B"H

Tuesday, Kislev 2, 5785 / December 3, 2024

At the end of last week’s Parsha, Toldot, the Torah tells how after Yaakov, who was disguised as his brother, Esau, received his father’s blessings, Esau wanted to kill him. When their mother, Rivkah, found out about Esau’s plan, she and Yitzchak called Yaakov and advised him to run to Charan, to his uncle, Lavan. They had two motives for this. 1) To get away from Esau. 2) To marry one of Lavan’s daughters.

This week’s Parsha, Vayeitzei, begins with, “Yaakov went out (“Vayeitzei”) from Be’er Sheva and went to Charan.”  The Torah describes what happened to Yaakov on the way and then when he finally arrived in Charan, where he met his cousin, Rachel, at the well and whom he later married. Yaakov ended up marrying all four daughters of Lavan: Leah, Rachel, Bilha and Zilpah. 

From them Yaakov had twelve sons and one daughter. From them come the twelve tribes of Israel.

Q.   Every word in the Torah is measured and exact.  The Torah could have said that Yaakov went to Charan and we would automatically know that he left Be’er Sheva, where he was until then.  Why does the Torah also tell us that, “Yaakov went out from Be’er Sheva?”

A.    In the previous Parsha we read that Yitzchak, who was blind and fooled by Esau into thinking that he was a righteous person, wanted to bless Esau.  But Rivkah, who knew the true character of her sons, knew that Yaakov was worthy of the blessings, not Esau.  She worked out a plan in which Yaakov disguised himself as Esau and received his father’s blessings.  As a result, Esau wanted to kill Yaakov and Yaakov had to flee.  Not wanting to tell her husband that Esau wants to kill Yaakov, Rivkah told Yitzchak to encourage Yaakov to go to Charan to find a wife.

Thus, Rivkah’s main objective was that Yaakov get away from Be’er Sheva, so he won’t be killed.  But, Yitzchak’s reason was so he would find a wife in Charan.  This is why the Torah tells us that he left Be’er Sheva and went to Charan, to tell us that he had one reason to leave Be’er Sheva, out of fear of Esau; and to go to Charan, to find a wife.

Q.    Did Yaakov go immediately to Charan?  How old was he when he left his parents? How old was he when he got married?

A.   Yaakov, was 63 at the time he left his parents. He didn’t go to Charan right away.  He went to the Yeshiva of Eiver, Noach’s grandson.  He stayed there 14 years.  Then he continued to Charan.  He worked seven years for his future father-in-law, so he can marry his younger daughter, Rachel.  But after his father-in-law fooled him and gave him Leah instead, he agreed to work another seven years for Rachel.  However, he wasn’t taking any chances with a father-in-law like Lavan, who fooled him once.  First he married Rachel and then he worked the seven years for her.  In total Yaakov stayed with Lavan for 20 years.  Thus, Yaakov was 84 years old when he married Leah and Rachel.  He was 97 when he left Lavan and returned to his parents, Yitzchak and Rivkah. Eleven of his sons and his daughter were all born in Charan. Only his youngest son, Binyamin was born when he came back to Canaan.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY

UNITED WE STAND WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CAPTIVITY. MAY THEY ALL BE RELEASED NOW