Rabbi Jack Riemer reviews Esau's Blessing

There are a thousand different perspectives from which to read the Torah. A poet reads it one way, a grammarian reads it another way, a historian reads it a third way. I never noticed until now, but concern about disability is a useful lens through which to read the Torah too. Disability is a major theme in the Bible. Within Genesis alone, we have two patriarchs--Isaac and Jacob--who become blind in their old age, one who suffers a serious injury to his leg--Jacob--and three women who have difficulty giving birth---Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel. In Exodus, we have a leader--Moses--who has a speech impediment. In Leviticus we have the rules for what kohanim who are handicapped can and cannot do. And the list goes on.

Ora Horn Prouser has written this study of some of the main biblical characters from the point of view of their disabilities, which opens many passages to a whole new understanding. She suggests that Sarah was overprotective of Isaac because she waited so long to have him, and because he seemed weak and helpless from the beginning. She suggests that Esau may have been hypoglycemic and therefore had to have something to eat immediately and this is why he was ready to sell his birthright in exchange for some lentils. And she suggests that he may have had AHDD, which accounts for his quick temper and his emotional outbursts. She reads Jonah as a classic case of depression, and Samson as a case study in conduct disorder.

'Special needs'--the term she uses--is a much kinder word than 'crippled' or 'handicapped',, and it reminds us that all human beings, with no exceptions, are made in the Image of God. Her book will not only enlighten the reader to new ways of understanding the Bible. It will also give strength and encouragement to those people who struggle to live meaningful lives, despite their illnesses and their limitations.