D’var Torah
Parshas Vayetzei
Howard Warner
9 Kislev 5786
29 November, 2025

Last week Rabbi Friedman delivered a D’Var Torah asking the question posed by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory, whether Jacob was righteous in taking Esau’s first-born birthright? Further, though Esau is portrayed negatively, should we have empathy for him? I wish to examine this issue further. Rabbinic literature states Esau lost God’s favor since he was a warrior and sold his birthright for soup. Jacob is the thoughtful person likely to continue the Abrahamic line with fidelity to God. This may be true but is this just the plain reading of the Torah?
In this seventh weekly reading we see karma in which Jacob who tricks his father, Issac, and brother, Esau, is then tricked by his uncle, Laban. But again, there is a deeper understanding of the Torah. In this Parashah there are ample examples of symbolism, including Jacob’s ladder, the rock as an altar, and angels indicating a future wrestling match testing Jacob.

First let us examine the parallels with other themes throughout the Tanach. Rachel and Leah are barren as Sarah, Rebecca, Samuel’s mother Hannah, among others were. Their prayers, situation, or cries are heard by God who “opens their womb” and they conceive children. Abraham, Issac, and now Jacob sojourn from their homelands while enjoying God’s blessings. Jacob receives the most literary space of any forefather in Genesis. After his struggle with the angel his assumed title becomes our national name, “Israel”. Rabbi Sacks believes this is due to his perseverance, while facing trials of God’s making.

In a Greek tragedy the hero’s behavior creates a fatal flaw causing his demise, harm to persons close to the hero, or some other bad outcome. Hebrew tradition teaches that our role in the world is to spread God’s word and His way to encourage more peace and righteousness among all the peoples of the world. So, our tragic hero may have his life disrupted and his peaceful existence may be upset. Jacob must pay for his father’s blessing through a chaotic life.
Jacob is a cerebral and emotional person. Unfortunately, his behavior is not always good. In Toldot, Jacob deceives his brother when he takes the hungry Esau’s birthright for food. Then he lies and deceives his blind and failing father, Issac, by wearing furs on his arms. He intentionally takes the blessing meant for his brother. Issac preferred Esau while Rebecca preferred Jacob. He must wait years to find a wife. Meanwhile Esau is married at a younger age and will establish the nation of Edom, a future rival of the Israelite nation.

So, since Jacob fears his brother’s wrath he runs away. He is in exile which foretells the national experience of the Israelite nation during the millennia. So, the deceiver Jacob is sent by his mother to his uncle Laban for safe hiding. Along the way he meets Laban’s younger daughter Rachel who he adores. Then after staying at his uncle’s home, he agrees to indentured servitude for 7 years to gain her hand in marriage. But Laban deceives his nephew by giving Leah as his bride, which is the price paid for Jacob’s earlier deception. This is God’s punishment for his previous deceptions, despite Rebecca’s prophecy. Then he serves another 7 years for Rachel’s hand. Then Laban secures another 6 years for Jacob’s growing stock of animals which is a source of wealth during that period. But Jacob fears that Laban will not let him leave, so Jacob steals away while Laban is in the fields.

Jacob’s tragedy does not end with 20 years away from Beer-Sheba. He has 11 children from Leah, handmaids Zilpah and Bilhah, and Rachel. But Rachel has taken her father’s idols which Laban decides to retrieve. Different commentaries explain this event. Some claim that Rachel wanted to prevent Laban from pursuing Jacob for revenge, as the idols contained some mythical powers. Others argue that she wanted God to appear to Laban (which He did) and then warn him not to harm Jacob; since God would not appear in the presence of idols. But this leads to another tragic result for our forefather.

Jacob curses the procurer of the idols, thus unwittingly dooming Rachel. In Vayishlach she will die during childbirth for Benjamin. Jacob’s promise to Laban is the direct cause. Rachel’s willingness to let Jacob sleep with Leah in exchange for the fertility mandrake plant was her tragic failing. Then later Jacob loses his favorite Joseph, when he is sold into slavery by his older brothers. So, Jacob’s life is a metaphor for the Israelite people. They experience exile during the millennia, many battles with enemies, and a promise to remain true to God, despite these travails.

We revere King David despite his flawed behavior. David coveted Uriah’s wife Bethsheba which ended in Uriah’s death. David repents after he is confronted by the prophet Nathan. But that pregnancy results in a dead child. Likewise, Jacob does not behave in an upstanding way. But on the road away from Esau he learns of his blessing from God. The ladder to the skies, like the Ziggurats of Mesopotamia, evokes a power greater than Jacob making him humbler. When Jacob fights the angel, he understands that his fear is an unnecessary constraint. He sends presents to Esau and then gives his blessing to his brother allowing Esau to forgive him and end the hatred in Vayishlach. Though Jacob was not righteous when he fulfilled the prophesy given to Rebecca in Toldot that “the younger will dominate the older,” humility restores his virtue. His use of the rock as a pillow and then as an alter to God shows his humility and follows the practice of Issac and Abraham.

Animosities die slowly. Torah aims to teach us how to live in the way of God. God prefers peaceful coexistence. The Hasidic tradition teaches that we must help heal the world. This parshah aims to teach us to understand compromise and acceptance. Jacob has a long and fruitful life. He sires many children giving 12 tribes of Israel. He loses those things that he values, including his love and his homeland, which he must leave again late in life when drought threatens his family. So, though he is a father of our people, he walks a hard road.

Jacob’s fidelity to God provides the energy that has sustained the Jewish people through all the travails that have befallen our ancestors. He was tested and emerged successfully. In the end he reconciles with Esau demonstrating that peace is possible with enemies completing the idea Rabbi Friedman introduced last week.

Our people have survived when other nations have disappeared. This parshah includes issues of family, land, sibling rivalry, infertility, deception, betrayal, justice, endurance, and divine purpose. Throughout the generations, leaders have provided means for our survival, such as rabbinic Judaism during Roman rule. The cerebral Jacob has given us a legacy that has led to adaptation and creativity that has allowed the people Israel to outlast our enemies.

Shabbat Shalom.