Rabbi Daniel Siegel – Head of Jewish Life

Truth or Consequences

You may have heard of a television quiz show called Truth or Consequences.
This show was on the air for 40 years in the United States.

What you may not know is that there is a town in New Mexico, U.S.,
called Truth or Consequences.

Speaking about Truth or Consequences, this seems to be the patriarch Jacob’s ‘bio’.
He lies to his father, cheats his brother and lives the consequences.

Jacob is called Ya’akov (יעקב), from the word akeiv (עקב) which means ‘heel’. From the start, he was holding his brother’s heel trying to emerge first, to be the first born. But he didn’t, and, thereafter, he became a ‘heel’, not treating others well.

But the name Ya’akov (יעקב) also derives from the word eikev (עקב) which means ‘that which follows’, that which comes after, a consequence.

It seems Ya’akov’s whole life is living his past, or at least paying for it. He pays the consequence 
of being a deceiver, a liar and a cheat. After lying and deceiving his father and cheating his brother to gain the blessing of the firstborn, his uncle lies, deceives and cheats him, his wife lies and deceives him and then his sons lie and deceive him.
His name means consequence, as is his life.

Then, in a defining moment in his life, which we find in this week’s parashah, he becomes Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror. Seeing his past in his present, he decides to “change his ways”.

He is given a new name, Yisra’el. A name by which all of us, Bnei Yisra’el, the children of Israel, are known.

Yisra’el means ‘one who wrestles with God’ – one who does not let his past define his present or let his present dictate his future.

In this name change from Ya’akov to Yisra’el, our Jewish tradition is admonishing us: “Truth or Consequences”.

If you are truthful with yourself you can move beyond being a consequence. But if you can’t face yourself in the mirror, you are but a poor reflection of who you could be.

Ya’akov faces his brother even as he now faces himself. He gives the stolen blessing back to his brother with the words: “Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you…Please take my blessing that has been brought to you”.

As for that town that is called Truth or Consequences. Well, it was originally called Hot Springs. 

When the television quiz show Truth or Consequences was first broadcast, it announced that it would air an installment of its show in the first town that named itself after the show.

The town held a vote and officially changed its name to Truth or Consequences. The name change came on April Fool’s Day, and to this day they remain but a consequence.

תתן אמת ליעקב – Proffer Truth to Ya’akov

~The Book of Mikhah~