never came

to

rest,

receive her last kiss,

and



to

father's blessing; but she

had

It

all

She had gained for Jacob a lost

thereby the opportunity to

of a mother's love and a mother's blessing.

was hard indeed,

always

arms

at last she closed her eyes

shed a tear as the doors of the

her.

him

feel his strong, loving

without her beloved son present to

and

tomb were closed above give unto

241

yet

it

was

just,

as

God's decrees are

just.

But it was hard for Jacob, too. As he went forth from home, not knowing wdiat fate was in store for him, nor whether he should ever return thither, he began to realize all that he had lost, a mother's love and a father's love and a brother's love, all sacrificed to selfish, wicked ambition. As he wandered on, ever farther from his father's house, he felt more and more alone in the world. It seemed as if there was no one at all to care for him, to cheer him in his trials, to comfort him in his grief, to help lighten the journey he must go, and lift the burden for a moment from his tired shoulders. He must have thought of his beloved grandfather, Abraham, who had, years ago, gone over this same road, though in an opposite direction. Yet how dift'erently had Abraham journeyed. He had had with him his beloved Sarah and Lot, his nephew, and all his household. Above all he had journeyed on at God's command, and strong in his faith that God was with him. xA.nd God had been with him. But with him, Jacob, it was different. He was all alone, and even God, he felt, must have forsaken him behis

cause of his

sin.

Now

wrong he had done too,

of

Cain,

he realized as never before, the

to his brother.

driven out because of

He must his

full

have thought,

crime against his

from the presence of God and men, and forced to wander on and on, solitary and hopeless, until death at last overtook him. He was like Cain, not like Abraham, and God had forsaken him, too, and left him to his fate.

brother, \n