You’re probably seeing the same near-daily murders I’m seeing. At food aid sites in Gaza, Israeli soldiers and drones are murdering people as they come to get food in the midst of a famine. It reminds me of a far less deadly (but still treacherous) entrapment stew in scripture.

Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!’” (Therefore he was called Edom.) Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, and rose and went away. Thus Esau despised his birthright. (Genesis 25:29-34, NRSV)

Did this story always seem a little silly, or at least an exaggeration, to you? I always thought it was too goofy that someone could be so hungry that they would say, “Ssure, you can have a double portion of our family wealth, you can have the spiritual and symbolic and decision-making legacy and power, I need this bowl of stew more than I want any of that.”

Perhaps it’s literal, and we’re just supposed to notice how foolish and short-sighted Esau is. Perhaps we should focus on how wily Jacob is, to set him up like this – to dare to ask! Why, I’ve wondered, didn’t Esau both eat the stew and also say, “But I’m still the first-born, you goof. You can’t have been serious about that trade.”

I keep reading the words of people in Gaza faced with a much more impossible, cruel, hopeless choice: Get in line for food and get shot or stay home and starve. I’d like to say to Netanyahu or an IDF soldier, “You certainly cannot actually be murdering people who came to the place you told them to come to get the food you’re considering letting them have, after decades of blockades and imprisonment and destruction of economy and agriculture.” I mean, it’s way more outrageous than Jacob’s stew. But unlike stories from Genesis, I can’t pretend the genocide in Gaza might be fiction.

I’ve reached 30 days of fasting in solidarity with the people of Gaza. Veterans for Peace and many other organizations called this fast of 250 calories a day because that’s the estimate of how much people in Gaza are getting.

I started about 10 days late, because it took me that long to get the mental clarity and emotional courage. I was sure I wouldn’t be able to do it, and who wants to fail at something? I’ve tried to fast before, mostly the longevity fast Dr. Longo recommends, and occasional fasting from x, y or z for Lent.

But as weapons provided  by my country are used to commit atrocities beyond even my wildest imagination, I realized I could probably do something I hadn’t imagined, too. I’d always heard that fasting gets easier by day four. This time I found that to be true. The hardest parts of fasting were definitely the times I did eat – like the chocolate a friend brought from Scotland as a gift which found my hand and then mouth in a weak, hungry moment. I thought being around food at social events would be the hardest – and it was hard – but getting back into rhythm was harder.

We had an interfaith picnic during my fast, and I did taste my stew as I cooked to make sure it was serve-able. I decided to recreate some version of the stew Jacob offered Esau for his birthright: vegetables, lentils, Middle Eastern spices. I kept adding stuff to make it red, but I didn’t succeed.

One reading of the brothers’ story is that the soup was red because Jacob used red lentils, which are only red until they’re cooked, and then they’re yellow/brown. So Esau was so silly with hunger that he ate uncooked soup. It was his impetuous impatience that lost him his birthright.

The Israeli government denies genocide, human rights abuses and even the testimonies of its own soldiers. I don’t know how scheming Jacob was, and, I don’t know how silly Esau was, but I know that food should never be dangled in front of a hungry people person to coerce them into harm. 

Let’s read this story as a cautionary tale about exploitation and contractual relationships. If Jacob’s needs truly couldn’t be met within the tradition of first-son-gets-the-most, then it’s time to interrogate that tradition, not dupe the older brother.

Whether you cook this stew or not, I invite you to share food with others only in abundant love and joy. And if you’re interested in fasting in solidarity with Gaza, the hunger continues. Our government continues to support a calculated starvation of people trapped in an open-air prison and killing field.

Our hunger doesn’t feed anyone in Gaza, but will it remind you and your loved ones to call, write, march, shout, tax-resist and be part of ending this war?

Mediterranean Stew

1 onion, or 2 shallots
4-6 cloves garlic (depending on size and taste)
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 carrots
4 stalks celery
1 cup red lentils
1 cup urad dahl (or just use more lentils, if you don’t want to find this)
1 can tomato paste
½ cup tahini
1 tablespoon whole cumin seed or ground
1 quart liquid: broth, water, water leftover from cooking pasta or something else
1 tablespoon sumac (optional)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons vinegar of your choice, or cooking sherry or wine
Salt and pepper to taste
Cilantro and/or parsley

Instructions

1. Chop the onion or shallot and garlic into half-inch pieces and the carrots and celery into one-inch pieces.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the onion/shallot.  Add garlic, carrots, celery and tomato paste. Then add lentils and dahl, giving each element a minute or so to sizzle before adding the next.
3. If using whole cumin seed, add next. If using ground cumin seed, it can wait a few minutes. Then add tahini and try to spread it out before adding the liquid and rest of spices (ground cumin, sumac).
4. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes. Take a bite to check if the veggies and pulses are cooked to your liking, and add more liquid if it’s getting too thick.
5. Add the lemon juice and vinegar, then stir well and taste for seasoning. Add salt, pepper and more of any spices or acids to improve flavor.
6. Serve with fresh cilantro and/or parsley, per your preference.