The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Vayeitzei

The Rebbe says:

1. This week’s Torah portion begins by saying, “And Yakov (Jacob) left Be’er Sheva and went to Charan”.

To be sure, this verse is actually repeating something we already knew from the end of last week’s Torah portion.

2. The Rebbe points out that the Torah must be teaching us something by telling us this twice:

In the Torah everything is exact. In fact, our Sages learn out many Halachas (laws) from one extra letter in the Torah. Therefore, if the Torah repeats this story twice, it must be teaching us something that we can implement into our daily life. Let us find out what the Torah is teaching us:

3. In the Rebbe’s classic way of understanding things, he begins closely analyzing every detail of the verse:

Let us take a closer look at the name of the place that Yakov Avinu (Jacob our Forefather) left- “Be’er Sheva”:

The Torah gives two reasons for the name “Be’er Sheva”:
1) The word “Sheva” comes from the Hebrew word “Sha’vu’ah – swearing/covenant”; this is where Avraham Avinu (Abraham our Forefather) and Avimelech king of the Philistines made a covenant of peace.
2) The word “Sheva” simply means “seven”, and this alludes to the seven wells which were dug up after Avraham Avinu and Avimelech made their covenant.

Both reasons illustrate that Be’er Sheva was a place of peace and goodness for the Jewish people.

Now let’s take a closer look at the name of the place where Yakov Avinu was journeying to- “Charan”:

Rashi tells us that the word, “Charan”, means anger and it was called this because “the anger of Hashem was in the world (because of their bad deeds)”. In other words, Charan illustrates the opposite idea; Charan was (seemingly) no place for a Jew to be.

4. The Rebbe now asks a question which could arise:

The fact is that Hashem gave us so many Mitzvos (Commandments) to keep. Whether it’s an obligation to act and do a Mitzvah (Commandment) or we must refrain from doing something wrong, wherever we turn we find Mitzvos. If so, Hashem should have at least taken away our worries and fears concerning exile and livelihood etc. so that it would be easier for us to fulfill all His commandments? Furthermore, why do we have to be involved with the world at all? Why can’t we sit and learn Torah all day?

5. The Rebbe now explains how according to our abovementioned understanding of the verses, the Torah answers this question by telling us the order of Yakov Avinu’s life:

First Yakov Avinu learnt Torah for fourteen years in Be’er Sheva. Then, once he needed to get married and begin building the Jewish nation (through the Twelve Tribes) his father Yitzchak told him to leave Be’er Sheva and go to Charan to find a wife. In other words, before Yakov Avinu was able to get married and build the Jewish nation he had to leave his place of Torah study- Be’er Sheva- and go to Charan, the place of Hashem’s anger.

Be’er Sheva was a place where G-dliness was revealed; a place where Mitzvos were easy to keep and sins were hard to do. However in order to build the Jewish nation he had to first leave this tent of Torah and go to Charan, a place where Mitzvos were hard to keep and sins were easy to do, and withstand the test.

This is also the lesson for every one of us: The hardships are only there so that we should withstand them, and only through them will we be able to establish a Jewish home, a bright home, and a warm home.

6. The Rebbe now proceeds to explain how we are able to withstand the test of “Charan”:

The first thing that Yakov Avinu did on his journey to Charan was Daven (pray) to Hashem, then Yakov Avinu slept there and put the rocks around his head, and only afterwards did he continue on his way to Charan.

Question: Why did Yakov Avinu only put rocks around his head? Either way you look at it, it doesn’t make sense: If he was sure that Hashem would take care of him and nothing would happen to him, he shouldn’t have even been afraid that wild beasts would attack his head. And if he did not want to rely on a miracle, he should have put rocks surrounding his entire body, not just his head!?

Answer: Yakov Avinu knew exactly where he was going; he knew exactly what kind of place Charan was. Therefore, on his way there he prepared himself and put stones around his head to fortify himself with the strength to keep his head on thoughts of Hashem and only use his hands to do the required work. As the Torah states, “By the work of your hands you shall eat and you will be happy and it will be good for you”; only your hands must be involved.

The lesson for us: We must know that in order for us to withstand the test of “Charan” so that we can build an everlasting house in Israel, our first and main focus must be Hashem (just like Yakov Avinu first prayed) and even when we do get involved in the world so that we can elevate the sparks of Holiness there, only our hands are involved (just like Yakov circled his head with stones to keep his mind out of it).

7. The Rebbe now explains why Yakov Avinu specifically chose fortify himself with stones:

Stones are a part of the inanimate kingdom; they cannot go from one place to another without the help of something else (humans, the wind, etc.).

Yakov Avinu did not fortify himself with more knowledge of Hashem or more feelings of love and fear of Hashem. He fortified himself by completely accepting the yoke of Heaven upon himself without any questions and completely nullifiying himself to the will of Hashem. This is the strength of the stones- the simple servant.

The same goes for us: To stay focused and do what Hashem wants no matter how we feel or think about it, we must accept the yoke of Heaven upon ourselves without question.

The reward for this is as the Torah continues on in this week’s Torah portion, “And the stone which I have set up as a pillar shall become a house of G-d”- we will be able to make every single aspect of our house, “even our forks and spoons”, holy utensils.

Translated and adapted by Shalom Goldberg. Taken from Likutei Sichos volume one, first Sicha.