Perashat Vayesse 5776

Perashat Vayesse 5776

It is always important for us to remember that the narrative of Sefer Beresheet is not just a collection of stories, but rather, it comes to teach us concrete lessons based on the behavior of our Patriarchs and Matriarchs.  The commentators on Beresheet point to a number of episodes that come to educate us in the area of Ben Adam LeHavero - of how to interact with our fellow man, and this week’s perasha, Vayesse, offers several examples.  

One such episode concerns Ya’akob’s extreme foresight and sensitivity.  When Ya’akob arrives in Padan Aram, he first inquires about the welfare of his uncle Laban from the shepherds that he meets at the well.  The commentator, Seforno, explains that Yaa’kob made that inquiry in order to be sure that his arrival would not impose upon his uncle at an inconvenient time.  Thus, we see that Ya’akob demonstrated sensitivity towards others.  Several verses later, the Torah describes how Ya’akob rolled the stone off the mouth of the well when he saw his cousin Rahel approaching with her flocks.  Seforno asks why he had not done so when he first arrived, as there were already some shepherds gathered there.  He answers that since all the shepherds help one another, they customarily waited for the latter ones to arrive.  By waiting for Rahel (presumably she was among the last to show up), Ya’akob ensured that everyone would be able to help each other draw water for their flocks.  

Another example is Ya’akob’s marriage to Leah.  After Ya’akob married Leah and Rahel, the Torah states that Ya’akob loved Rahel and Leah was hated.  Ramban asks how could it be possible for a saddik like Ya’akob to hate his wife?  He answers that Ya’akob did not, if fact, hate Leah, but the Torah is describing how Leah felt.  Since Leah was not loved to the degree that Ya’akob loved Rahel, she felt hated.  The Torah is coming to teach us how sensitive and careful we must be to avoid hurting another person’s feelings – even when there objectively may not be anything wrong with our actions.  

Yet another example of how one should interact with others concerns the episode of Laban accusing Ya’akob of stealing his teraphim, his household idols.  When faced with this accusation, Ya’akob challenges Laban to search all his belongings to see if he can find anything that belonged to Laban.  Rabbenu Bahya comments that we can see from Ya’akob’s choice of words, how far removed he was from desiring Laban’s possessions.   Not only did Ya’akob tell Laban that he was free to search for the teraphim, but he could also check to see if Ya’akob had anything belonging to Laban, since he knew with certainty that he did not take anything belonging to his father-in-law.  Ya’akob could have easily found excuses for appropriating things from Laban over the course of the 20 years that he lived with him.  He could have rationalized that he was entitled to some things since he was family or because he was the cause of Laban’s newfound wealth.  However, we see that Ya’akob was so sure that he was innocent of the charges, that he voluntarily submitted himself to Laban’s scrutiny so that the truth would be revealed. 

Ibn Ezra comments that a person who has the proper emunah, belief in G-d, will realize that what belongs to someone else is not at all connected to him.  Ya’akob had such a clear understanding of what belongs to who and his pure emunah, his belief in G-d, prevented him from violating the prohibition of Lo Tahmod – “Do Not Covet”.  He knew with certainty that it was not proper to have in his possession that which belongs to another person.   

These are but a few of the lessons that we can glean from the behavior of Ya’akob Abinu in this week’s perasha.  These are not simply stories, but lessons which should direct our interaction with our fellow human beings. May we learn from the experience of our father Ya’akob and act with foresight, sensitivity and propriety toward others.