Parashat Vayeitzei 5785

Vayeitzei is a parashah with bookends: It starts with flight and ends with flight; it starts with a pillar and ends with a pillar (מַּצֵּבָ֔ה); it starts with a vow and ends with a vow. Such a nice, tidy frame around, arguably, a lot of commotion. It’s in that commotion, however, where change occurs, insuring that the Jacob at the start of the parashah is not the same Jacob at its end.

What do these bookends look like…

Bookend, Number One:

•                      THE FLIGHT: At the beginning of the parashah, Jacob has fled his home in Be’er Sheva in order to take refuge with (and maybe marry into) his extended family in Haran. He stops for the night and places one of the stones of that place under his head. Messengers of G*d appear, as does ‘ה and promises, in every which way, to protect and be with Jacob. Jacob is awestruck by the presence of ‘ה in this place. (Gen. 28:10-17)

•                      THE PILLAR: Jacob takes the stone that he had used as a pillow, sets it up as a pillar, and anoints it. (Gen. 28:18)

•                      THE VOW: Jacob then makes a vow, saying that if G*d is with Jacob, as promised, then ‘ה will be Jacob’s G*d. (Gen. 28:20-22)

Bookend Number 2 (20 years later):

•                      THE FLIGHT: Jacob has fled his uncle’s home in Haran to return to his native land and to his father. Laban overtakes him, but ultimately has run out of ways to stop Jacob from taking his leave. (Gen. 31:17-18, 23)

•                      THE PILLAR: Laban suggests they make a covenant and Jacob sets up a pillar and a mound of stones. (Gen. 31:44-46)

•                      THE VOW: Laban states the terms of the vow, Jacob swears to the terms, Jacob offers a sacrifice, and they all share a meal to seal the b’rit, the covenant. (Gen. 31:48-54)

The circumstances have changed somewhat, and a whole cast of characters has been added into the mix, but the literary device has stayed the same: flight, pillar, vow. What is it then, if anything, that moves the ball forward, as it were?… that suggests any kind of growth or development or even plot twist?

I’d point us to Jacob’s reactions in each “bookend.” In the first, Jacob seems to be a man unaware that an ordinary place can be holy. “Surely ‘ה is present in this place, and I did not know it!” (Gen. 28:16) and “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven.” (Gen. 28:17) suggest that Jacob is in some state of surprise by the appearance of G*d.

Rashbam (Genesis 28:16) imagines that Jacob is thinking, “אכן יש ה’ במקום הזה, contrary to what I thought when I lay down here that this is a totally secular place, devoid of sanctity.” Jacob does not yet conceive of a G*d who is everywhere. G*d must find Jacob in a dream, and also send messengers, in order for Jacob to have this realization.

By the time Jacob is confronted by Laban after Flight Number Two, Jacob has already heard the message: “Then ‘ה said to Jacob, ‘Return to your ancestors’ land—where you were born—and I will be with you.’” (Gen. 31:3) And so when Laban arrives on the scene, Jacob already knows that G*d is there.

At the beginning of this parashah, we’re told “He [Jacob] came upon a certain place”— וַיִּפְגַּע בַּמָּקוֹם that Jacob “encountered” or “lit down upon” this place and found messengers of G*d מַלְאֲכֵי אֱלֹהִים. At the end of the parashah, Jacob goes on his way, and, this time,“ וַיִּפְגְּעוּ־בוֹ מַלְאֲכֵי אֱלֹהִים, the messengers of G*d encountered him.” (Gen. 32:2)

What’s different from one bookend to the next? I would say that it’s Jacob’s perception of where G*d is. At the beginning of his journey, it didn’t occur to Jacob that G*d’s messengers were even there, in that place; Jacob simply happened upon them, almost by accident, certainly not intentionally. Jacob has to be almost hit over the head by the מַלְאֲכֵי אֱלֹהִים in his dream to realize that G*d is present.

But by the end of his journey, Jacob already understands that G*d is with him. And when he sets up this second pillar—without prompting or dreams or messengers—it is an intentional and deliberate acknowledgment of G*d’s presence. It’s as if Jacob is inviting G*d’s messengers to come upon him.

What change has occurred between the bookends? When is it that we might come upon G*d or, conversely, that G*d might come upon us? I think that Jacob shows us that when we learn to trust in the actions that lead us to G*d, we, in turn, give G*d directions to where we are.
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Cantor Robin Anne Joseph (AJR’96) teaches cantillation as part of the faculty at AJR. A musician and composer, Robin’s liturgical and folk-rock compositions can be found through Transcontinental Music Publications and OySongs and sung at a synagogues world-wide. Past-president of ARC (the Association of Rabbis and Cantors), past-president of the Women Cantors’ Network, and president emerita of Kol Hazzanim—the Westchester Community of Cantors, Robin has served the congregation of Temple Beth Shalom in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY for the last 44 years.