Parashat Vayeishev (Gen 37:1 – 40:23)

By Ariane Leonhard

Today’s Parasha starts with the sentence:

וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב בְּאֶ֖רֶץ מְגוּרֵ֣י אָבִ֑יו בְּאֶ֖רֶץ כְּנָֽעַן

And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan

I would like to suggest that this sentence gives us the key to understanding a most important truth in the abrupt turn our story takes us on. This is the first time the verb וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב  which means “settled” or “dwelt” is used, implying living in a permanent place, as opposed toמְגוּרֵ֣י , “the sojournings” of his father Isaac, which means living in a temporary place. It is easy to understand why Jacob wanted to “dwell” there after coming back from twenty years of exile and working for someone else in a land he would never be able to call home. I have experienced this myself having switched countries twice in my short life, and lived in lands and among people that were foreign to me, never feeling at home.  So I can imagine how Jacob, having now faced and reconciled with his brother Esau, would yearn to get on with his life and finally settle in the land he knew G-d was ultimately giving him … But, not so fast Jacob, didn’t G-d tell Avram that his descendants would be four hundred years in a foreign land where they would become slaves before they could possess Canaan? (see Gen 15:16)? Let’s take a closer look at the story and ask ourselves this question: why make us slaves during this time of waiting?  Why did the children of the covenant have to be oppressed and enslaved at all? Seems harsh considering the promises HaShem had made to their fathers! To answer this we must consider that:

1. First it is undeniable and declared by covenant that He would give the land of the Canaanites to the descendants of Isaac but only after four hundred years in a foreign land where they would become slaves as seen in Gen 12:1 and Gen 15:13, 16 & 18 

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵֽאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ

Now the LORD had said to Avram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.

וַיאמֶר לְאַבְרָ֗ם יָדֹ֨עַ תֵּדַ֜ע כִּי־גֵ֣ר | יִֽהְיֶ֣ה זַרְעֲךָ֗ בְּאֶ֨רֶץ֙ לֹ֣א לָהֶ֔ם וַֽעֲבָד֖וּם וְעִנּ֣וּ אֹתָ֑ם אַרְבַּ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָֽה

וְד֥וֹר רְבִיעִ֖י יָשׁ֣וּבוּ הֵ֑נָּה כִּ֧י לֹֽא־שָׁלֵ֛ם עֲוֹ֥ן הָֽאֱמֹרִ֖י עַד־הֵֽנָּה…

And He said to Abram, “You shall surely know that your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, 

and they will enslave them and oppress them, for four hundred years…

… And the fourth generation will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites will not be complete until then.”

בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא כָּרַ֧ת יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶת־אַבְרָ֖ם בְּרִ֣ית לֵאמֹ֑ר לְזַרְעֲךָ֗ נָתַ֨תִּי֙ אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֔את מִנְּהַ֣רמִצְרַ֔יִם עַד־הַנָּהָ֥ר הַגָּדֹ֖ל נְהַר־פְּרָֽת

On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Avram, saying:

 “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates..”

2. Second, why did G-d tell Avram that we would have to wait for four generations as slaves in a foreign land until the iniquity of the Amorite would be full, (that is beyond return)? Gen 15:16 quoted above. I can understand the waiting, because we know Hashem is compassionate, slow to anger and executes  His judgments in mercy and truth as expressed all throughout Torah. And what does HaShem mean by “the iniquity of the Amorite”? Isn’t He referring to their abominable idolatrous practices by which they defiled themselves and the land HaShem declares to be His? So what were these practices? According to our sages the Torah teaches there are three main things that defile a people and their land: 

1. Idolatry
2. Murder
3. Sexual perversion

No wonder Isaac and Rebecca grieved heavily over Esau’s two Canaanite wives as they would influence their son and future descendants to include these evil ways in their lifestyle! And indeed they started a trend as we know one of Esau’s descendants was Amalek, a perpetual enemy of HaShem whose memory G-d decrees to erase! 

We can also understand why Jacob hesitated when his daughter Dinah was raped before he passed a judgment devoid of mercy and truth! But his sons did not…..

3. Therefore, until now,  our story tells us that Canaan will belong to the descendants of Avraham, but they will have to wait until HaShem’s appointed time, thanks to His merciful nature. So then, to answer my original question “why make us slaves at all during this time of waiting?”,  I propose that we need to ask another one! If Hashem decided to destroy the Canaanites and give us their land because of their abominations, then how will He  ensure that we, the descendants of Avraham, Isaac and Jacob will be able to inherit it and not  behave in the same way the Canaanites did? After all, already in our parasha, we see the children of Jacob misbehaving as they participate in all these ways that would defile them and the land as well. And furthermore history tells us that we did behave according to all these abominations and the land “vomited us out”!  How would G-d remain consistent with His ways of righteousness and justice? This is where it seems we come to a dilemma and yet… our Parasha begins to beautifully answer what appears to be an unresolvable conflict.

4. Because woven in the tale of all the conflicts that arise within  Jacob’s family we begin to see emerge a thread of redemption from a slavery that goes far deeper than that of the physical national one they were about to experience in Egypt. One they were actually all subject to already and that Cain himself was not able to overcome when he was about to kill his brother and G-d said to him (Gen 4:6-7):

לָ֚מָּה חָ֣רָה לָ֔ךְ וְלָ֖מָּה נָֽפְל֥וּ פָנֶֽיךָ הֲל֤וֹא אִם־תֵּיטִיב֙ שְׂאֵ֔ת וְאִם֙ לֹ֣א תֵיטִ֔יב לַפֶּ֖תַח חַטָּ֣את רֹבֵ֑ץ וְאֵלֶ֨יךָ֙ תְּשׁ֣וּקָת֔וֹ וְאַתָּ֖ה תִּמְשָׁל־בּֽוֹ

“Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?” If you do well, will you not be accepted? 

And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door and its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

– A slavery of the heart each child of Israel must confront himself with so he can also experience the redemption of HaShem within himself.  For how can we experience it if in our bondage, we believe ourselves to be free? And so we see  the children of Israel driven by jealousy and competition, plotting murder, selling their brother as a slave, lying.. and Judah, probably filled with guilt, abandoning his heritage to embrace and marry into a Canaanite family. As one tragedy follows another and we witness the failure of Jacob’s children, we would expect this story to end in a disaster of great magnitude. And yet it is not so, in fact we, the generations that come after them, are given the privilege to follow the thread of HaShem’s redemption skillfully woven by G-d Himself as He uses every human failure to bring it about! In our parasha the brothers are being set up to face their evil deed and Judah has a change of heart when his son’s widow confronts him with his responsibilities. Joseph, meanwhile is being trained by HaShem and through slavery to be an instrument in G-d’s hands to buy us back to freedom. All this and more to come will be necessary to bring about forgiveness, reconciliation, humility and HaShem’s great plan of redemption for all Israel. So I suggest an  answer to the question I posed earlier is: G-d brought us into an outward physical slavery so we could and would with His help understand our own personal yoke of slavery which is far worse than that of Egypt and even overcome its tyranny and cooperate with Him in His plan to set us free. As you have heard it said: “You can take the people out of Egypt, but can you take Egypt out of the people?” The answer is, with G-d’s help, yes and again yes, the choice is left for each one of us to make! Our G-d is not threatened by our “evil inclination” but fully capable to navigate through it, even use it for His redemptive purposes as He does in this week’s parasha!

5. What is crucial for us today as we learn from this and see history repeat itself, is on which side of redemption do we find ourselves? In order to be part of the redeemed people, we must know our great need to be freed from the passions that drive us like Cain was, like the children of Jacob were, our debt must be paid,  while a change of mindset must occur as we will see happen to Joseph’s brothers in next week’s parasha! Their descent to Egypt which parallels our own personal descent in whatever bondage we labor under, will teach us all that if we let it! For HaShem has always been harvesting from the seed of Jacob, a people made up of individuals who persevere and wrestle with man and G-d, who, as the Hebrew says, can prevail and hold on until they receive the blessing. That is a Jacob like people, redeemed from his own yoke of slavery who has now become Israel. No wonder G-d tells us to remember every shabbat we were once slaves in Egypt!

In conclusion and as a word of encouragement this shabbat while we each continue in our ouwn personal journey of redemption, I would like to offer these three quotes from Isaiah 51:6, Jeremiah 29:11 and Isaiah 35:10

שְׂאוּ֩ לַשָּׁמַ֨יִם עֵֽינֵיכֶ֜ם וְהַבִּ֧יטוּ אֶל־הָאָ֣רֶץ מִתַּ֗חַת כִּֽי־שָׁמַ֜יִם כֶּעָשָׁ֚ן נִמְלָ֙חוּ֙ וְהָאָ֙רֶץ֙ כַּבֶּ֣גֶד תִּבְלֶ֔ה וְיֹֽשְׁבֶ֖יהָ כְּמוֹ־כֵ֣ן יְמוּת֑וּן וִישֽׁוּעָתִי֙ לְעוֹלָ֣ם תִּֽהְיֶ֔ה וְצִדְקָתִ֖י לֹ֥א תֵחָֽת

Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look on the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, the earth will grow old like a garment,
and those who dwell in it will die in like manner; But My salvation will be forever, and My righteousness will not be abolished.  

כִּי֩ אָֽנֹכִ֨י יָדַ֜עְתִּי אֶת־הַמַּֽחֲשָׁבֹ֗ת אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י חֹשֵׁ֥ב עֲלֵיכֶ֖ם נְאֻם־יְהֹוָ֑ה מַחְשְׁב֚וֹת שָׁלוֹם֙ וְלֹ֣א לְרָעָ֔ה לָתֵ֥ת לָכֶ֖ם אַֽחֲרִ֥ית וְתִקְוָֽה

For I know the thoughts that I think about you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

וּפְדוּיֵ֨י יְהֹוָ֜ה יְשֻׁב֗וּן וּבָ֚אוּ צִיּוֹן֙ בְּרִנָּ֔ה וְשִׂמְחַ֥ת עוֹלָ֖ם עַל־רֹאשָׁ֑ם שָׂשׂ֚וֹן וְשִׂמְחָה֙ יַשִּׂ֔יגוּ וְנָ֖סוּ יָג֥וֹן וַֽאֲנָחָֽה

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing,
with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.