Bereshit 28:10–32:3
For this week’s d’var Torah, I would like to zero in on a couple words that are repeated in both the opening verses and last verses of our Parasha, framing, like book ends, its message to us: In my Chumash they are translated as
“he encountered” and
“the place”, in Hebrew: ”
יפגע” & “המקום”. At the beginning of Vayeitzei, Jacob is leaving the Land of Promise and at the end, he is returning. Both times, he has an “encounter” in “that place” and both times he is facing a crisis in his life. Sandwiched in between these two encounters is the story of his long exile from home where he acquires 2 wives, 2 concubines, 11 sons, 1 daughter and much livestock at the cost of hard labor and a lot of striving with his difficult uncle Laban. Here are the verses:
וַיִּפְגַּ֨ע בַּמָּק֜וֹם וַיָּ֤לֶן שָׁם֙ כִּי־בָ֣א הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ וַיִּקַּח֙ מֵֽאַבְנֵ֣י הַמָּק֔וֹם וַיָּ֖שֶׂם מְרַֽאֲשֹׁתָ֑יו וַיִּשְׁכַּ֖ב בַּמָּק֥וֹם הַהֽוּא
“And he arrived at the place and lodged there because the sun had set, and he took some of the stones of the place and placed [them] at his head, and he lay down in that place.”
Ber28:2
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יַֽעֲקֹב֙ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֣ר רָאָ֔ם וְיַֽעֲקֹ֖ב הָלַ֣ךְ לְדַרְכּ֑וֹ וַיִּפְגְּעוּ־ב֖וֹ מַלְאֲכֵ֥י אֱלֹהִֽים:
מַֽחֲנֵ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים זֶ֑ה וַיִּקְרָ֛א שֵֽׁם־הַמָּק֥וֹם הַה֖וּא מַֽחֲנָֽיִם
| “And Jacob went on his way, and angels of God met him. And Jacob said when he saw them, “This is the camp of God,” and he named the place Mahanaim.”
Ber32:2-3 |
| |
The words “HaMakom” or “the Place”, which appear 3 times in the 1
st verse and once in the 2
nd, in their deeper meaning refer, according to our sages, to no other than G-d Himself. G-d Himself
is the place of encounter. The verb, “yifga” translated as “encountered” or “met”, implies a relationship between the two parties of the encounter. Its less common meaning of “prayed” explains why our sages credit Jacob with instituting the “Arvit”, the evening prayer in this passage (Rashi).
But, is there more to this than the institution of the evening prayer? What is really happening on the ground? From the text, I suggest that perhaps it is not just happenstance that Jacob, fearing for his life as he fled from his brother, “encountered The Place”! Surely he had heard of “The Place” his grandfather Avraham was asked to go to by HaShem as it says in Ber 22:3-4:
“So Avraham woke up early in the morning…, stood up and went to
the place of which G-d had spoken to him. On the 3
rd day, Avraham raised his eyes and perceived
the place from afar…”
This place was where, according to our rabbis, Avraham was given his ultimate test in which he was asked to offer his one beloved son. But, Isaac, as good as dead, comes out of this ordeal alive and with him the promises of G-d to Avraham die and rise again! To the casual observer it looks like a tale of cruel betrayal, but to the seeker willing to dig deeper, it emerges as one of triumphant faith. One where, Avraham is given as a reward of his unyielding trust in HaShem, the promise and revelation of life after death – resurrection unveiled (as we pray in the Amidah on a daily basis!) One that caused him to call “that place” “HaShem Yireh”, which means the place where “HaShem will continuously be seen,” that is where hope is restored and life begins again!
I suggest then, that it was not a coincidence that Jacob “was encountered by ‘The Place’” as our text says. This was at a time of great distress when he feared for his life and desperately needed the message that could be found there! And what did Jacob hear and see as he encountered it? He saw “the abode of G-d and the Gates of heaven” and heard Hashem not only pass on to him the promises made to Avraham and Isaac, something he must have thought he had lost, but also pledge His protection until He returned him to this land! And this he hears while confused about his true identity, he is fleeing from the Land of promise in disgrace, like Adam and Eve who were forced to leave “the Place”, that is Gan Eden. It is, then, in this context of crisis and insecurity that Jacob encounters “The Place” where the message of resurrected hope and promise stands immoveable, established by the faith of his grandfather!
Again, upon his return some 20 years later, Jacob is encountered by the angels of G-d at Machanaim, sent to protect him. The time has come for him to face his brother Esau, the hunter, the one who is comfortable and stronger than him in earthly matters, whose identity he tried to use in order to fulfill the task he was being called to, the one he offended deeply before he left and who purposed in his heart to kill him. Jacob certainly needed to be reminded that HaShem would remain His G-d regardless of his potential mistakes and inabilities and deliver him from his brother’s wrath. Again, a message of hope and life in spite of deadly circumstances that surrounded him!
This week’s Torah portion speaks of the faithful, enduring depths of Hashem’s compassion and love for Jacob, one in which all future generations, finding themselves embroiled in the drama of our history, insecure and repeatedly confronted with failure, pilgrims in the wilderness of the nations, fleeing from one to another in distress for the last 2000 years, can identify with and find profound comfort in! This message of HaMakom is essential for each one of us to encounter so we can remain, as the prophet Zechariah says, “prisoners of hope,” and not deny Hashem’s faithful commitment to bring us home. The promises and covenant made with Avraham still stand today and will forever more. And yes, Hashem is able to pass them on to each future generation in spite of our inadequacies and failures, in spite of the inevitability of death! Our journey was and still is a journey of restoration to our true identity as His people, of returning home, leaving behind the shame of the diaspora. And so the pages of human history, though full of conflict, violence and suffering, are also lined with many a hero who laid their lives in the hands of their creator, treading the path Avraham began when he chose to respond to G-d’s Lech Lecha! May we follow in their footsteps declaring as Job did “though you slay me, yet will I trust in you” or “I know that my redeemer lives”. And like Avraham, Isaac and Jacob we will pass on the message of HaMakom. There will be a day, then, when we, like Jacob, will indeed become the Israel of G-d’s design. Hashem is surely bringing it to pass!
“For HaShem’s portion is His people; Jacob is the measure of His inheritance. He discovered him in a desert land, in desolation a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He granted him discernment, He preserved him like the pupil of His eye.” Devarim 32:9-10
Let us not forget, then, until all our brethren are home, the promise in our Haftarah portion:
“They shall walk after HaShem when he roars like a lion. When He roars, His sons will come trembling from the West, they shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt and like a dove from the land of Assyria and I shall return them to their homes, the words of HaShem.” Hosea 11:10-11
This is the legacy of Jacob our father!
