Parashat Vayetze 5770
The Profound Word
Howard S. Joseph
http://TheProfoundWord.com
The New Jacob: Out of the Tents
We now meet the new Jacob. He has emerged from the tents of his youth into the rough world, thrust into it by his mother and the forces of circumstance. He is now in mortal conflict with Esau and must leave his home, family and country. He actually reverses Abraham’s call and returns to the family homeland. There he will have to deal with the difficult Uncle Laban, not an easy man at all.
We cannot imagine that anyone emerged from last week’s story at all happy. Everyone involved is now in new states of tension and distress. Esau has lost. Isaac and Rebecca have seen their family shattered. Jacob’s innocent tent life is gone. He will have to re-make his life. What will it look like? What ideals will prevail? What dreams will be fulfilled? How will he go about continuing the covenantal destiny of Abraham that has been thrust upon him? Can he impact on the world as did his grandfather and be a blessing to others, leading them to the truth? The rest of the book of Genesis will focus on Jacob and his family as they try to continue the covenantal destiny.
Neziv believes that Jacob was determined to re-create a life of peace and security. He would strive for harmonious relations with all those with whom he may come into contact no matter how challenging that might be. In a world of deceit and conflict he would make this attempt. He would then return in peace to his father’s home and the land promised to his family.
Along the way stones enter the story. They are just lying around waiting for some momentous action. Eventually they are gathered and made into monuments, testifying to a critical moment along the way towards the ultimate process. People and places are transformed.
“This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” [28:17]
“He named the place Beth El, but Luz was originally the name of the city.” [28:19]
Neziv sees special meaning in these verses suggested by unique terms.
“He named the place Beth El”- where he erected the monument. Luz was its name but the open space [where he slept] was near Luz. Eventually the spot was built and developed itself and called Beth El. [HD]
Neziv now focuses on three issues:
1.Jacob’s choice of the word ‘Beth’ from the Hebrew ‘Bayit’ = house.
2. The Torah’s use of an extra word. Usually a place name is described: vayikrah shem hamakom…. Here the extra Hebrew word appears ‘et’ shem hamakom…. The English translation is unaffected.
3.. Jacob considers the place to be the ‘gate’ [shaar] to Heaven. Why that description?
[HRD]
This is the simple meaning. However, our Sages in Tractate Pesahim said that Jacob called the Temple on Mt. Moriah – Beth El.
It seems the Sages understood a second meaning in these verses:
“[He was frightened, and he said,] How awesome is this place! [This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." ] This place – Mt. Moriah, for he dreamed of the ladder standing on Mt. Moriah. He was speaking of that vision as explained in various midrashim.
If we examine carefully the phrase ‘en ze ki im bet Elohim…’ [here translated 'This is none other than the house of God'] – the simple meaning is insufficient for it is a phrase that usually diminishes the value of a place [i. e., 'it is only....'], meaning it is not as great as I originally thought. But here it really is the opposite for Jacob never expected to find a holy place at all….
Also, the word ‘et’ is unnecessary ….
So, we have to understand that there is a second meaning here: he considered Mt. Moriah as a unique Providential place. Abraham had called it a ‘mountain’ because he saw it as a place that provided protection when fighting God’s enemies. Isaac called it a ‘field’ – sadeh – for he saw it as a source of Providence for sustenance [parnassah, symbolized as a lush field]. Jacob too saw it a source of protection but not in the manner of Abraham. It is, rather, a Bet Elohim, which points to the quality of peace, or [harmony] [shalom], for the protection of his descendants while living among the nations can only come about through peace, just as Jacob himself was exceptionally protected through this quality in regards to Laban and Esau.
Now he addresses the phrase ‘gate of heaven’:
If he had said ‘petah’, opening, the simile would be more restrictive, as it would be opened only to those allowed into the house. By using the word gate, shaar, [maybe suggestive of the gate to a city?where many different kinds of people can enter - hsj], he shows that [in his vision]? it is open to every one. [It is available to all- hsj.]
Providence regarding … peace is given to all who act kindly [with gemilut hasadim] so that this gate is open to all nations as well as to Israel. For Abraham, the Providence came as result of commitment to Torah; for Isaac, as a commitment to the unique worship service in the Temple…. Jacob saw the Temple as a house – Bet, bayit – and that is how he understood it. He did not have this dream while studying Torah in the academy of Shem and Ever. It was here in a place empty of the the sanctity of Torah study. The purpose of the dream was to teach him that his unique contribution would be to promote Providence through peace….
For this reason Jacob excelled from now on in acts of kindness and preservation of harmony as we will see in all matters.. This is the ‘vision of Jacob’, – eyn Yaakov- to live securely through the preservation of harmony and tranquility. From him we must learn to keep this quality during our exile for we are like him wandering in exile. Now we understand the double significance of the extra word ‘et’.
Furthermore, we now understand the phrase ‘He was frightened, and he said’ [or, thought]: he realized that it was his responsibility to pursue peace for himself and descendants. Only in this way can they be protected among the nations, and not through the way of Abraham who saw the mountain as a symbol of warfare. He thus thought somewhat anxiously that this is none other than a house of God, a house that symbolizes harmony.
Neziv returns to these themes very often. However, the main points are very clear:
Jacob must chart a new way, his own path of leadership based on his own experience. The covenant will not survive if it is always in tension with everyone.
In doing so he can help others achieve peace through the promotion of kindness, a universal value open to all. All peoples can enter the gate of Heaven through kindness. Kindness can transform a barren field of stones into a gateway to Heaven with a monument to point the way.
If he can achieve this he will have added his own unique contribution to the Ancestral legacy. He will indeed become one of the Founding Fathers of the way begun by Abraham.
It is to these tasks that Jacob will devote himself for the rest of his life. When he arrives in Haran he lifts a huge stone from a well to help the Rachel water her flocks. In Haran he suffers all kinds of deception and abuse at the hands of his uncle. His reactions are accepting and never hostile. At the end, rather than confront Laban he chooses to leave. It is Laban who chases him and heaps further abuse on Jacob by claiming that all Jacob has – his wives, his children, his possessions – really belong to Laban. Yet Jacob is willing to make a treaty with Laban.
We see another example of this at the end of the parashah. Jacob pauses a moment before the final treaty with Laban.
31:45-46. Jacob took a stone and set it up as a monument. Jacob said to his brothers, “Gather stones,” and they took stones and made a pile, and they ate there by the pile.
Neziv comments in HD:
Rashi has already explained that ‘brothers here refer to his children and not like in some other places to his followers or kinsmen….
But why didn’t Jacob simply demand from his servants to do this? Why ‘brothers’?
The answer is that this is an example of Jacob’s pursuit of harmony and security with others [i. e., he treats them with a sense of dignity and equality sharing in the event rather than demanding through his parental or family authority - hsj].
All this even though Laban had troubled him so much… Nevertheless, Jacob ignored this. He wished to pursue peace and make an effort to bring his heart closer. Furthermore, he wanted to teach his children this wonderful quality, so he asked them to gather the stones for the purpose of making peace with Laban. If he had said ‘my children, gather stones’ they would have done so at their father’s behest but would not have learned this wonderful moral lesson and would have thought that they are doing it to obey their father….
Again stones. Again a monument. Again the pursuit of peace and
harmony through kindness. This is the new Jacob who will soon have a new name: Israel. This is Jacob who has accepted the profound and frightening implications of his leadership role: he will become a man of peace. Profound words for all of us once again.
Shabbat Shalom
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