ON THE PARSHA Parshas VaYeitzei by Dovid Lipman, Israel Year 2, No. 7 Introduction This parsha, which tells how our father Yaakov built the founding family of our people, has six parts: 1) Yaakov's Dream [DYR] 2) Yaakov Meets Rachel & Yaakov Marries [ATTL] 3) Yaakov Has Kids [FTG] 4) Yaakov Gets Rich [TWOTS] 5) Yaakov Leaves Charan [WON] 6) The Yaakov-Lavan Confrontation [RAUW] 1. Yaakov's Dream -- 28:10 (Beg.) to 28:22 (Aliyah 2) Yaakov leaves for Charan, to get married. He sleeps at a place where he dreams of a ladder to the sky and angels going up and down on it. Hashem promises Yaakov protection and safe return. Yaakov, waking up, makes promises of loyalty & service to Hashem, and names the place Beis El. Do You Remember? - from the files of On the Parsha 1. What's the point of the story of the two camps? 2. Did Yaakov really kiss Rachel - and why did he cry? 3. What do we see from Yaakov's meeting with his wives? 4. What law applies to the Aramaic "Y'gar Sahadusah"? 2. Yaakov Meets Rachel -- 29:1 to 29:17 (Aliyah 3) Yaakov Marries -- 29:18 to 29:30 In Charan, by a well, some shepherds stand waiting. Yaakov asks why, and they explain that they need everyone together to take the lid off the well. But when Yaakov sees Lavan's daughter Rachel coming, he rolls of the lid and greets her. Lavan asks Yaakov what he wants for taking over the flocks from Rachel, and they agree he will marry Rachel after 7 years' work. But Lavan gives him Rachel's older sister Leah instead, and Yaakov marries Rachel also, agreeing to work seven more years afterwards for the "extra" wife. A Time to Laugh (29:20) "...they were like a few days" Rashi (29:18) sees from this that Yaakov understood his mother's order to stay for a few days, to mean 7 years. So we see how Rashi knew it, but how did Yaakov know? Well, the gemara (Zeva. 118b) learns that the division of the land took 7 years from the fact that conquering it took seven. How is this logical? I don't know, but if they can figure out that the division took 7 from such logic, Yaakov could have known "a few days" also means seven years from logic. 3. Yaakov Has Kids -- 29:31 to 30:24 Meanwhile, Leah, whom Yaakov favors less, Hashem favors more, and she bears four children in quick succession, all named for Leah's gratitude, Reuven, Shimon and Levi for her closeness to Yaakov, Yehudah for getting more than she expected. Rachel, barren, gives her maid Bilhah to Yaakov and she gives birth to Dan and Naftali, and Leah, when she stops bearing, does the same with her maid Zilpah, and she bears Gan and Asher. Rachel and Leah make a deal over some jasmine flowers, so Hashem rewards Leah with two more sons Yissachar and Zevulun, and a daughter, Dinah. Then at last Rachel has a son, whom she names Yosef in thanks and hope. From the Gemara (30:22) Rosh HaShanah 11a - The similarity of language by Yoseif's conception and the laws of Rosh HaShanah teach us the conception took place on Rosh HaShanah. 4. Yaakov Gets Rich -- 30:25 to 30:43 (end, Chap. 30) The seven years end, and Lavan convinces Yaakov to stay, and Yaakov fixes his salary to be from some rare types to be born in the flock, which Yaakov "engineers" to be born almost exclusively, so Yaakov earns most of Lavan's flock. The World of the Supernatural (30:37) "And Yaakov took a white, moist stick..." What Yaakov did with the sheep is unclear, but it certainly seems like he took control of the birth process. Still, later (31:9), Yaakov tells his wives the story with a different twist: "Hashem did it", in short. Here we see Yaakov's point of view - no matter what he does, the result is from Hashem. Similarly, Rashi reports that the attempts Yaakov made to ensure getting Rachel "did not work" (29:18). Yaakov was not bothered by the fact that his plan wasn't perfect, since he never thought anything he did "worked", and he relied on Hashem for the final result - and we see that indeed, the main mother of Yaakov's wives was certainly Leah! 5. Yaakov Leaves Charan -- 31:1 to 31:21 After six years, Yaakov sees Lavan's family turning against him, and Hashem tells him in a dream to return home. Yaakov consults Rachel and Leah, who agree, and they leave quietly without telling Lavan, and Rachel steals Lavan's idols. Worthy of Note (31:6) "...with all my strength I served..." The Rambam (S'chirus 13:17) brings this as an example of the rule that a "po'el" (hired worker) must work with all his strength. In truth, every Jew is a Po'el of Hashem, as the Mishna says in Avos (2:15), "and the workers are lazy". So, we must also serve with all our strength. 6. The Yaakov-Lavan Confrontation -- 31:22 to 32:3 (End) Lavan races after Yaakov and overtakes him, and he rages at Yaakov - not just for leaving, but for the theft as well. After Yaakov allows Lavan to search the tents and no idols are found, Yaakov rebukes Lavan for his ungrateful distrust and Lavan and Yaakov depart, with a covenant of peace. Rare and Unusual Words (31:38) "V'Eilei". The word "Ayil" noramlly translates "Ram", which, by definition, is an older sheep, but we see here, notes the gemara (B.K. 68b), that the term even includes lambs, because Yaakov obviously didn't eat any young sheep of Lavan either.