Cooper’s Hawk : The Who and the Where

This is a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk. Even with a close photo, identifying this bird can be challenging. There’s a cousin, the Sharp-shinned Hawk, which looks very similar. The differentiating markers can be challenging to discern, particularly in the field. In this park, Cooper’s are more frequent, but Sharp-shinned certainly are present. At a cursory level, both birds - regardless of identification - are magnificent to appreciate. A hawk by any other name…. But there is something deeply satisfying, almost consoling, about naming what we see. Names convey a sense of identity and provide context and understanding.

Joseph’s reunion with his brothers is one of the most poignant - and absurdist - stories in all of Torah. Superficially, the entire episode hinges on the dramatic irony of Joseph recognizing his brothers - but in an unexpected place and in an unexpected status, they don’t recognize him. The story’s subsequent evolution all flows from this mistaken identity. Joseph, the son, is in some ways a fitting bookend to Israel, his father, who also achieved his status in a case of mistaken identity vis-à-vis his brother. Given the almost comically inevitable likelihood of their discovery, surely there must be more to both of these stories. Is there something here about identity we should learn?

The questions of who we are, who we portray ourselves to be, are no less relevant now than in Joseph’s day. Family dynamics can be tricky to say the least. And Joseph and Jacob equally demonstrate that even to those who know us best, these questions of identity can be complex. Even putting aside efforts to be purposefully deceptive, the question of who and what we are often changes in different venues, including our own homes. “Who are we?” is often answered by, “Where are we?” Resolution, and wholeness, manifest when we find the right name, the right identity. Understanding both the Hawk and Joseph’s family confirm the power of names and places for our sense of identity.