Category Archives: Vayetze

5784, AI art, Genesis, Kli Yakar 2, Parsha, Vayetze

Anti-Wealth Prayer (Vayetze)

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PDF version for print: Kli Yakar Vayetze

Anti-Wealth Prayer (Vayetze)

 He who knows he has enough is rich. -Lao-Tzu

Our Patriarch Jacob becomes a wealthy man. He leaves his uncle Laban, who is also his father-in-law, after twenty years of hard work, laden with massive wealth. What is curious about his wealth is his view of it, or at least the interpretation of Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim of Prague, the Kli Yakar (1550-1619) as to Jacob’s philosophy of wealth.

Twenty years earlier, as Jacob sets out from his father’s house on his journey to Haran, Jacob prays to God. He prays for a safe return home. In the material department he asks for only two things: “bread to eat and clothing to wear.” A minimalist request from a future tycoon.

The Kli Yakar on Genesis 28:20 explains that Jacob’s request for sustenance was also part of his request to return home safely and uncorrupted. It’s obvious that bread is eaten, and clothing is worn. Why did Jacob need to add those verbs?

The answer is that Jacob only wanted enough bread to eat and no more, just clothing to wear and nothing extraneous. The Kli Yakar quotes from Proverbs (30:8):

Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with mine allotted bread.

He claims that wealth has the potential to both corrupt and cause conflict. It can corrupt its owner from following a straight path, a path of service to God. The wealthy are always at risk of servicing their Wealth. It can also cause conflict with those who want to get their hands on their wealth.

Therefore, Jacob pleads that if God will merely give him his basic necessities to support himself and his family then “I shall return in peace to my father’s home.”

May our basic needs always be covered and may the wealth we are granted be harnessed for God.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

 To the memory of Rabbi Israel Francus z”l.

5783, Bat Ayin, Genesis, Jacob, Parsha, Vayetze

Prophetic Vision (Vayetze)

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Prophetic Vision (Vayetze)

As a man is, so he sees. As the eye is formed, such are its powers. -William Blake

The encounter with God is often a nebulous affair. It seems that prophetic visions are challenging for most mortals to withstand, let alone fully and deeply comprehend. The sages liken the prophetic experience as seeing someone through a clouded window. The most prominent exception is Moses, who is described as perceiving God clearly, through a “clear window” (Asplakariah Meirah is the term that’s used).

However, between the clear and the clouded visions, there are nuances as to how one achieves prophetic clarity. The Bat Ayin on Genesis 28:10 delves into some of the factors of prophetic vision based on Jacob’s journey.

He explains that the first level of prophecy is achieved by wholehearted fulfillment of God’s commandments. This is the level of entry into the land of Israel and is similar to the level achieved by the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest when he enters the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur. The most holy person entering the most holy place on the most holy day of the year. By actively and fully pursuing and fulfilling all of God’s desires one can strive for the initial level of prophecy, the Asplakariah She’eina Meriah – the unclear window into the realm of prophecy.

The next level of prophetic vision is achieved by immersion in God’s Torah. By fully accepting, embracing, and internalizing God’s word, one’s mind and heart are sanctified. The Torah has the power to enlighten and show a person the path they should undertake.

The Bat Ayin draws all of this out from the somewhat repetitive verse “And Jacob left Beer Sheva and went to Charan.” We were just told of Jacob’s journey a few verses before that. The Bat Ayin relates the word Charan to the word Cherut, meaning freedom. Jacob travelled from his earnest and dutiful fulfillment of God’s commands to a level of fully delving into the Torah, thereby reaching a higher level of awe of God, of freedom and of even being able to see the angels, besides the prophetic vision he was granted.

May we, in our own small ways, reach for glimpses of the divine and holy by doing what’s right and learning what God says about it.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the memory of one of my rabbinic inspirations, Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu z”l.

5782, Chidushei HaRim, Genesis, Jacob, Parsha, Vayetze

Powerful Vows (Vayetze)

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Powerful Vows (Vayetze)

A vow is fixed and unalterable determination to do a thing, when such a determination is related to something noble which can only uplift the man who makes the resolve. -Mahatma Gandhi

Jacob is on the run. He is escaping his home in the land of Canaan from the murderous intent of his brother Esau. En route, he sleeps in a place that afterward will be named Bet El (House of God) where he has a dream. In the dream, he sees a ladder that reaches the heavens, with angels ascending and descending. God speaks to Jacob from the top of the ladder. God promises Jacob that He’ll protect Jacob on his journey, bring him back home safely, and guarantees him the land and great progeny.

Jacob wakes from the dream, and he is in such awe of the event that he vows that God will be his God and that he’ll tithe all of his gains to God.

The Chidushei HaRim on Genesis 28:20 examines the phenomena of making a vow. The Torah and Jewish Law take vows very seriously. The consensus is that vows should generally be avoided, but if made, they are legally binding and must be upheld.

The Chidushei HaRim explains that Jacob made the vow to bind himself closer to God. He had just experienced a divine revelation. He felt enormously close to God, but he knew the feeling wouldn’t last. In that moment of divine closeness, in that moment of spiritual clarity, Jacob makes a vow. The intent of the vow is to find an additional way, another mechanism to keep himself bound to God even when the effects of the momentary clarity dissipate. The Chidushei HaRim states that Jacob pioneered this approach and opened the door for his descendants, the Jewish nation, to similarly bind themselves to God through positive vows during those moments of divine proximity. Such a vow can be extremely powerful.

He further adds that the angels in Jacob’s dream were dancing. They dance as a result of our good deeds. If we were to realize the tremendous impact our good deeds and divine service have in both this world and in the upper worlds, we would never cease them.

May we always resolve to do the right things, whether we vowed or not.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the Israeli government finally having a budget.

5781, Bechor Shor, Genesis, Jacob, Paintings, Parsha, Vayetze

Misunderstanding God (Vayetze)

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Misunderstanding God (Vayetze)

The business of a seer is to see; and if he involves himself in the kind of God-eclipsing activities which make seeing impossible, he betrays the trust which his fellows have tacitly placed in him. -Aldous Huxley

Jacob arrives in the town of Haran and falls in love at first sight with his cousin Rachel. He offers Rachel’s father, Lavan, to work for him for seven years to marry Rachel. Lavan sort of agrees. On the wedding night, seven years later, Lavan switches Rachel for her older sister, Leah, which somehow Jacob only realizes the morning after. Infuriated, Jacob confronts Lavan. Lavan tells him that in his town they don’t marry the younger one before the older one, but if he wants, after the week of the wedding celebration, he can have Rachel – but for an additional seven years of work. Jacob agrees.

Now, after fourteen years of working for his father-in-law, where Jacob was extremely productive and made Lavan into a wealthy man, Jacob wants to earn something for himself. He comes to a new agreement with Lavan as to what his compensation will be. Jacob is successful, but Lavan keeps changing the terms of the deal. Finally, God reveals himself to Jacob and tells him to leave Lavan and head back home to his father, Isaac, in Canaan.

Fearful that Lavan, the proven swindler, would hamper his departure, Jacob leaves with his wives, children, and all his possessions, without informing Lavan. Lavan eventually is notified of Jacob’s escape and pursues him. The night before Lavan is about to encounter Jacob, God comes to Lavan in his dream and warns him: “Beware of attempting anything with Jacob, good or bad.”

Now a prophetic vision of God talking to us might typically make us awestruck and even humble. A warning from God might even make us cautious. However, it seems Lavan misunderstands God and the divine communication doesn’t seem to have reduced his arrogance or ego.

The next morning Lavan catches up with Jacob and berates him for his hasty departure. He tells Jacob that he would have a mind to hurt him in some way for this offense, but that God Himself told him not to.

The Bechor Shor on Genesis 31:29 interprets Lavan as saying that “I really could have done serious damage to you and that my power to hurt you is so great that even God himself was worried and therefore came to me in a prophetic vision to ask me not to harm you in any way.” Lavan further uses God’s intervention as proof that Jacob was wrong in leaving without informing him.

But Lavan was wrong on both counts. He didn’t realize that he could not harm Jacob if God wouldn’t allow it, nor did he realize that Jacob had departed based on God’s direct command. God’s warning was likely more for Lavan’s benefit than for Jacob’s.

But humans continually prove that often, we hear what we want to hear, even if it’s God Himself talking.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

On the 57th anniversary of Doctor Who.

5780, Genesis, Jacob, Meshech Chochma, Parsha, Vayetze

Missing out on the Righteous (Vayetze)

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Missing out on the Righteous (Vayetze)

Get around people who have something of value to share with you. Their impact will continue to have a significant effect on your life long after they have departed. -Jim Rohn

Jacob had escaped his brother Esau’s wrath and exiled himself to Haran, to live and work with his uncle Laban. Upon meeting his cousin Rachel, Jacob falls in love at first sight and offers Laban that he will work seven years for Rachel as the price of marriage. Laban famously switches Rachel for her sister Leah on the wedding night and then scams Jacob into working another seven years for Rachel. Jacob agrees. Later on, when Jacob tries to get paid for additional work, Laban keeps switching the deal on him.

Laban was by all accounts a cheating, lying, avaricious, double-crossing scoundrel. Jacob had his own history of deceit. Jacob had pretended to be his brother Esau and snatched Esau’s blessing from their blind father, Isaac. Esau’s anger is what prompted Jacob’s exile in the first place. Nonetheless, in Haran, Jacob proved himself to be an industrious, loyal, honest and hardworking employee and son-in-law.

Eventually, Jacob, with God’s prompting, decides that enough is enough. When Laban is away shearing his own flock, Jacob takes advantage, packs up the whole family and all their possessions and without any notice leaves Haran and heads back to Canaan, back home.

Laban gets wind of Jacob’s hasty and unannounced departure, chases after him, chastises him, eventually comes to some sort of understanding and even a “pact” and then they each go their own way.

The Meshech Chochma on Genesis 32:1 wonders as to phraseology of the verse: And Laban went and returned to his place; and Jacob continued on his path.

He explains that typically, when one is in the presence of a righteous person, they learn from them, they are affected by them, they pick up some of their positive traits, some of their wisdom. However, Laban did not take advantage of having Jacob in his household and when they separated Laban “returned to his place,” he returned to his bad ways, to his negative traits and avarice.

Jacob, on the other hand, “continued on his way,” he continued to grow, he continued to ascend in his path of goodness. And that leads Jacob to the very next phrase of the verse, “and the angels of God met him.”

May we take advantage of the presence of good people in our lives, learn from them and continue on the good path, as opposed to returning to our old, bad ways.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, the one abolishing slavery. It was made into law 154 years ago, this week.

5779, Berdichever, Genesis, Parsha, The Times of Israel, Vayetze

Real Resurrection (Vayetze)

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Real Resurrection (Vayetze)

A lawyer’s dream of heaven; every man reclaimed his property at the resurrection, and each tried to recover it from all his forefathers. -Samuel Butler

I have a theory as to one of the (likely many) divine purposes of technological developments (and to some extent science fiction and futuristic imaginings). It is to understand better how God might work.

We live in an era of disbelief in anything that is not scientifically provable, repeatable, explainable. What mankind in the past accepted as a matter of faith is today dismissed as the purview of the naïve, gullible and feebleminded.

Technological advancement may come to show that what was previously in the realm of the miraculous or impossible can become commonplace. For a small device the size of your hand to allow you to see and talk to someone on the other side of the planet was inconceivable just a few decades ago. For the same device to guide you as to the best possible driving route in real-time, taking into account construction, accidents and traffic, is now taken for granted. For a heartless machine to be able to predict and complete with unerring accuracy your next typed words wasn’t even dreamt of by science fiction authors. These modern miracles and technological imaginings are opening our eyes and changing our minds as to what we define as possible and impossible.

Perhaps the last scientific frontier and perhaps not coincidentally the last and least discussed article of Jewish faith of Maimonides’ 13 Principles of Faith is the belief in the Resurrection: “I believe with complete faith that there will be a resurrection of the dead at the time that will be pleasing before the Creator, blessed be His name, and the remembrance of Him will be exalted forever and for all eternity.”

The Berdichever in his analysis of the account of Jacob’s dream at Bet-El, zooms in on the seemingly extraneous detail that the city was previously called “Luz.” He explains that Luz is also the name of a part of the human body (I’ve heard some say it’s the vertebrae under the skull) that will be the physical seed of the regeneration and resurrection of the bodies that will merit to be reunited with their souls at some future date. Jacob’s encounter with God at Bet-El/Luz hints at that predicted resurrection.

The explanation brought to my mind the scene from Jurassic Park where they bring back the dinosaurs just from a preserved drop of dinosaur DNA. This concept has been known to scientists for some time now, that every molecule of our body, of DNA, has the complete instruction set for the re-creation of an entire body.

While those who have complete faith may not need scientific support, it may make it easier for the remainder of an unbelieving humanity to have assistance in imagining the possibility that nothing is beyond God and that ultimately there is nothing to “scientifically” prevent God from resurrecting the dead as promised.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the memory of my dear friend and one of my earliest mentors, Carlos Antonio Alarcon of Caracas, Venezuela.

5778, Genesis, Jacob, Parsha, Rabbeinu Bechaye, The Times of Israel, Vayetze

Dangerous Jealousy

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Dangerous Jealousy

The disease of jealously is so malignant that is converts all it takes into its own nourishment. -Joseph Addison

In Judaism there’s a concept of an “evil eye.” An evil eye is when someone looks upon another in some negative fashion. This is most commonly the result of jealousy.

Rabbeinu Bechaye on Genesis 30:38 (Vayetze) discusses the destructive power of such jealousy, how people can unwittingly bring it upon themselves, and how it can attack and damage even the most miraculous interventions.

The first example is Jacob’s wife Leah, who upon giving birth to Judah, her fourth child, thanks God (Judah’s name is actually based on the Hebrew word Thanks). Rabbeinu Bechaye explains that because of Leah’s gratitude for a greater portion of children of what she knew was prophesized for Jacob, the evil eye immediately fell upon her, and she was stopped (temporarily) from having further children.

The second example was the descendants of Joseph, who declared proudly their blessing of being a numerous people. After that statement Joshua directs them to go to the forest. The sages interpret the passage to mean a command for them to go to the forest to hide from the evil eye.

The most glaring example was the actual Revelation at Mount Sinai and the delivery of the Ten Commandments upon the Tablets of the Law. It was given with incredible fanfare, lightning, thunder and Shofar blasts. Rabbeinu Bechaye explains that the evil eye immediately fell upon the event, which led in turn to the breaking of the Tablets shortly thereafter. When the second set of Tablets was given quietly, inconspicuously, no evil eye fell upon the event. The second set of Tablets was never destroyed.

Finally, Jacob, who was attuned to the concept of the evil eye, in his efforts to increase his herd, utilized strategies that would be perceived as natural, to hide what he understood was the miraculous intervention he knew was taking place. His low-key understated work efforts hid what was truly going on from onlookers and protected him from the evil eye.

Rabbeinu Bechaye warns that “the power of the evil eye is so great that it can affect even things that miracles touch.”

May we beware of jealousy in all its forms and reduce our chances of attracting it.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the Krieger and Silverman families for their blessed hospitality. May the evil eye never enter their homes.

5777, Genesis, Hirsch, Jacob, Parsha, The Times of Israel, Vayetze

God Starts At Home

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God Starts At Home

The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest. -Thomas Moore

Jacob departs from his parents. He travels to Haran to establish a family, a home. He travels empty-handed. He stops for the night and has a divine revelation in the midst of his dream. He sees a staircase with its feet in the ground yet reaching the heavens. Angels ascend and descend. God speaks to him, giving him encouragement and making promises.

Jacob wakes up, startled and amazed by the revelation and the realization that he is in a holy place. He takes a rock, anoints it with oil and declares it the House of God (Bet El).

Rabbi Hirsch on this scene in Genesis 28 states the following:

“Jacob goes forth in order to establish a Jewish home, and to this end he takes with him nothing except his own person, the qualities inherent in his personality. This fact is introduced at this point in the narrative, for everything that follows is concerned solely with the establishment of that home. For Jacob was the first to declare that God must be sought, above all, within the home. He was the first to articulate the lofty concept, “the house of God,” which simply means that the place within which the souls of man grow and flourish, and to which in turn brings all that he has accomplished and transforms into life-building activity, is the greatest and nearest place where God may be found and revealed.”

May we have and build homes with God.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To Yehuda and Hadar of Krakow on their marriage.

 

5776, Genesis, Jacob, Parsha, Sfat Emet, The Times of Israel, Vayetze

Mark of the Righteous

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 We shape our dwellings, and afterwards our dwellings shape us. -Sir Winston Churchill 

There is a principle in biblical studies that the Torah does not include extraneous words. This leads to a famous question as to why the Torah needs to mention that Jacob is departing the city of Beer Sheva (Genesis 28:10), when we already know from previous verses where he’s leaving from. The popular answer that is given is that just as a city feels the effect of the arrival of a righteous man, so too they feel the departure of the righteous.

The Sfat Emet writing in 5636 (1876) is not satisfied with the popular answer. He feels that there is a deeper answer to the redundancy of mentioning Jacob’s city of departure. He explains that the effect of the righteous upon the city is so strong that it leaves a mark even after they have departed and that it becomes a source of merit to the city to have had the righteous living in their midst.

He further compares the effect the righteous have upon a city like that of the performance of commandments upon the body. Whenever a person performs a commandment with their body it leaves a mark of holiness upon their limbs which remains even after the commandment has been performed and serves as a merit to the body.

May we perform commandments with all of our selves and merit health and holiness for our entire body.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

For the Jewish community of Paysandu on the inauguration of its building and its wonderful hosting. May they have many more visits and successful community events.

In memory of my friend and neighbor, Yaakov Don h”yd, murdered by Muslim terrorists in Gush Etzion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5775, Baal Haturim, Genesis, Jacob, Parsha, The Times of Israel, Vayetze

Focused Prayer

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First posted on The Times of Israel at: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/vayetze-focused-prayer/

Baal Haturim Genesis: Vayetze

Focused Prayer

No steam or gas ever drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined. -Harry Emerson Fosdick

In the first and perhaps most famous of the Biblical dreams, Jacob sees a ladder that reaches the heavens with angels ascending and descending. The scene has been recreated in art and literature, has been interpreted widely and has served as a metaphor for connecting heaven and earth.

The Baal Haturim on Genesis 28:12 explains that the sound of the righteous praying constructs a ladder for angels to ascend. He further states that we have it in our power to also create heavenly ladders. All we need to do is focus during our prayers. Our focusing completes the ladder. If we are focused during our prayer then he assures us that our prayers will indeed ascend on these spiritual ladders and reach their destination.

And another source as to the benefits of praying:

The influence of prayer on the human mind and body is as demonstrable as that of secreting glands. Its results can be measured in terms of increased physical buoyancy, greater intellectual vigor, moral stamina, and a deeper understanding of the realities underlying human relationships. -Dr. Alex Carrel

May we make the time to pray and when we do so, may we have the ability to focus.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

Mazal Tov to Nadia and Daniel Kacowicz on their wedding. May their focused prayers come true!