Overview
of the Torah Reading
To be read on Shabbat Vayeitzei, 7 Kislev 5778/Nov.25
Torah: Gen. 28:10-32:3; Haftorah: Hosea 11:7-14:10 (because
of 12:13 "And Yaakov fled to Aram...and served for a wife... and kept
sheep.")
Vayeitzei is the 7th Reading out of 12 in Genesis
and it contains 7512 letters, in 2021 words, in 148
verses
On the way to Charan, Yaacov stopped to sleep. He dreamt
of a ladder standing on the ground and reaching heavenward with angels
ascending and descending. G-d told Yaacov that He would give him the
land upon which he slept. Yaacov was awed by this vision and made the
stone upon which he slept holy to G-d, and renamed the area G-d's Temple.
He vowed that if G-d would protect him, he would dedicate his life to
G-d and give Him a tenth of his possessions. Yaacov continued his journey,
and arrived at a well near Charan. Seeing his cousin Rachel with her
father's sheep, Yaacov lifted the heavy stone atop the well for her,
and returned with her to Lavan's house. He made a deal to work for Lavan
for seven years, and then marry Rachel. Lavan deceived Yaacov and substituted
his older daughter Leah. Lavan told Yaacov that he could marry Rachel
after the celebrations of the marriage to Leah, but he would have to
work another seven years. The Parsha relates the birth of Yaacov's children
through Leah, Rachel, and their handmaids Bilha and Zilpah. Yaacov decides
to leave with his family, but then agreed to continue working for Lavan.
Lavan and his sons became jealous of Yaacov's wealth. After six years,
G-d told Yaacov to return to his birthplace. When they left, Rachel
stole Lavan's idols. Lavan learned that they had gone, and chased after
them. He sought his idols, and Yaacov, who did not know it was Rachel,
said that whoever was found with them would not live. Lavan and Yaacov
made a treaty, with G-d as witness.
An
essay from Rabbi
Shaul Yosef Leiter, director of Ascent
(for a free weekly email subscription, click
here)
Occasionally we hear people say that the observant
community uses Judaism as an instrument to advance its interests. The
Rebbe has a very surprising insight into this issue from this week's
Torah portion:
It is an accepted fact, brought in our oral tradition, that the Patriarchs
and Matriarchs kept the entire Torah even before it was given. (Kiddushin82a)
Jacob said of himself:
"I lived with Laban and I observed all
613 commandments." (Gen. 32:5 and Rashi there) Yet, in this
week's Torah portion, Jacob marries two sisters, something forbidden
by Torah law!(Lev. 18:18) Many of the commentaries provide answers,
yet, Rashi - whose principle is answering anything a beginning student
would find difficult -makes no mention of this quandary. We therefore
have to assume that there is a simple answer that is so clear, we do
not need Rashi to point it out.
Because our forefathers were never directly commanded to observe the
Torah commandments, their fulfillment of them was an added optional
observance, akin to extra stringencies and "beautifications"
one might make in fulfilling our commandments today. For instance, today,
when we wear a tallit, we want it to be a nice tallit. The only commandments
that our forefathers were obligated to keep were the seven commandments
of the descendents of Noah and the extensions of those laws that the
nations had taken on themselves. Therefore, if it so happened that fulfilling
a Torah commandment contradicted the fulfilling of one of theNoahide
laws, they were required to keep the Noahide law, as opposed to the
Torah one.
One rule that was universally accepted on the level of the seven Noahide
laws by all of the nations was to be careful not to trick their neighbors.
It was a punishable offense. We see this in Jacob's claim to his father-in-law,
Laban: "Why did you trick me?" So serious was such an offense
that Laban was forced to respond and apologize. (Gen. 29:25)
It was this prohibition of trickery that forced Jacob to marry two sisters.
Jacob had promised Rachel that he would marry her. Fearing trickery,
he even gave her secret signs to guarantee it would be her that he married
(since she would be hidden by a veil). After all these precautions,
Jacob was fooled and married Leah instead. This placed him in a dilemma.
By not marrying her, Jacob would be guilty of misleading Rachel, besides
all the pain it would cause her by retracting. By marrying her, he would
transgress on a mitzvah of the Torah not to marry two sisters, to which
he was not actually obligated. The Torah command could not overrule
the Noahide commandment not to trick. This is why Jacob was forced to
pass on the Torah command and marry Rachel, even if he was already married
to Leah.
This is such a simple explanation Rashi did not need to mention it!
Jacob's behavior contains within it a potent lesson for us. It is forbidden
to engage in the beautification of a mitzvah at someone else's expense.
Fulfilling a commandment in the most beautiful way is very important,
but only if it will not do damage to another. In simple words, sometimes
it is better to give up on some personal achievement if by doing so
we can protect another person. It is not acceptable to say, my total
fulfillment comes first. If he is really into what Judaism is all about,
he has to ask himself, what makes me any better than my neighbor, that
I am working on the small details while the fellow next to me is lacking
in the basics. We have to remind ourselves that it is sometimes more
important to give up on 100% perfection in order to do a kindness for
someone else. (Based on Shulchan Shabbos)
Shabbat Shalom, Shaul
(for a free weekly email subscription, click
here)
For last year's essay by Rabbi Leiter on this
week's Reading, see the archive.
FROM
THE SAGES OF KABBALAH ON KabbalaOnline.org
Specifically,
for an overview of the recommended articles in the columns:
Holy Zohar, Holy Ari, Mystic Classics, Chasidic Masters, Contemporary
Kabbalists, and more,
click to Vayeitzei
one sample:
Mystical Classics
Crude
Talk
From Shenei Luchot HaBrit by Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz
Jacob and Leah were on a spiritual level approaching that which existed
in the Garden of Eden, when there was no feeling of shame or embarrassment
attached to the act of copulation. They therefore expressed themselves
in a totally unrestrained manner. Jacob also kissed Rachel the moment
they met and this was not considered suggestive.
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