Parashat Vayetzei 5782

by Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields

Parashat Vayetzei begins by stating in Genesis 27, that Jacob had to flee his home because his brother Esau wanted to kill him for having stolen his blessing. Jacob asks God to provide for his needs, be with him, guard him (שמר) and help him come back in peace (Genesis 28:15, 20 and also 31:29). God was a support and guide to Jacob during hard times (Genesis 28:15). In the Torah reading, Jacob served seven years for Rachel (Genesis 29:20), and was given Leah instead. He then served seven more years for Rachel. Leah, Rachel and their handmaids, Bilhah and Zilpah, were the mothers of all Jacob’s children, the ancestors to the entire people, the children of Israel, b’nai yisrael. In Genesis 31:30, household gods appear in the story without outright condemnation. Laban, Rachel and Leah’s father, owns Idols. Rachel steals those idols to take with her when she leaves her father’s house to move to Canaan. Her theft seems to be condemned by Jacob and Laban, but the ownership of those household Idols itself, does not seem to be condemned. In the Torah reading Laban objects to Jacob having left secretively and protests that if only Jacob had told him his plans, “I would have sent you off b’simchah.” B’simchah is usually translated as “with joy,” or “with willingness, alacrity, enthusiasm and generosity.”

The Ashkenazic Haftarah that goes b’yachad, together with Parashat Vayetzei is from Hosea 12:13 – 14:10. The haftarah begins by stating that Jacob served for one wife, and for another wife, he guarded. The haftarah continues to state that one prophet God brought Israel out of Egypt, and another prophet guarded them. Prophets and wife seem to be described in parallel fashion: how Jacob took wives, but not what the wives did for him is compared to what prophets did for God, but not how God acquired them. Wives gave birth to the people, Moses the prophet helped “deliver” the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt and the other prophet “mothered” them until they developed into a nation. Jacob immediately loved Rachel and was willing to serve her father to earn the right to marry her. Jacob acquired Rachel by acting as a servant. In contrast, the prophets were called by God to serve God. Moses is often referred to as “the Servants of God.” Hosea 12:13 refers to Jacob’s need to flee from his home and sojourn in Aram, where he earned his wives by guarding (שמר) the sheep. Hosea 12:14 continues by saying that God assigned prophets to guard (שמר) Israel when they came up from Egypt and when they lived in Israel. Hosea encourages the Israelites to consider God their only source of help (Hosea 12:14 and 13:4-9). Idols are condemned by Hosea (13:1-2).

In the haftarah (14:5), we learned that if the prophet could convince Israel to stop sinning and repent God, would love Israel generously (נדבה). The haftarah (14:5) says that God will love Israel generously. The haftarah’s term (נדבה) generously and the Torah reading’s term b’simchah have very similar meaning. The word disgrace (חרפה) appears in the Torah reading and in the haftarah. In the Torah reading, Rachel has been childless and suffered shame for many years because of it. In Genesis 30:22-23 she finally has a child and says “God has taken away my disgrace.” In the haftarah, since Ephraim has brought disgrace upon God through Ephraim’s sins, God will pay Ephraim back for the disgrace. The word שובה shuva meaning “return,” appears in both the haftarah and the Torah reading (Hosea 14:2 and Genesis 28:15 and 21, 29:3, 31:3 and 13). The word שובה shuva also forms the basis for the Hebrew word “repentance.” To repent, then is to return. This implies that those who have sinned were once in the right place, but have strayed.

The Sephardic Haftarah that is often read b’yachad together with Parashat Vayetzei is from Hosea 11:7 – 12:12. Furthermore, this haftarah is read by some Ashkenazim for next week’s Torah Reading, Parashat Vayishlach. Before Jacob leaves the Land, God promises in Genesis 28;15, to bring him back to the Land, which God does in Genesis 31:3. According to Hosea, God will call the exiled Israelites from exile to return to their Land (Hosea 11:10-11). Hosea 12:3 states that Jacob was punished according to his deeds. Beth El is mentioned in Parshat Vayetzei (Genesis 28:19 and 31:13) as well as in the haftarah, Hosea 12:5. In Parashat Vayetzei, Jacob kisses Rachel and cries (Genesis 29:11). In the haftarah, it is stated that Jacob fought with an angel and wept (Hosea 12:3-5).