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Torah Portion -
vayeitzei
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Written by d fine
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The Chofetz Chaim asks a rather pertinent question in our sedra. The years of galus were already being counted when Yaakov lived in Lavan’s home. If so, why did HaShem make Yaakov go down to Egypt and continue the galus there; why not stay with Lavan? The Chofetz Chaim answers that this is because the galus of Lavan is too hard. The galus of someone who pretends to be your friend is much harder than the galus of an enemy who makes it obvious that he’s your enemy. The tortures that the Jews faced in Russia were awful and unbearable - but we have lost many more Jews to the ‘friendly’ tide of assimilation in America than that of the Jews in Russia. In Vayishlach, Yaakov prays ‘please save me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Eisav’ (32:12) - ‘my brother’ refers to the Lavan-type ‘friendly galus,’ whilst ‘the hand of Eisav refers to the overtly anti-Semitic galus.’ And Yaakov put the friendly galus first in his prayers - for that is the galus which poses the most danger to the Jewish People.
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Torah Portion -
vayeitzei
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Written by d fine
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As Yaakov dreams, he sees a ladder with angels going ‘up and down’ (28:12). Why were these angels running up and down? For, as Rashi tells us, the angels of Eretz Yisrael were going back up to Heaven, with the angels of chutz l’aretz coming down to escort Yaakov out of the Land. There’s only one problem here. Yaakov was currently at the place of the (future) Beis Hamikdash; which certainly is not on the border of chutz l’aretz by any means. So why were the angels switching over? There are two main answers here. The Maharal answers that the angels were not appointed over the geographic areas of Eretz Yisrael and chutz l’aretz, but rather they were in charge of matters pertaining to Eretz Yisrael and chutz l’aretz (respectively). Thus, though Yaakov was not out of Eretz Yisrael yet, since he was going towards chutz l’aretz then the angels which are in charge of chutz l’aretz related activities took over to escort Yaakov there. There’s another answer though; one based on an important lesson in life. As Rav Yerucham points out, one’s religious level is measured by where one is heading.
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Torah Portion -
vayeitzei
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Written by Yaakov Hibbert
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At the beginning of this week’s סדרה we find that יעקב ‘accidentally’ falls asleep in the place of the בית המקדש. While asleep he sees Hashem standing over him. Hashem tells him how is offspring will be as the dust of the earth, and how He will guard him, and not forsake him etc. יעקב wakes up and exclaims, “אכן יש ה' במקים הזה ואנכי לא ידעתי .... אין זה כי אם בית אלקים” – “surely Hashem is in this place and I did not know ….. This is none other than the abode of Hashem”.
רש"י on the words “and I did not know” brings down the מדרש that says
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Torah Portion -
vayeitzei
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Written by Yaakov Hibbert
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In this weeks סדרה we find that יעקב passed by ירושלים and ended up in חרן. Realizing that he had passed the place where his ancestors had davened, he decided to go and pray at this auspicious place. רש"י based on a גמרא[ii] says that he set off on the way and upon reaching בית אל was זוכה to קפיצת הדרך – the land contracted towards him.
The רמב"ן[iii] however argues on רש"י because we don’t actually find in the גמרא that יעקב even started walking towards
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Torah Portion -
vayeitzei
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Written by Fredrick Rivenson
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As one may remember, our patriarch Yaakov had four wives: Rachel, Leah and their two maid-servants, Bilhah and Zilpah. Rachel and Leah, through prophesy, knew that Yaakov would have 12 sons, each establishing their own tribe, and thought that as Yaakov had four wives, each wife would give birth to three sons. However, as it turned out, Leah was had four sons. At the birth of her 4th son, Leah named that child “Yehudah" -“Judah”, meaning, “Now I will praise Hashem”. She gave special thanks because
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