* Translated by Janine Muller Sherr
1. This week’s parasha is Vayetze, the seventh parasha in the book of Bereisheet. It begins with our father Yaakov leaving Israel for Charan as a lone refugee and ends with his return to the land as the father of a large family that will become the nation of Israel.
2. The parasha opens with Yaakov’s famous dream of a ladder reaching from heaven to earth, which has become an eternal symbol: “He had a dream: a ladder was set on the ground and its top reached the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it.” Before we set out a journey, it’s important to ask ourselves: What is our dream, our vision, our goal? Do we remember that God is with us? God promises Yaakov that He will accompany him on his journey, that He will protect him until he returns to the land of Israel and that, ultimately, he will be a blessing for all of humanity. Yaakov is not merely escaping—he is embarking on a mission.
3. Yaakov arrives at the home of his uncle Lavan and asks for the hand of his younger daughter, Rachel, in marriage. He works for Lavan for seven years in order to marry Rachel, but the time passes quickly for him—as if only a few days have passed. In one of its most moving and well-known verses, the Torah states: “So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed for him but a few days because of his love for her.”
4. Over the course of his twenty-two years in Charan, Yaakov establishes the nation of Israel. He marries Rachel and Leah and has most of his children (who will become the forebears of the twelve tribes of Israel). In Charan, Yaakov faces many challenges and tests but manages to remain true to his identity. In the end, God commands him to leave his exile. He returns to Israel to continue his mission—the mission of the Jewish people—in the holy land.
5. “She declared, ‘This time I will thank the Lord.’” In this parasha, Leah calls her fourth son, Yehuda, thus giving him what will become the name of our nation—Yehudim (Jews). Our name is based on the word for gratitude, the eternal recognition and appreciation for the good in our lives.
Shabbat Shalom!
