B"H

Monday, Kislev 5, 5777 / December 5, 2016

 

One of the highlights of this week's Parsha, Vayeitzei, is the story of Yaakov leaving his parents and the famous dream with the ladder, upon which G-d’s angels were ascending and descending. 

 

Yaakov’s brother, Esau, wanted to kill Yaakov because he got their father’s blessings instead of him. Yaakov had to flee Be’er Sheva, where his parents lived, and go to Charan, to his uncle, Lavan.

 

On the way to his uncle, Yaakov stopped at Mount Moriah, the place where G-d tested Abraham by having his son, Yitzchak (Yaakov’s father), bound on the altar and where the Holy Temple would be built many years later. Yaakov, who knew that his uncle Lavan was a swindler, feared the unknown he would have to face from his uncle. So he stopped at Mount Moriah to pray and rest for the night.

 

Yaakov had a dream in which he saw a ladder standing firmly on the ground and its top reached to the heaven. Yaakov saw G-dly angels going up and down the ladder. In his dream, he saw G-d standing beside him and G-d said, "I am the G-d of Abraham and the G-d of Yitzchak. The land on which you are lying, to you I will give it and to your descendants.  And your seed shall be like the dust of the earth and you shall spread abroad to the west, to the east, to the north and to the south.  And in you and your children shall all the families of the earth be blessed."

 

When Yaakov awoke he exclaimed, "How full of awe is this place.  This is non other than the House of G-d and this is the gate of heaven."  Yaakov felt assured that G-d was watching over him and would bring him back safely to his parents. Yaakov made a vow, "Of all that You will give to me, a tenth I will give back unto You!"

 

The Talmud tells that once during a famine year, King Munbaz distributed his own treasures and all the treasures accumulated by his forefathers to feed the poor.  His family and friends complained, "Your forefathers have stored these valuables for many generations, how can you give them away?"

 

"I too am storing these valuables," replied King Munbaz.  "But while my forefathers stored their treasures in this world, I am storing them in the World-to-Come.   My ancestors stored their treasures in a place where hands can steal them, I am storing the treasures where no hand can take them away. My parents stored valuables which didn't produce fruit, I am storing them in a way that they will produce fruits [saving peoples lives].  My parents saved money and I'm saving souls.  My parents stored for others while they had no benefit from the valuables they saved, but I, by distributing them to the poor, am saving them for myself by fulfilling a mitzvah."

 

Q.How old was Yaakov when he left his parents? How many years was he away?

 

A.He left at the age 63. He was away for 36 years and returned at the age of 96. He left single and came back with a family of 13 children – 12 sons and one daughter. He didn’t see his mother, Rivkah, again, as she passed away before he returned.

 

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY