Parashat Vayetzei
November 20, 2023
Seth Pertain, High School Talmud Teacher
A few months before the Chofetz Chaim’s death in 1933, the Rosh Yeshivah of the Radin Yeshivah asked him about the fate of the Jewish people. With the rise of Naziism in Europe and the proliferation of its virulent ideologies across the globe, the Rosh Yeshivah was looking for hope at a time that seemed hopeless. The Chofetz Chaim’s answer was dismal, hopeful, and prophetic all in one.
May this prophecy signal better days ahead for us, and may we emerge with a new name that represents the progress that flowers from this crisis.
Shabbat Shalom
He based it on the beginning of next week’s parashah where he quoted the verse about Jacob splitting his party into two with the hope that if Esau destroyed one camp, at least the other would survive to carry on. The Chofetz Chayim predicted that while the Jewish community in Europe would be decimated, the community in Israel would come out of the war in tact and be able to reestablish our traditions.
This week we read the first in a series of six parashiot about Jacob. His life was filled with challenges, in part due to his own behaviors and in part due to circumstances beyond his control. He duped his brother and his father, and in turn was deceived by his cousin, wives, and ultimately his children. The entirety of this week’s parashah has Jacob living in exile for 14 years as a result of multiple fights within his family. Even his return home is a series of missteps and becomes fraught with issues. However, the struggles in this week’s parashah will ultimately set Jacob on a course of reconciliation with his brother and resolution to some of fractures that were at the root of their feud. In the process, Jacob will ultimately receive a new name – representing the new identity with which he emerges from this week’s trials.
To me, Parashat Vayetze feels very much like the reality in which we find ourselves right now. The antagonistic environment that is the current state of the world seems like a never-ending nightmare from which we cannot emerge. However, it would be unhealthy for us to dwell on the negative aspects of Vayetze. Twelve out of Jabob’s thirteen children are born in this parashah which makes it equally about Jewish continuity and the planting of the seeds of our nation. There is a common expression in Israel “There is no progress without a crisis first.” May we push ourselves to turn this week’s tension into next week’s hope. As the Chofetz Chaim ultimately pointed out, next week’s Haftarah will end with:
This week we read the first in a series of six parashiot about Jacob. His life was filled with challenges, in part due to his own behaviors and in part due to circumstances beyond his control. He duped his brother and his father, and in turn was deceived by his cousin, wives, and ultimately his children. The entirety of this week’s parashah has Jacob living in exile for 14 years as a result of multiple fights within his family. Even his return home is a series of missteps and becomes fraught with issues. However, the struggles in this week’s parashah will ultimately set Jacob on a course of reconciliation with his brother and resolution to some of fractures that were at the root of their feud. In the process, Jacob will ultimately receive a new name – representing the new identity with which he emerges from this week’s trials.
To me, Parashat Vayetze feels very much like the reality in which we find ourselves right now. The antagonistic environment that is the current state of the world seems like a never-ending nightmare from which we cannot emerge. However, it would be unhealthy for us to dwell on the negative aspects of Vayetze. Twelve out of Jabob’s thirteen children are born in this parashah which makes it equally about Jewish continuity and the planting of the seeds of our nation. There is a common expression in Israel “There is no progress without a crisis first.” May we push ourselves to turn this week’s tension into next week’s hope. As the Chofetz Chaim ultimately pointed out, next week’s Haftarah will end with:
וּבְהַר צִיּוֹן תִּהְיֶה פְלֵיטָה וְהָיָה קֹדֶשׁ, וְיָרְשׁוּ בֵּית יַעֲקֹב אֵת מוֹרָשֵׁיהֶם
On Mount Zion there will be a remnant, and it will be holy, and the House of Jacob will inherit their heritage/legacy (Ovadyah 1:17).
On Mount Zion there will be a remnant, and it will be holy, and the House of Jacob will inherit their heritage/legacy (Ovadyah 1:17).
May this prophecy signal better days ahead for us, and may we emerge with a new name that represents the progress that flowers from this crisis.
Shabbat Shalom