Parasha Vayetzé 5782
Yaacov, father of the Twelve Tribes, leaves Israel departing from the city of Beer Sheva on his way to Aram (Haran) to escape from his brother Esav according to the advice of his mother, and to seek a wife according to the instructions of his father Yitzchak . The town of Beer Sheva represented peace and security, prayer and study of the Torah, however Yaacov had to leave it to face the world of temptations (Olam: whose root is helem, concealment -where Gd is hidden -) overcome them and then be the father of the house of Israel; which teaches us that Gd wants the Jews to live a spiritual life in an earthly world.
Yaacov studied fourteen years at the Eber Yeshiva before going to Haran. In addition to studying the culture and language of the place where he went, he dedicated himself mainly to pray, which shows that before forming a Jewish home, the priority is not to lose one's identity in the process of integration into society. Which is reached, by way of the simple imitation of the customs of others, but to know our foundations of life indicated in the Torah and not forget them.
Before reaching Haran Yaacov stopped at Mount Moria in the same place where Abraham built the altar for Isaac's sacrifice and where the Bet Hamikdash-Temple was later built. There he had the famous dream of the ladder and received from Gd the promise that this land would belong to his descendants, which would be as numerous as the sands of the seas.
In Yaacov's dream, the ladder was resting on the ground but reached up to the sky. On the ladder there were angels going up and down. These represented the four empires that would dominate our people: Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome (Edom) - our current exile.
In each of the cases Yaacov saw his rise, peak and fall, except in the case of Edom whose angel continually rose. When he asked Gd when he would come down, he replied that He himself will bring him down, indicating that the end of the current exile will occur by supernatural means. The life and experiences of the patriarchs serve as models for our behavior, so the dream of the patriarch tells us that even when our physical existence is earthly, we all have the potential to reach high spiritual levels and therefore we must make every effort to achieve it. .
Yaacov arrived at the house of Laván his uncle and after working seven years to marry Rachel, he has to marry his older sister Lea, because Laván cheats on him. He works seven more years to get married to Rachel. Yaacov spent 20 years in total working for Lavan without losing his spiritual level. The root of the word "Aramaic" in Hebrew "arami" means deception. That was the name by which Lavan was known; "master of deception" - arami. When Yaacov's love for Rachel is narrated, it is said that even though he had to wait seven years to marry her, these passed as if they were a few days because of the love he had for her. This explains the true type of love. For people who mainly love themselves and need the company of the other person to gratify themselves, each day of absence is an eternity. Instead Yaacov loved Rachel for what she was more than for what he could give her. It was an unconditional love where any sacrifice was worth it.
True love is permanent, it prevails, and many years can seem like a few days. Yaakov is a "Ish Tam", a man of integrity. Yaakov is related to "the Truth" (Yalkut Shimoni Bamidbar 13), as it is written : "Grant Yaakov's Truth" (Mijá7: 20). And not only was he integrity in keeping his word, but he was also devout and honest in his way of working, as explained by Rabenu Bejayé and Seforno, Yaakov responded so much for the losses that fall on the responsibility of the caregiver, such as those losses that do not fall on the caregiver and their responsibility His dedication in what he did was admirable.
Yaacov had 12 children in his four wives: Lea, Rachel, Bilhá and Zilpá, the four were sisters from his father Laván; Bilhá and Zilpá were daughters of a concubine of Lavan. Leah had the first four sons of Yaacov: Reuben, Shimon, Levi and Yehuda. Dan and Naphtali were sons of Bilha. Gad and Asher, sons of Zilpah. Later Lea had two more children: Yisajar and Zevulún and a daughter, Dina. Finally Rachel, after fourteen years of waiting had Yosef and later Binyamin. The Jewish name -Yehudí- derived from Yehudá, fourth son of Lea and Yaacov, comes from "hodaá" - gratitude- therefore our name -jewish- means "Thank the Creator" because the role of the Yehudi It is to praise God, thank Him for everything and recognize that He is the Creator and Sovereign of everything that exists.
After the long stay in Aram Yaacov has the privilege of returning to his land of Israel to his father's house, also loaded with money and livestock and what is more important, with children that despite having been raised in an environment of idolatry, they could be educated within Judaism becoming in the future the Twelve Tribes that give birth to the Jewish people.
While Yaacov was with Lavan he fulfilled the 613 Precepts. This is confirmed in the expression used in the Jumash when he says "Garti" with Lavan. "Garti" means in Hebrew: "I lived", and has a numerical value of 613, equivalent to the 613 mitzvot of the Torah.
Each person can perform two types of actions on a ladder; up or down; every day has new challenges and therefore we must use our actions and experiences, failures and successes to serve as an incentive to climb in our spiritual growth. The word ladder in Hebrew "sulam" has the same numerical value as the word money "sucker". This teaches us that money is like a ladder, it can be used to ascend and get closer to heaven or to descend to the bottom. It all depends for what purpose we use it.
(Source: Mati Jakubowicz and Jaya Perman: "Al Compás del Tiempo ...")
Dedicated for the elevation of the soul of Abraham Alberto ben Ana, and for Refua Shlema "the prompt and complete healing" of Abraham Ben Sindy and all the sick of Am Israel and the world.
Shabbat Shalom!
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