This week's parsha
Unless otherwise noted, "This week's Parsha" comprises articles taken from contributors to the Chabad.org website. We show the original author's name here, so that proper attribution is given. For the sake of brevity, footnotes cited in the original author's writings are omitted from this website. If you need to see the citations, please refer to the original articles on the Chabad.org website.
Action - Not Surveys
This week's Torah portion shows Jacob as a man of action. Preparing for possible hostilities from his brother Esau, Jacob took all practical measures possible. He prepared in three separate ways -- by praying to G-d for deliverance, by appeasing his brother with gifts, and by planning for war if it should become necessary. His byword was action. Jacob took every practical measure possible to safeguard the lives of his children and the continuity of the Jewish nation. He did not make any surveys of the situation, nor waste time on statistical analysis.
Today Jewish continuity is again threatened. Where we once faced Esau, with murderous intentions and four hundred willing helpers, we now face a crisis of assimilation. If only our communal leadership would sit up and take notice of Jacob's example.
Today Jewish continuity is again threatened. Where we once faced Esau, with murderous intentions and four hundred willing helpers, we now face a crisis of assimilation. If only our communal leadership would sit up and take notice of Jacob's example.
Aleph-Bet before Alphabet
In this week's Torah portion, Jacob leaves (or, more accurately, flees) his home in southern Israel and travels to his mother's hometown, Haran. While in transit, the Midrash tells us that he was robbed of all his possessions by his own nephew, Eliphaz son of Esau.
After a fourteen-year stopover in the great Yeshiva Academy of his time, which was under the leadership of Noah's great-great-grandson Eber, he finally arrived in Haran. There, his uncle Laban, a shrewd and sly character, scammed and cheated him at every opportunity, even greeting him with warm kisses to check if he might be hiding precious stones in his mouth.
He married Laban's two daughters, and remained at his father-in-law's place for twenty years (an admirable feat even under the most normal of circumstances ...). There he raised eleven of the twelve tribes, and a daughter, in the ways and legacy of his grandfather Abraham and father Isaac, until he finally returned to Israel.
One man, alone in an extremely hostile environment, cheated and hated by his own father-in-law, working all day and night to support his family, away from his holy parents and homeland for more than three decades.
After a fourteen-year stopover in the great Yeshiva Academy of his time, which was under the leadership of Noah's great-great-grandson Eber, he finally arrived in Haran. There, his uncle Laban, a shrewd and sly character, scammed and cheated him at every opportunity, even greeting him with warm kisses to check if he might be hiding precious stones in his mouth.
He married Laban's two daughters, and remained at his father-in-law's place for twenty years (an admirable feat even under the most normal of circumstances ...). There he raised eleven of the twelve tribes, and a daughter, in the ways and legacy of his grandfather Abraham and father Isaac, until he finally returned to Israel.
One man, alone in an extremely hostile environment, cheated and hated by his own father-in-law, working all day and night to support his family, away from his holy parents and homeland for more than three decades.
Strength of Character
Do we have the power to change our own lives? Or are we entirely the products of our environments? After all, we are buffeted by manifold influences exerted on our lives from all quarters: the powerful effect of the peer groups of our school and college years; the daily barrage from the media; the more subtle influence of literature, art and even architecture.
All these go together to form a remarkably powerful set of mind-bending forces acting on each individual. As a consequence, some sociologists doubt whether most of us are capable of any truly independent view on anything.
An example of someone who did express a highly independent stance, based on G-d's will rather than peer pressure, appears in this week's parshah. There we learn about Rebecca, the wife of Isaac, one of the four famous Matriarchs of the Jewish people.
We first met her in last week's parshah, when she expressed her determination to leave her home and travel far away to become the wife of Isaac. This was not just a youthful urge to travel, a quest for a change of scene. Rebecca came from an environment of idolatry. Everyone around her, including her immediate family and the society in which she lived, believed in idols, such as various nature forces, and worshipped them, often in a horrible way. Her great-uncle Abraham was famous for his rejection of idolatry and his faith in one G-d. But Abraham was far off in the Land of Canaan.
All these go together to form a remarkably powerful set of mind-bending forces acting on each individual. As a consequence, some sociologists doubt whether most of us are capable of any truly independent view on anything.
An example of someone who did express a highly independent stance, based on G-d's will rather than peer pressure, appears in this week's parshah. There we learn about Rebecca, the wife of Isaac, one of the four famous Matriarchs of the Jewish people.
We first met her in last week's parshah, when she expressed her determination to leave her home and travel far away to become the wife of Isaac. This was not just a youthful urge to travel, a quest for a change of scene. Rebecca came from an environment of idolatry. Everyone around her, including her immediate family and the society in which she lived, believed in idols, such as various nature forces, and worshipped them, often in a horrible way. Her great-uncle Abraham was famous for his rejection of idolatry and his faith in one G-d. But Abraham was far off in the Land of Canaan.
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