array of ideas will in the end yield a taste far superior to anything experienced casually.

In the chapter entitled "Va-yachol, Va-yesht, Va- yakom, Va-yelech, Va-yivaz" Ruccalla reevaluates the meaning of birthright by treating its significance as nothing more than [98]

anyway, right? Or not-alive, however you want to look at it.' I told him I didn't understand. So he just said it was 'too personal' 'an unrealized theme' 'poorly executed' 'a complete mess.'

"He did grunt something about there never having been a blessing to begin with, which I thought was pretty interesting. No birthright, all of it a misleading ploy, both brothers fools, and as for the comparison to the Navilson [sic] twins he suddenly claimed it was justifiable only if you could compare any pair of siblings to Israel and his brother.

"Zampano was clearly upset, so I tried fixing him something to eat. He eventually came around and we read some books on meteors.

"I figured that was that, except when I went to the bathroom I found the pages. Or I should say I found what was left of them. He had torn them to shreds. They were in the wastebasket, some strewn on the floor, no doubt a fair share lost down the toilet.

"As I started to pick them up, I also discovered that most of the pieces were stained with blood. I never learned what seizure caused him to rip it all apart but for whatever reason I was overcome by my own impulse to save what was left, not for me really, but for him.

"I stuffed all the crumpled bits into my pockets and later transferred them to a manila envelope which I placed at the bottom of that chest. I guess I hoped he'd find it one day and realize his mistake."

Unfortunately Zampano never did. Though for what it's worth I did. Bits of bloodstained paper, just like Denise Neiman said, all suggesting the

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but the Lord Yahweh—that too oft accused literalist — instructs Rebekah in the subtler ways of language by using irony:

And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

same theme but somehow never quite fitting back together.

On more than a few occasions I even considered excluding all this. In the end though, I opted to transcribe the pieces which I figured had enough on them to have some meaning even if that meant not meaning much to me.

One thing's for sure: it did disturb me. There's just something so creepy about all the violence and blood. I mean over what? This? Arcane, obtuse and way over-the-top wanna-be scholarship? Is that what got to him? Or was it something else?

Maybe it really was too personal. Maybe he had a brother. A son. Maybe he had two sons. Who knows. But here it is. All that's left. Incoherent scrap.

Too bad so much of his life had to slip between the lines of even his own words.

(Genesis 25: 23-24)

[Chalmer's underline]

On one hand Yahweh announces a hierarchy of age and on the other hand claims the children are the same age. [99]

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Esau comes from the root ash meaning "to hurry" while Ya'akov comes from the root akav which means "to delay" or "to restrain." [100] (i.e. Esau entered the world first; Jacob last.) But Esau is also connected to asah meaning "to cover" while Jacob derives from aqab meaning "heel" (i.e. Esau was covered in hair; Jacob born clutching Esau's heel, restraining him. [101] )

At least Freed Kashon convincingly objects to Ruccalla's comparison when he points out how really Holloway, not Tom, is the hairy one: "His beard, surly appearance, and even his profession as a hunter make Holloway the perfect Esau. The tension between Navidson and Holloway is also more on par with the tension between Jacob and his brother." [102]