“It has been said by the Jewish sages that Esau was born with a full set of teeth and a beard. It could be taken literally, but I choose to take it metaphorically, Mr. Donatti. Teeth and a beard represent a mature man. What it says to me is that Esau was born as exactly the man he was destined to be. His entire childhood—all the learning experiences and growth that one gets from childhood mistakes—was irrelevant to him. He remained unchanged from infancy until the day he died.

“Now, the parents loved both of their children, but the father, Isaac, loved Esau more because he brought him fresh meat, and because Esau had excellent derech eretz. That means manners; that means he showed his father respect. Also, I believe that Isaac admired Esau’s ability to hunt, so different from Isaac’s own strengths. Sometimes you place a lot of value on tasks that are beyond your abilities. But the mother, Rebecca, who was more worldly, she loved Jacob more. She admired his quiet, pious demeanor.”

“Jacob sounds like a wimp.”

“No, he was not weak. His strengths were less overt.”

Donatti thought a moment. “You know it’s not good to play favorites with your kids.”

Rina smiled. “You’re absolutely right. That was part of the problem.”

He leered at her. “Do you know that you’ve got a beautiful smile, Rina?”

Rina ignored him. “There was lots of sibling rivalry. Eventually, it reached a flash point. There was a confrontation between the two brothers, and Jacob was forced to flee from Esau’s wrath.”

“I told you Jacob was a wimp. What happened?”

“First Jacob tricked his brother out of his birthright. Then Jacob bamboozled his father into giving him the first blessing—the blessing that Isaac had planned for his elder son, Esau. Under the law of primogeniture, the older should have had dominion over the younger. But Rebecca, the mother, felt that the blessing should go to Jacob. Because of her wile and deception, Isaac wound up blessing Jacob first, giving the younger son, Jacob, dominion over Esau, the elder.”

“How’d she trick him?”

“Like any good mystery, it loses something in the translation. Read the book if you’re curious. But there is a point to this story, like there is a point to everything in the Bible. Esau did not deserve the blessing. Not because he was a hunter, a murderer with bloodstains on his hands. Esau didn’t deserve the blessing because Esau was an adulterer—a taker of other men’s wives. Not that I speak for God, Mr. Donatti, but in my religion, taking a married woman is a very odious thing.

“Now, I know how you feel about my husband. And you may want revenge. I hope not, but I can’t stop you if you’re set upon it. And, perhaps, you may succeed. But I will tell you this. If you ever, ever so much as lay a single finger on me in an inappropriate way, I guarantee that you—and everything you hold dear—will be cursed by God, by Satan, and by every living and dead creature in this universe. Not only in this lifetime, but in all lifetimes to come.” She glared at him. “Eternally, Mr. Donatti. In lay language, that means forever!”