Parshat Vayeitzei is the only parsha in the Torah that has no breaks that typically divide the parsha into somewhat separate events or themes (technically known as petuchot and stumot). Mrs. Shira Smiles suggests that this tells us that our parsha must be read and understood on a holistic level- understanding how the beginning, end, and everything in between come to teach us a most valuable lesson. We can start to appreciate this lesson by looking at the opening and the conclusion – as we find two parallel scenes in which Yaakov encounters an angel of Gd. What is the message of these seemingly deliberate bookending scenes?
Rav Aharon Lichtenstein points out that though the experiences of seeing the angels might be similar, the personality of Yaakov is dramatically different at the start of the parsha than at the end.
In the earlier scene, Yaakov has just come from 14 years of learning Torah in what was the first “Yeshiva” in our history – completely immersed in learning about Hashem and how to relate to the Divine. By the end of the parsha, Yaakov has been in the “real world” for over 20 years – he has been tricked to marry the wrong woman, forced to work for his father in law, and ultimately forced to flee from his father-in-law. Despite the harshness of his reality and the challenges he faced, Rav Lichtenstein points out, Yaakov does not lose the ability to dream – his life experience and maturity did not rob him of his hopes, his dreams, his faith and his spiritual essence.
Often times we think of steadfast faith and unquestionable faith as naïve or young-minded. What we learn from Yaakov is just the opposite –the more mature he became, the more real-life struggles he had to live through, the stronger his faith became.We see perhaps the turning point in which Yaakov learned this lesson himself when he awakens from his first dream of the angels and he proclaims: “Indeed, God is in this place and I did not know it" (28:16). Yaakov realized that Hashem is not found exclusively in the Beis Midrash, but Hashem is also found in a most intimate way in our day-to-day lives.
Yaakov not only maintained his spiritual purity, but throughout his years in personal exile he strengthened his beliefs, ideals, and spiritual aspirations. We see this most poignantly in the latter scene, in which Yaakov does not dream of the angel but actually sees the angel – signifying a higher level of clarity of the Divine presence in his life.
Though we often think that if we lived a life without challenges we would have steadfast faith in Hashem, we learn from Yaakov that sometimes being confronted with challenging situations can actually strengthen us in unparalleled ways. We learn also that perhaps the key to overcoming the challenges is to believe that you can and that you will. And so, I hope we can all learn the lesson from Yaakov that no matter what life’s challenges come our way, we continue to have faith in ourselves and keep dreaming of a brighter tomorrow. And, like Yaakov Avinu who never stopped dreaming and believing, may all of our dreams become a reality. Shabbat Shalom, Taly
