Parashah Vayetze continues the saga of Jacob escaping the wrath of his brother Esau and heading to Haran. In verse 11 of Genesis 28, the phrase בַּמָּק֜וֹם b’makom “in that place” is repeated 3 times, indicating that this place holds special significance. It does not mention which place, but in the words of Ibn Ezra, “b’makom refers to the place already mentioned in another passage, namely, Mount Moriah of which it is stated in Genesis 22:4: “And he saw the place, hamakom (המקום) from afar”. This place is where God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac and in 2 Chronicles 3:1, we read that it is where King Solomon built the temple and where God had appeared to David, the future king of Israel. Moriah means “the land chosen by YHVH.”
In this same verse, we read that Jacob had a vivid dream when he laid his head down to sleep; he saw a ladder planted in the earth reaching up to the heavens and upon which angels were ascending and descending. God communicates to us through dreams perhaps that is when it’s easier for us to be fully attentive to His message. In his dream, God repeated the promise He made to Jacob’s father, Isaac and his grandfather, Abraham. It says, “And behold, YHVH stood beside him and said: ‘I am YHVH, the GOD of your father Abraham and the GOD of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land upon which you are lying… And in you and your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will protect you wherever you go and bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you.’ You and I can hold on to this promise.
When Jacob awoke, he said, “How full of awe is this place! This is none other than the House of God, and the Gate of Heaven.” He then set up a standing stone in memory of this event and after anointing it with oil, He named it Beitel, the House of GOD. I am filled with awe just reading it so can you imagine how Jacob felt? Yet right afterwards he makes this vow: “ אִם-יִהְיֶה אֱלֹהִים עִמָּדִי, Im Adonai Elohim imadi”…If God will be with me, and will protect me on my journey, give me bread to eat, and clothes to wear, so that I safely return to my father’s house, then Adonai will be my God, and this stone, which I have set up as a monument, will be God’s house; and of all that You shall give me I will surely give You a tenth.” Jacob was just learning to trust GOD and so are we. When we doubt that GOD is protecting us and providing for us, it is good to remember Jacob’s story. It may be that we don’t trust ourselves. After all, that stone did become our Temple, but it was destroyed due to our disobedience.
The three most influential religions today – Rabbinic Judaism, Christianity and Islam – all agree that this special place is sacred, but each believes it applies solely to them. However, in the future, it will be as Isaiah 2:3 says, “And many peoples shall go and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of GOD, to the house of the GOD of Jacob; and He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah and the Word of GOD from Jerusalem.” Mount Moriah is the special gateway to heaven to all who trust in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’s GOD, the GOD of Israel!
During our lifetime, we will be faced with various adversaries. Some help us grow in a healthy way while others only want to destroy us. The latter, in this story, belongs to the character Lavan, Jacob’s uncle. Jacob sought refuge there because that’s where his mother Rebekah sent him. Although Lavan told Jacob (in chapter 29:14-15) that because he is of his bone and flesh and that he is “his brother”, he should be treated well. However, this story reveals that Lavan did everything he could to take advantage of “his brother” Jacob; he lied to him, deceived him, was jealous of him, cheated him, turned his sons against him and ultimately wanted to destroy him. Again, the dream comes into the picture when God speaks to Lavan telling him to do nothing to Jacob either good or bad. God can speak to anyone.
“That he is his brother”…what does that phrase mean to us today? The entire Middle East are our brothers, in truth all of humanity is a brotherhood since we all descend from Noah. But how do we treat our brothers, well or poorly? Sadly, we know the story of the first two brothers on earth: Cain killed his brother Abel. That same jealousy that forced the hand of Cain to murder his brother is repeated here in Genesis 31. Lavan’s sons were heard to say, ‘Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and he has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.’ We know the opposite is true but when we are blinded by jealousy and hatred, lies can easily appear to be true. Lavan saw that Jacob had been blessed by his GOD, but didn’t believe that for himself or his sons. Hatred unchecked does not dissipate, rather it festers throughout the generations until it boils over into war and destruction long after the descendants have forgotten its root. That is what we are facing today; that is the root of antisemitism. Even though Jacob and Lavan made a pact before they separated, pacts cannot change the heart…only GOD can.
What originally sparked Jacob’s desire to return to his homeland? Perhaps he was fed up with the treachery of Lavan’s family and later his desire was confirmed when God told him it was time to return home. Lavan’s sons were only too happy to cheat their cousin out of his 20 years of wages despite being blessed because of him. How often in our long history have we Jews had to flee to another land because the people were threatening to kill us? We lived for several generations in that new land; but when we became fat – i.e., we prospered, we forgot our GOD.
Do you notice how a city thrives when Jews move in? We invent, we work hard, and we strive to be the best, not only for our families but also for those around us. We have been programmed to make this world a better place. That’s because of God’s promise to our forefathers. However, the opposite becomes true when we, who are chosen to be ohr l’goyim, light to the nations choose to mimic the bad morals of the land to which we have fled; then instead of being light, we reflect the darkness of their bad behaviour. The inhabitants turn against us, and we say that we don’t know why. We even cry out, it’s antisemitism but in fact, it is because we have forgotten the GOD of Jacob and His purpose for us.
Jacob said to his wives before fleeing Lavan: “I see that your father’s manner toward me is not as it has been in the past. But the God of my father has been with me.” Gen 31:5. For those of us living in the diaspora, we can see the Lavans of today turning against us in every city in which we live. And who will help us fight this battle? The only One that could help Jacob…the GOD who brought us out of the land of Egypt, out of slavery, Who said, have no other gods.
Yes, we have failed throughout our history, but we belong to GOD. These stories in the Torah show us how to get back on track with our calling and then we can begin hearing His voice again. We can then humbly thank GOD for helping us start again….both individually and as a nation. Then we can watch how GOD goes to war for us.
Does my beloved Jewish community stand today in awe of their Creator as Jacob did at that place? Where are we on the Richter scale of a unified morality? And on what can we base that morality? As our beloved rabbi repeated to us, the only thing we have by which we can judge our conduct, are the Ten Commandments. The receiving of these on Mount Sinai would make a fabulous motion picture. What happened to the people to whom this sacred, Written Book was entrusted? Are we honouring it or are we replacing it with our own suggestions?
Suddenly out of nowhere we read, “And Rachel stole the teraphim (the idols) that belonged to her father.” This simple act, which can easily be overlooked, opened the door to great sadness for Jacob and his sons. Again, like her Aunt Rebekah, Rachel deceived her husband, whatever her reasons were. One of the warnings we have been given in the Ten Commandments is that we are not to make graven images to which we bow down and worship. Did Jacob share this with Rachel? How far have we advanced from that time until today? How many of us were or are enthralled with other gods, like Buddha, the Hindu Yogis and Gurus, Spiritual Chanellers and on and on? I was before returning to the Torah.
Are we sacrificing our children to the modern-day Molech who promotes abortion, the sacrifice of human babies to the god of convenience? We were supposed to care for this baby, protect it and help it find its purpose in the world and make it a better place. Are we losing the battle for the minds of our children to this woke society while we sit by and say or do nothing to protect them?
I wonder when we will be united in trusting Jacob’s God to protect us and to provide for all our needs. He promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us. He was with Jacob on the long journey home and Jacob would live to see his beloved son, Joseph receive the second highest position within the government of Egypt. He would live to see his grandsons, Manasseh and Ephraim, the two brothers who reverse the curse of brother killing brother. In Jewish tradition, parents bless their sons on Friday nights before the Shabbat meal with “May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh“. The curses, the warnings disappear when we love and obey our God and He blesses us for all eternity.
The history of mankind may be a sad one, but it is also filled with hope. Jacob’s words to God…” Im Adonai Elohim imadi”…If God will be with me…show us how accessible God is to us. He may choose to answer us or not, speak to us or not, but in the end, He always shows up exactly when we need Him the most. That’s what helps us trust Him. The phrase “I trust you GOD” means little without having the experience of Him taking over when we’re at the point of giving up. What is our biggest challenge as sojourners, as travellers on this earth? In whom do we trust? The god of Lavan or the GOD of Jacob? Most of the world right now does not trust or believe that the GOD of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the ONE who gave Israel and their descendants the Promised Land. The old hatred and jealousies are still alive…but we can rely on His words to Jacob, “Behold, I am with you, and will protect you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you.’”
Peggy Pardo