ON THE PARSHA Parshas VaYeitzei by Dovid Lipman, Israel Year 3, 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 2) Yaakov Meets Rachel & Yaakov Marries 3) Yaakov Has Kids 4) Yaakov Gets Rich 5) Yaakov Leaves Charan 6) The Yaakov-Lavan Confrontation 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. Words according to Chazal (28:22) "...I will surely give a tenth..." The double- language "aser a'asrenu" is noted by the gemara (Kesu- vos 50a) as a hint to the limit of one fifth (of ones property) for giving charity, since the pasuk implies giving a tenth twice. The gemara asks, it's not the same! The second tenth will only be a tenth of what's left, making 19%, not a whole fifth! The answer: the pasuk itself solves the problem. The second word of the double-language, "a'asrenu", can me "I will give that tenth" - meaning the second tenth is to be a repeat of the first (making 20%), not from what's left. 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. Answers to Do You Remember -Parshas Toldos 1. Yitzchak meant the smell of Gan Eden (in one pshat, the Tree of Knowledge, which was an esrog, and Yaakov wore clothes that had been there) or the Shechina, which is called the "field of sacred apples". 2. "Maybe" he will touch me and discover the trick, said Yaakov - using "ulai", the word for a "maybe" one WANTS. 3. The best wine only becomes vinegar when barley is added, so wherever wine is good, vinegar is Asur on Pesach. And wine is never good in Judea and Edom at the same time. 4. Yitzchak said he ate "from everything" (meaning a taste of the World to Come) in the food Yaakov brought. 5. Chazal say Eisav tried to leave the womb when Rivkah passed places of idol worship. She must have gone there to teach the Truth, as Sarah before her! 6. Dovid HaMelech was called "the one" of the Jewish nation. 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. Worthy of Note (29:33) "...and He gave me this one also, and she called him Shimon." The Midrash (Tehillim 90) singles out Shimon as the "problem" tribe: not blessed by Moshe, didn't inherit a seperate portion in the land, never produced a Judge, and we see the cutoff point seems to be the sin at Shittim with the daughters of Moav, where Shimon and its leader Zimri led the show. Maybe a root for this was Leah's attitude: he's the only tribe whose naming totally disregards his indi- vidual self. "This one also" made Shimon feel like a number. So he tried to become more independent - and that led to his trying to be independent from Hashem. 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. A Time to Laugh (30:30) "...when will I also do something for my house?" Why did Yaakov say this? Didn't Lavan already say he'd pay him? We learn the answer from the Arabs. To get someone to give you a little, you have to first argue that you deserve everything. Yaakov was talking about the work he already DID. Since Lavan got rich from the tzaddik's presence, all that wealth should be his! So Lavan was only too happy to let him take any salary, when the claim against him was for everything. 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. 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. Where do we see that "ayil" means a ram of any age? 4. When did Hashem "remember" Rachel? 5. Where do we see how hard a hired worker must work? 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. The Principles of Shabbos (31:47) "Y'gar Sahadusah". The gemara (Shabbos 115b) notes these words as an example of Aramaic in the Torah, with respect to the laws of carrying on Shabbos (if Rabbinically prohibited) to save Torah writings (e.g. from a fire). At least 85 letters must be on the parchment, and these words may be among them, though they're not Hebrew. However, after writing Torah translations (and the Oral Torah) was permitted, all Torah may be saved in any language (O.C. 334, see M.B.).