Parashat Vayeitzeih
by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky
In this week’s parashah we read about the first meeting between Jacob and Rachel.
“Now when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, and the sheep of his mother’s brother Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of his mother’s brother Laban.” (Genesis 29:10)
On this verse Rashi wrote
“‘Jacob went up and rolled’: As one who removes the stopper from a bottle, to let you know that he possessed great strength (Gen. Rabbah 70:12).”
It seems that according to Rashi, the “great strength” that Jacob possessed was purely physical. Because of this extraordinary strength he was able to roll the stone that was blocking the well’s mouth. Rabbi Nechemia Ra’anan has shown that the great 20th century teacher of musar, Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz, had a slightly different understanding of Jacob’s strength. For Rabbi Shmuelevitz Jacob’s strength was not just of Read More >