VAYEITZE  (Genesis 28:10 - 32:3)  Back to previous page,  Torah Lesson Plan, or YHVH Homepage

Our reading begins with the verse, “Jacob went out from Beer Sheba towards Charan.” This verse repeats itself: first revealed five verses ago. When the Torah repeats, it is emphasizing the point, and a lesson may be learned from it. The Torah gives us two reasons for the name Beer Sheba, 1. Because it was the place of the oath when Abraham made a covenant with Abimelech. 2. Because of the seventh well dug after Isaac’s peace treaty with Abimelech. Both of these reasons have something in common. They both indicate a sign of peace for Israel. On the other hand, the name Charan indicates the exact opposite. (Genesis 11:32) Charan is as the phrase Charon af, fierce anger or strife.

If we understand this, when we review our above mentioned verse, we see Jacob went from “peace” to “strife.” Would life not be easier if Hashem would preserve us within our tents of Torah/peace, rather than presenting us with so many countless obstacles? Jacob spent 14 years in the tents of Eber and Shem, learning the ways of Hashem. He had no burdens. This holy tent, and these holy surroundings of Jacob, within Beer Sheba, were the perfect surroundings for founding the people of Israel. In order for him to properly build up the house of Israel (his 12 sons - 12 tribes of Israel) he had to leave this security and come to Charan, a place where Hashem’s presence was concealed.

The very word for “world”, in Hebrew, “olam”, is an idiom of  “helem”, which means “concealment.” In Charan it was very easy to sin and very difficult to be virtuous. Jacob was steadfast while exposed to the tempest, and it was for this reason, his remaining steadfast in his ways, that Jacob was able to build the house of Israel. His grandfather Abraham had Isaac, but also he had Ishmael. His father Isaac had Jacob (himself) but also his brother Esau. Because of his, Jacob's condition, he was worthy to have 12 perfect children, with no spiritual defections. This teaches us that when we overcome temptations, and remain stedfast in our service, it is possible to build a radiant Jewish home.

When Jacob reached Charan, the Torah says in Hebrew; “vayifga.”  This word means, “and he reached the place.” However, the choice of words here is quite special, because this word can also mean, “he prayed.” Now, it would seem that when a man arrives in a new place, he should first accommodate, find a wife, learn the language, adapt to the customs, etc. Instead, Jacob put aside all of these norms and he only occupied himself with the same as before, avodah Hashem, the work of Hashem. He prayed. From this we learn; when we arrive in a new place, we should not put aside our Torah in order to adapt to the new land, and become like all the people there. We should not try and see how Torah can fit into this new lifestyle. Rather, we should remember that when we arrive, we must also worship there, therefore, we must remain as we are, and we must apply our understanding in all places that we find ourselves. The new style must adapt to our Torah.

When Jacob was traveling to Charan, “he took of the stones of that place and put them for his head.”  To protect himself from the wild beasts, did he protect his body? There is a verse in psalms which will help us to understand this. The verse is; “When you eat the toil of your hands, you will be happy and it shall be well with you (Psalm;28:2).”  Earning a livelihood can be in two ways:  1.) “By the toil of your hands.”  In other words, by allowing your hands to do what they know how to do. By second nature.  2.) By the toil of the head, that is, one is completely involved in earning a livelihood, even with his head.  Total involvement, and consumption. Heaven manages power and wealth. If one is destined to receive, then one must simply allow you oneself to become the vessel which is capable of receiving. If one does not accomplish this, then his sustenance will not manifest into material matter, and that which was allotted him, will remain spiritual. In waiting for a material outlet. Therefore, if man puts aside the holy for the sake of achievement within the mundane, it will not matter. He cannot pull down more than what has already been allotted to him for that year.

When Jacob went to Charan, he knew exactly where he was going. He knew for whom he would have to labor physically, and he knew that there would be wild beasts along the way. He therefore took the stones and placed them around his head,  to indicate that nothing and no one is to affect his head. The head must always be protected. The troubles of the way or the work of Laban that is, the preparations and actual work for a livelihood, these he would toil for with the hands only. This teaches us to be certain that the head is always protected. When the head is as it should be, one’s hands and feet, too, will be as they should be. The shulchan oruch says about this, “the left hand thrusts aside while the right hand draws near,” and the feet will speed towards mitzvot. When Jacob protected his head, he did so with stones. Not with intellect, nor with his emotions, but he chose to do so with inorganic matter. Devoid of vitality, and devoid of vegetative capacity. 

When one is worried about the temptations, or the struggles which may interfere with one’s service, he must take upon himself kabalas ol, the yoke of Heaven, as signified by the stones. The intellect and the emotions are insufficient. One must regard oneself as an inorganic stone…”Let my soul be unto all as the dust. (Brachot 17a).”

Inorganic matter cannot move itself. It needs someone to carry it from one place to another, and this is the way that each person must regard himself: like inorganic matter. A simple servant, carried by Hashem from place to place. The reward for this, as we see near the end of this weekly reading of Torah, is that “this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be Hashem’s house.” Not silver, and not gold, but simple stones become Hashem’s house. How did this happen? By Jacob’s virtue of binding himself to Hashem. By binding himself to the means of a vow. The concept of the vow is to be compelled by the vow to do something which normally one would not do by virtue of will, intellect, or emotions alone. This was how Jacob attained the greatest heights, to the point that ordinary things in life became a house of Hashem.

Therefore, we learn, that not only the siddur and mezuzah of a home are holy, but even the cutlery of the house must be holy. By virtue of the first act mentioned, vayifga, he prayed when he arrived. When we arrive into any situation, or into any place, or handle any object, we must always be a constant. Always in the same frame of mind, and the same values. Rather than fluctuate between our surroundings, struggling with them in conflict. All good has been allotted to us, but it is up to us to pull it through into a material manifestation, with a proper receiving vessel, open to receive the new, and one without holes. Integrity with mobilty, like strength and agility.

Next Section,  Torah Lesson Plan, or YHVH Homepage