Rabbi Frand on Parshas Vayeitzei
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi
Yissocher Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion:
Tape # 123 -- Tefillah B'Tzibur: Is It Mandatory? Good Shabbos!
A Ladder Is a Perfect Representation of the Jewish People
The pasuk [verse] says, "And Yaakov left Beer Sheva and he went to
Charan..." Yaakov had a dream about a ladder whose feet were on the
earth and which stretched all the way up to the heaven.
The Medrash says that when the verse refers to the ladder "emplanted
on the earth" it refers to the fact that Yaakov was (prophetically)
shown Korach about whom it is written, "and the earth opened its
mouth (to swallow Korach)". The Medrash goes on to say that when the
pasuk says that the head of the ladder reached the heaven, it refers
to the fact that Yaakov was (prophetcially) shown Moshe about whom it
is written "Come up to HaShem [G-d] (in Heaven)."
What does this Medrash mean? Rav Mordechai Ilan comments that what
G-d showed Yaakov was the essence of the nation who would descend
from him. Klal Yisrael is like a ladder.
The Talmud in Megilah says, "This nation is compared to the dust and
compared to the stars -- when they go down they descend to the dust;
but when they go up they ascend all the way to Heaven." A ladder is
the perfect representation of the Jewish people. No one ever remains
standing on a ladder. It is either used to go up or to go down.
People sit on chairs, on sofas, or beds. Those are pieces of
furniture used for stationary positioning. No body ever uses a
ladder for simply standing.
That is what the Jewish People are all about. We are a nation that
cannot remain stagnant. Either we will ascend and achieve wondrous
heights or we will go in the opposite direction -- to the dust!
This is what the Medrash means by saying that G-d showed Korach and
Moshe to Yaakov. They were the two ends of the spectrum. On the one
hand there was a person who was consumed with jealousy and what was
his end? "The earth opened its mouth..." Because he was not
ascending, he descended to the greatest depths possible. On the
other hand, there was a Moshe Rabbeinu [our teacher], who
demonstrated the far outer limits of what a human being is capable of
achieving.
There is no standing in the middle. Stagnation itself is descent.
Klal Yisroel (and indeed life in general) is a ladder with feet on
the ground and the top reaching toward the heavens. It is up to the
individual to decide which direction he will be heading -- up toward
Heaven or down to the greatest depths. This was the dream that G-d
showed Yaakov about his future nation.
The Honesty of Our Father Must Foreshadow Our Own Honesty
At the end of the parsha we find a seemingly insignificant event. A
bunch of stones were piled up as a marker. Lavan called the pile of
stones by an Aramaic name (Yegar Sahadusa) and Yaakov called it by a
Hebrew name (Gal-ed).
Sforno says that this pasuk teaches us that Yaakov never changed his
language. This has tremendous significance. One of the main themes
that occur throughout the book of Bereshis is that all the events of
the Patriarchs foreshadow the events of their descendants (ma'aseh
avos siman l'banim). All the actions of the Patriarchs laid the
groundwork for the history of Klal Yisroel throughout the Diaspora
and throughout its existence.
When Avraham Avinu went down to Egypt and was able to survive, this
burned the trail so that future generations would also be able to go
down to Egypt and survive. Chazal tell us that one of the things
that safeguarded the integrity of the Jewish people so that they did
not assimilate and disappear during their many years in Egypt was the
fact that they did not change their language, their names, or their
style of dress. From where did they get this fortitude to keep
talking in their own language -- Hebrew, the 'Holy Tongue'? Says the
Sforno, it happened right over here in this seemingly insignificant
act.
The act of Yaakov - insisting to refer to the pile of stones by a
Hebrew name, despite the fact that Lavan called it by an Aramaic name
- was the act that gave the Jewish people in future years the
strength to keep their own language in Egypt.
If this is true, about a seemingly small act, let us for just a few
minutes look at the totality of what happened in Parshas Vayeitzeii
and let us try to see the implication in terms of Ma'aseh Avos Siman
LaBanim.
Parshas Vayeitzei is the prototype of Yaakov Avinu going into Exile
(Galus) and Parshas VaYishlach contains the prototype of his
returning to Eretz Yisrael. The fact that in this parsha, Yaakov was
able to go into Galus and come back is what enabled his children to
repeat this unlikely phenomenon, generations later.
It is instructive to look at this parsha and the dialogue at the end
of the parsha between Yaakov and Lavan. After 20 years in Galus,
what is the discussion that Yaakov has with his father-in-law? It
all hinges on the issues of truth and integrity.
Lavan does not accuse Yaakov of not being religious or meticulous in
observance. He accuses him of not being honest, of cheating (Why did
you steal from me? [Bereshis 31:30]).
What is Yaakov's response?
"...What is my transgression? What is my sin that you have hotly
pursued me? When you rummaged through all my things, what did you
find of all your household objects? Set it here before my kinsmen
and your kinsmen, and let them decide between the two of us. These
twenty years I have been with you, your ewes and she-goats never
miscarried, nor did I eat rams of your flock. That which was mangled
I never brought you -- I myself would bear the loss, from me you
would exact it, whether it was stolen by day or stolen by night.
This is how I was: By day scorching heat consumed me, and frost by
night; my sleep drifted from my eyes..." [Bereshis 31:36-42]
I never stole a thing from you. I gave you an honest days work for
an honest days pay! I was with you for 20 years and I can say that I
was honest! I did not cheat you. I did not rob you. I did not take
anything behind your back. I was 100% trustworthy.
That is the " ma'aseh avos siman l'banim " of Parshas Vayeitzei.
What will the Jewish People have to say to G-d in the future, after a
2,000 year Exile? What this parsha tells us is that we will have to
be able to say "We were honest (ehrlich)!"
We did not cheat in business. We did not rob Goyim [the gentile
citizens of our host countries]. We were not shysters. We were not
all the things that sometimes, unfortunately, people accuse Jews of
being.
It is when Klal Yisrael will be able to say "We were ehrlich" that
Klal Yisrael will finally be able to come back from Galus.
Personalities & Sources:
Sforno -- Rav Ovadiah Sforno (1470-1550); Bible Commentary. Rome and
Bologa, Italy.
Rav Mordechai Ilan -- author of the Mikdash Mordechai
This week's write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi
Yissochar Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tapes on the weekly Torah
portion #123 The corresponding halachic portion for this tape is:
Tefillah B'Tzibur: Is It Mandatory? The other halachic portions for
Parsha Vayeitzei from the Commuter Chavrusah Series are:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection
of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
