This Week In The Torah



Parsha Vayeitzei Bereishis/Genesis Ch.28/10 - 32/3

A Vow in Time
by Rabbi Yechezkel Fox

Then Yaakov took a vow, saying,"If G-d will be with me, will guard me on this way that I am going; will give me bread to eat and clothes to wear; and I return in peace to my father's house, and G-d will be a Lord to me - then this stone which I have set up as a pillar shall become a house of G-d, and whatever You shall give me, I shall repeatedly tithe to You." Ch.28/20

Yaakov was in a situation of great peril: in flight from the murderous Esav, he was on his way to seek sanctuary in the house of the wicked Lovan. Yaakov vowed that if G-d would help him, he would devote himself to serving Him more than ever before. Generally, the Sages discourage the making of vows; but in such extremity, it's permitted.

Exactly two hundred years ago this month, the rabbi of Lelov, Poland, the Pnei Yehoshua, found himself in such a situation. His home was burning down and he was trapped in his Beis HaMidrash (study room) with no visible route of escape. He vowed on the spot that if G-d would somehow save him, he would completely re-dedicate himself to Torah study. In the introduction to his illustrious work, Pnei Yehoshua, he testifies that no sooner had he finished uttering the words of his vow, than he suddenly saw a way out. Miraculously, he emerged unscathed. He also mentions that he kept his side of the bargain, too. For his book, written after the event, contains the fruits of those renewed labors in the study of G-d's Torah.

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Go East, Young Man!

So Yaakov lifted his feet, and went toward the land of the easterners.Ch.29/1

The Zohar learns from here that Yaakov went off to the East before he went to Lavan in Haran. What was the reason for this delay?

Lavan was infamous for his expertise in the occult, and possessed great powers of black magic. Yaakov had to study these practices in order to counteract them. (In fact in order to be a member of the highest legislative body, the Sanhedrin, one also had to be expert in the black arts for this very reason.) Where was the centre of the occult in Yaakov's time?

Back in Parshas Chaya Sarah the verse says: But to the children of the concubines who were Avraham's, Avraham gave gifts; then he sent them away from Yitzchak his son, while he was still alive, eastward to the land of the east. Ch.25/6

Rashi there tells us that the gifts that he gave them was a name of impurity by which they could pratice the occult.* So this is why Yaakov first departed for the East, to prepare himself for his confrontation with the wicked Lavan.

* Even though Avraham deemed it necessary to give them these powers they are strictly fordidden to be practised by us.

Sources: Rabbi Yonason Eibschitz

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The Danger of Sisters

Rachel saw that she had not borne children to Yaakov, so Rachel became envious of her sister; she said to Yaakov, " Give me children - otherwise I am dead." Ch.30/1

Why did Rachel think she would die because she couldn't have children?

We learnt in last week's Parsha (Ch.26/5and Rashi) that the forefathers kept the Torah even before Sinai. Shouldn't Yaakov have known better than to violate the Torah prohibition of marrying two sisters (see Leviticus Ch.18/18)?

However, before the Giving of the Torah, the Patriarchs kept the Torah only according to the reasons that were revealed to them. (After Sinai, one has to obey a prohibition even if the known reasons don't seem to apply). The Rambam teaches that the reason for the prohibition of marrying two wives is jealousy. They will be consumed by it, and the marriages are doomed to failure.This explains why a man can marry his wife's sister after her death, since there is obviously no longer any problem of jealousy.

Yaakov knew that there was no jealousy between Rachel and Leah. This was borne out on the night that Yaakov was supposed to have married Rachel. Knowing that Lavan, their father, was a trickster, Yaakov took precautions to make sure that his bride to be was really Rachel. He gave her code words that she would tell him before they consummated the marriage. When Lavan actually sent in Leah to the bridal room, Rachel, acting out of great love and respect for her sister, revealed these code words to Leah, so she wouldn't be embarassed (see Rashi 29/25). Rachel's selfless act showed that there would be no jealousy between them.

Now we can understand why Rachel feared for her life. Leah had already given birth to four children. Rachel was jealous. Granted, this was a spiritual jealousy, since she too yearned to give birth to the building blocks of the Jewish People. Nevertheless she was jealous, and she knew that there was no longer an allowance for Yaakov to be married to two sisters. And the punishment could be her death.

Sources: Rav Yonason Eibschitz.



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