Vayetzei D'var Torah

Vayetzei Summary:

As he was travelling, Jacob had a dream about a ladder, and God spoke to him, which made him realize that God was helping him and he was in a holy place. Later, he ran into his cousin Rachel, who took him to his uncle, Laban (Rebekah’s dad). Laban had two kids, Rachel, who was beautiful, and Leah, who was not (in Jacob’s opinion). Jacob then agreed to serve seven years for Rachel. Jacob loved Rachel, and the seven years went by fast. Once the time was up, Jacob asked Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is fulfilled, that I may cohabit with her.” So Laban gathered all of his people for a feast, and then he gave Leah to Jacob to spend the night together. Apparently, Jacob somehow didn’t realize that he was given Leah until the morning, and so he asked Laban why that happened (when Jacob asked for a wife, he meant Rachel). Laban replied, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the older. Wait until the bridal week of this one is over and we will give you that one too, provided you serve me another seven years.” Therefore, after a week, Jacob was given Rachel as well, and Jacob served Laban another seven years. God saw that Leah was “unloved,” so he “opened her womb,” but Rachel was barren. Leah had four kids, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.

Rachel was jealous of Leah, so she told Jacob to, “give me children, or I shall die.” Rachel gave Jacob her maid Bilhah to have a child, and they had two children together, Dan and Naphtali. Then, Leah gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob, and they also had two children together, Gad and Asher.

Some time later, Reuben came across some mandrakes (plants) and brought them to Leah. Rachel asked Leah for some, but Leah complained, “Was it not enough for you to take away my husband, that you would also take my son’s mandrakes?” So Rachel allowed Leah to sleep with Jacob for a night in return for the mandrakes. Leah had two more kids after this, Issachar and Zebulun. She also had a daughter, Dinah. God remembered Rachel, and opened her womb. She had another kid, Joseph. After this, Jacob and Laban agreed to split up Laban’s sheep as payment for everything Jacob had done for him, and so Jacob became increasingly prosperous. Then, Jacob took all of his possessions, along with Rachel and Leah, and he ran away from Laban. Laban chased after him, and was warned by God to not do anything to Jacob on the way there. Previously, Rachel had stolen Laban’s idols from his house, and so he went searching for them in Jacob’s camp. Rachel hid them under her and made an excuse that she couldn’t stand up. After this, Laban and Jacob made an agreement that Laban wouldn’t try to harm Jacob and Jacob wouldn’t take any wives besides Rachel and Leah. Laban then left Jacob’s camp.

Commentary:

This portion is all about Jacob’s relationships with Rachel and Leah, and it contains a lot of inappropriate behavior from a modern-day perspective. One important part of this portion is when Reuben found some mandrakes in a field and gave them to Leah, his mother. Then, when Rachel asked for some mandrakes, Leah refused because Rachel “took” Jacob from her. So, Rachel offered Leah a night with Jacob in exchange for some mandrakes. That’s the first bad part of this, that Rachel is willing to give her husband to Leah for a night in exchange for a plant! Then, Jacob came home, and Leah told him, “You are to sleep with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” This is another bad part of this story, for Leah commanded him to sleep with her, and she didn’t think about his feelings. Jacob didn’t give permission to Rachel or Leah to carry out their deal, and he was being used. The result of this ended up being that Jacob gave Leah two more sons that night, so Leah basically exchanged some mandrakes for two sons. This is a lot like the portion Lech Lecha, where Abram made a decision that only helped him and hurt others since Rachel and Leah did the same by making a deal that helped them but used Jacob. Although we always praise our ancestors, they have done some really bad things, and this portion helps show another way that our ancestors from the Torah were not all great people!