Parshat Vayeitzei
I am sending this out today because I have time now and I doubt I will have it on Friday.
This week's question comes from the Haftorah: "And Jacob fled to the field of Aram; and Israel worked for a wife, and for a wife he guarded [sheep]" (Hosea 12:13). Why the change of names and why refer to Jacob as Israel while working for Lavan when his name was not changed until his return?
Preparing for Bed
At the beginning of this week's Parshah we are treated to a verse describing how Jacob went to sleep:
He arrived at the place and spent the night there because the sun had already set. Taking some stones, he placed them at his head and lay down to sleep there. (Genesis 28:11)
Who cares?
Well, I do not believe it is a coincidence that this verse is followed by the famous prophecy of Jacob's ladder. We would do well to imitate our Patriarch and make then too we can have significant dreams (though I believe the messages of this devar Torah are relevant even without such dreams).
I would like to attempt to draw some lessons from this verse based on Rashi commentary.
Rashi picks up on the BaMakom (at the place) and tells us that this is no ordinary 'place' but rather is Har HaMoriah (Mt. Moriah, the Temple Mount). What is the significance of Har HaMoriah? On Genesis 22:2, Rashi cites the Talmud which explains that the location is named Moriah because Torah will go forth from there. (This is in line with the famous words of the prophet "...for from Zion shall Torah go forth and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3)). Practically speaking, Torah study in the evening is extremely important. The Rambam writes:
"Even though it is a commandment to learn by day and by night, most of one's wisdom comes at night. Therefore, someone who wants the crown of Torah will be careful not to waste even a single night on sleeping, eating, drinking, talking, etc, but will learn Torah instead. The Sages said that there is no crying out of Torah except at night, as it is written, 'Arise, cry out in the night' (Lamentations 2:19). Anyone who learns Torah at night will be treated kindly during the day, as it is written 'The Lord will command His steadfast love in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, a prayer to the God of my life' (Psalms 42:9)." (Laws of Torah Study 3:13)
This Rambam is extremely unclear but we can be certain that there is great significance to learning Torah in the evening. The more the better.
Rashi also points out the strange word Vayifga (and he arrived) and cites Chazal who point to Jeremiah 7:16 where the word is used to refer to prayer and explain that here (in Genesis) Jacob established the general concept of evening prayer. When the day is dying down, we approach our Father in Heaven one last time and enter His loving embrace before we go to sleep.
Rashi asks why did the Torah not simply use the world Vayitpalel (and he prayed) and Rashi answers that the earth contracted for Jacob. Explanation: Chazal on the level of drash explain that Jacob arrived in Haran but realizing he passed by such a holy site (Har HaMoriah), we headed back to pray there. G-d made a miracle and allowed Jacob to arrive speedily. In terms of ourselves, we spend most of our day advancing, doing, working (think Adam 1), but we rarely engage in self contemplation (Adam 2). Jacob here had advanced but he ended his day 'in retreat.' We too should end our days retreating back to Torah and the best way to do this is to take an accounting for all of our actions. As the Ramchal writes:
"It is also necessary that a man be meticulous in his ways and weigh them all daily, like the leading merchants do when they assess all their undertakings to prevent their businesses from falling into ruin. One should schedule fixed times and hours for this (rather than doing so randomly) and adhere to them faithfully, because there is so much at stake" (Path of the Just, chapter 3)
It is hard to critically examine our ways and painful scrutinize our actions but if we try, G-d will come to our help like He aided Jacob. I highly suggest people read http://www.aish.com/hhElul/hhElulDefault/Three_Steps_to_Genuine_Change.asp which discusses how one should go about this.
Rashi also is bothered by the fact that the verse says "[Jacob] spent the night there because the sun had already set" rather than something like 'the sun had already set so Jacob spent the night there.' Rashi again cites Chazal who explain that G-d caused the sun to set early forcing Jacob to camp out and go to sleep. Siftei Chachamim comments on Rashi that had the sun not set, Jacob would have continued on his journey. However, he was simply unable to continue.
For us, how often does night come and we are not tired? It appears to me that when the time for sleep comes, we should be exhausted after a long day of hard work. G-d expects all of us to give our all. The Talmud in Brachot (32b) says that four things need improvement: Torah, Prayer, Acts of Loving Kindness and Derech Eretz. Commenting on Derech Eretz, Rashi says that whatever job you hold, work hard and be the best at it. We can see that working hard is in and of itself a spiritual value. I also highly suggest reading http://www.vbm-torah.org/archive/dev1.htm and http://www.vbm-torah.org/archive/dev2.htm where Rav Aharon Lichtenstein discusses in depth the importance of work and its relevance for us today.
In conclusion, we have learned four things:
1. Work hard during the day.
2. Learn a little Torah in the evening before going to sleep.
3. Daven maariv.
4. Review what one did during the day and take accounting.
Have a good Shabbas,
Mordechai
I am sending this out today because I have time now and I doubt I will have it on Friday.
This week's question comes from the Haftorah: "And Jacob fled to the field of Aram; and Israel worked for a wife, and for a wife he guarded [sheep]" (Hosea 12:13). Why the change of names and why refer to Jacob as Israel while working for Lavan when his name was not changed until his return?
Preparing for Bed
At the beginning of this week's Parshah we are treated to a verse describing how Jacob went to sleep:
He arrived at the place and spent the night there because the sun had already set. Taking some stones, he placed them at his head and lay down to sleep there. (Genesis 28:11)
Who cares?
Well, I do not believe it is a coincidence that this verse is followed by the famous prophecy of Jacob's ladder. We would do well to imitate our Patriarch and make then too we can have significant dreams (though I believe the messages of this devar Torah are relevant even without such dreams).
I would like to attempt to draw some lessons from this verse based on Rashi commentary.
Rashi picks up on the BaMakom (at the place) and tells us that this is no ordinary 'place' but rather is Har HaMoriah (Mt. Moriah, the Temple Mount). What is the significance of Har HaMoriah? On Genesis 22:2, Rashi cites the Talmud which explains that the location is named Moriah because Torah will go forth from there. (This is in line with the famous words of the prophet "...for from Zion shall Torah go forth and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3)). Practically speaking, Torah study in the evening is extremely important. The Rambam writes:
"Even though it is a commandment to learn by day and by night, most of one's wisdom comes at night. Therefore, someone who wants the crown of Torah will be careful not to waste even a single night on sleeping, eating, drinking, talking, etc, but will learn Torah instead. The Sages said that there is no crying out of Torah except at night, as it is written, 'Arise, cry out in the night' (Lamentations 2:19). Anyone who learns Torah at night will be treated kindly during the day, as it is written 'The Lord will command His steadfast love in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, a prayer to the God of my life' (Psalms 42:9)." (Laws of Torah Study 3:13)
This Rambam is extremely unclear but we can be certain that there is great significance to learning Torah in the evening. The more the better.
Rashi also points out the strange word Vayifga (and he arrived) and cites Chazal who point to Jeremiah 7:16 where the word is used to refer to prayer and explain that here (in Genesis) Jacob established the general concept of evening prayer. When the day is dying down, we approach our Father in Heaven one last time and enter His loving embrace before we go to sleep.
Rashi asks why did the Torah not simply use the world Vayitpalel (and he prayed) and Rashi answers that the earth contracted for Jacob. Explanation: Chazal on the level of drash explain that Jacob arrived in Haran but realizing he passed by such a holy site (Har HaMoriah), we headed back to pray there. G-d made a miracle and allowed Jacob to arrive speedily. In terms of ourselves, we spend most of our day advancing, doing, working (think Adam 1), but we rarely engage in self contemplation (Adam 2). Jacob here had advanced but he ended his day 'in retreat.' We too should end our days retreating back to Torah and the best way to do this is to take an accounting for all of our actions. As the Ramchal writes:
"It is also necessary that a man be meticulous in his ways and weigh them all daily, like the leading merchants do when they assess all their undertakings to prevent their businesses from falling into ruin. One should schedule fixed times and hours for this (rather than doing so randomly) and adhere to them faithfully, because there is so much at stake" (Path of the Just, chapter 3)
It is hard to critically examine our ways and painful scrutinize our actions but if we try, G-d will come to our help like He aided Jacob. I highly suggest people read http://www.aish.com/hhElul/hhElulDefault/Three_Steps_to_Genuine_Change.asp which discusses how one should go about this.
Rashi also is bothered by the fact that the verse says "[Jacob] spent the night there because the sun had already set" rather than something like 'the sun had already set so Jacob spent the night there.' Rashi again cites Chazal who explain that G-d caused the sun to set early forcing Jacob to camp out and go to sleep. Siftei Chachamim comments on Rashi that had the sun not set, Jacob would have continued on his journey. However, he was simply unable to continue.
For us, how often does night come and we are not tired? It appears to me that when the time for sleep comes, we should be exhausted after a long day of hard work. G-d expects all of us to give our all. The Talmud in Brachot (32b) says that four things need improvement: Torah, Prayer, Acts of Loving Kindness and Derech Eretz. Commenting on Derech Eretz, Rashi says that whatever job you hold, work hard and be the best at it. We can see that working hard is in and of itself a spiritual value. I also highly suggest reading http://www.vbm-torah.org/archive/dev1.htm and http://www.vbm-torah.org/archive/dev2.htm where Rav Aharon Lichtenstein discusses in depth the importance of work and its relevance for us today.
In conclusion, we have learned four things:
1. Work hard during the day.
2. Learn a little Torah in the evening before going to sleep.
3. Daven maariv.
4. Review what one did during the day and take accounting.
Have a good Shabbas,
Mordechai
posted by Mordechai18 at 9:17 AM
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