Discovering Faith on the Path of Life: Va-Yeitzei
D’var Torah by Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman
December 5, 2024
My friend Reuven, a scholar, teacher and blogger whose wisdom and friendship have long enriched my life, likes to call the first book of the Torah, Genesis, "the book of beginnings." And of course he is right. Genesis is about the beginning of creation and civilization as we know them, as well as the beginning of the Jewish People and the Jewish way of life. With Abraham and Sarah, then Isaac and Rebecca, the book lays the foundation for Jewish belief. Now, as the story of Jacob and his wives Rachel and Leah begins, we learn of the origins of the Jewish People.
All beginnings are chaotic. We start with raw material and then, hopefully, find inspiration, goal and direction. So it is also with Jacob, our third Patriarch. Va-Yeitzei, this week's Torah portion, Genesis 28:10—32:3, literally means “he set out,” and as the story begins, Jacob leaves his father's and mother's home, fleeing the murderous rage of his twin brother Esau. Young and naïve, not skilled with the hunter’s spear as his brother Esau, Jacob is filled with fear and dread. Even though God appears to him in a dream (the famous "Jacob's ladder" scene, Gen. 28:12-16) and promises protection along all his journeys, Jacob's faith is riddled with misgivings. When he arrives at his uncle Laban's house, his journey's goal, he is at first greeted with joy (and Rachel's love), but the joy proves fleeting. Cheating and conniving seem to run rampant in this family. Laban cheats Jacob several times over, and Jacob reciprocates by using magic to increase his wealth. At least that's what he thinks he is doing, though his later explanation of what exactly happened (Gen. 31:8-10) leaves us mystified--does he really believe his own story, or is he beginning to perceive God's hand in his success? Rachel--the beloved wife--and Leah, her unloved sister, compete for Jacob's love, and between them and their handmaidens give birth to eleven of the 12 sons who will become "B'nai Yisrael," the Children of Israel, aka the Jewish People. (There is also one daughter, Dina, whose tragic story and fate are part of next week’s portion). Meanwhile, with all the chaos, cheating and dishonesty in Laban’s household coming to a head, God appears to Jacob once again and commands him to return home. While keeping his father-in-law in the dark about his plans, Jacob gathers his family and all his accumulated wealth and possessions and--yet again--is forced to flee what has been his home for 20 years. Laban and his jealous, hate-filled sons (where have we heard this before??) give chase to the fugitives, but God warns them against causing any harm to Jacob or his family. As the portion ends, Jacob sees angels once again, reinforcing his growing understanding that God is not just some local deity, in conformity with other religious beliefs of the time and place, but rather is the One God whose sovereignty extends over all creation, the God of Israel.
Jacob is quite possibly the most "human" of the three Patriarchs, the one we can most relate to. Our journey in life, like Jacob's, is often dictated by forces outside our control, and we react as best as we can, using whatever talents and gifts we may possess. Our faith competes with reality until—sometimes sooner, sometimes later in life—we somehow find our way back to the beliefs of our ancestors and reclaim our roots. Like Jacob, perceiving the guiding hand of God in our life’s journey is a gradual process. It does not prevent or excuse us from making mistakes. These have to be corrected along the way, as we slowly come to see the story of our life unfold and reach its inevitable conclusion. Finding our way home is challenging, but it is not without rewards and blessings, if we but open our eyes and see God's angels accompanying us all along the way.
May our path be less torturous and tragic than Jacob's.
© 2024 by Boaz D. Heilman
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