VaYetze "and he left"

My dear brother Paul Daniel mentioned last year that each of the Torah passages are sung within the synagogue. Of course, we don't sing the English passage, but I thought it might be fun to include a sample of this song (only 1 minute) for those who don't regularly make it to a synagogue service. To date, I have never attended a Messianic congregation where the Torah portion is sang in Hebrew. I have been to ones that were read, but so far, not sung. Enjoy.



VaYetze “and he left”
Genesis 28:10 - 32:3

Summary
A ladder to heaven
Rachel at the well
Jacob and Laban
Jacob’s children
The speckled and spotted sheep
Jacob’s departure

I have to admit, there some Torah portions which don’t have as much action, but this one is a really amazing passage. Each one of the segments that I mentioned above has enough material to dig into and enjoy. This passage also covers a number of years. In it, Jacob grows from a refugee with nothing to the great Patriarch that we come to know him as. This passage is also full of interesting speculation and imagination. The picture of Jacob’s ladder is the subject of much artwork.



In resent days I have read 2 books (novels) which cover this time period. Both have very different perspectives on the characters. Both surprised me by their brash almost irreverent look at the people and stories. Also, both were so engaging that they were difficult to put down.
The first was called The Red Tent by Anita Diamant and the second was called The Son of Laughter by Frederick Buechner
I am not really recommending either of these books, but just showing how this Torah portion has fired the imagination of many.

- How does one understand a ladder going up and down from Heaven? Why? What’s the point?
- What’s with the oil poured on a rock?
- How could Jacob get fooled into marrying the wrong gal after working for her for 7 years?
- Between Leah and Rachael, is one of them a good person, one bad, both good, both bad?
- Why does God allow Leah to have lots of children and Rachael so few? Why the whole “baby race” including 2 extra moms (a total of 4 women producing children for Jacob)?
- Does Jacob practice some type of “magic” to have all the good lambs and goats be speckled?
- Why would Rachael steal the household gods?
- My personal favourite, The Jacob family bumps into a camp of angels and we only get 1 verse about this? And related, did Jacob send “angels” to his brother to let him know they were on their way back home?

Maybe, when I am a white-haired old man I will have written on all the questions. Today, I will tackle just one. Maybe we’ll start at the first.

Jacob’s ladder
Jacob has left his father’s house, mostly out of fear of his brother, but also to acquire a wife in Haran. He travels and is exhausted and rests near a city called Luz. There is no indication that he actually stays in the city. He uses stones for pillows, so you get the impression he’s out under the stars in the nearby wilderness.
Although there is a lot strange in this passage, one of the things that is weird is the “stone situation”. In verse 11 there are several stones used for pillows. In verse 18, he has one stone, but they still use the word “pillows”. What happens to the stones? Of course, we don’t get a lot of extra help from the passage, but it has long been speculated (in the Talmud for example) that the stones were about him (perhaps as a little refuge), and as he slept they merged into one stone at his head. (Babylonian Talmud Chullin 91b.)
While Jacob slept, he sees angels. To be honest, Jacob sees a lot more angels during his lifetime then almost any Biblical character. He sees them here. He sees them at the end of this Torah passage. He (perhaps) sends angels to see his brother. He will wrestle with an angel. His life is full of angelic encounters. Most people who see angels are terrified, and in fact, Jacob is really concerned when he finally wakes (Gen 28:17). Yet, like the other passages with his angels they go with limited comment.
Jacob also hears the voice of God repeating the promises of Abraham. As I mentioned last week, Jacob “staying around the tents” got to understand the promises of God and the work of God through the ages. I have no doubt that he knew this was what God promised his Grandfather. He was part of the fulfillment. In fact, to date, there were very few “children” of Abraham on Earth. Jacob was the first big push in the children of Abraham being numerous like the dust of the Earth.
The is also something else which is important for this passage; “God’s opinion”. I don’t mean this to sound glib. In the whole last passage we have very little insight about what God thinks? Did God comment to Jacob about how he felt about buying the birthright for a bowl of stew? Did God comment about whether he accepted Jacob as the rightful lineage after he stole the blessing? NO. God is totally silent. Isaac seems to have accepted it, but God is silent. To be honest, who cares what Isaac thinks? We only want to know what God thinks.
Here we get the confirmation that God has chosen Jacob, and in the end, that makes all the difference. Shabbot Tov, Bradley Avi

Vayetze-Behold

sent from Rabbi Jack Farber-Congregation Melech Yisrael, Canada's oldest Messianic Congregation

"Divine Confirmation"


Parashat HaShavua VaYeitzei / Behold

This Week's Reading List:
BeReshit / Genesis 28:10-32:2
Hoshea / Hosea 13:6-14:10
Yochanan / John 1:43-51

Bereshit {29:9} While he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with her av's (fathers) sheep, for she kept them. {29:10} It happened, when Ya'akov (Jacob) saw Rachel bat (daughter of) Lavan, his em's (mother's) brother, and the sheep of Lavan, his em's brother, that Ya'akov went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Lavan his em's brother. {29:11} Ya'akov kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. {29:12} Ya'akov told Rachel that he was her av's brother, and that he was Rivkah's son. She ran and told her av.

The verse that caught my attention from this portion of Scripture, which was taken from this week's Parasha, was:

Bereshit {29:11} “Ya'akov kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.”

It always intrigued me as to why Ya'acov cried after kissing Rachel. First, taking into consideration ancient Middle Eastern protocols between unmarried couples, this was not a passionate romantic kiss. It was, I am certain, the type of kiss Shaul suggested believers in Yeshua HaMashiach greet each other with; much like the French or Russians kiss when they greet each other.

Romim (Romans) {16:16} Greet one another with a holy kiss.

I interpret a holy kiss to be a peck, mostly into the air, on either or both cheeks without having any lower body contact. This was the type of kissing that was most common during that period among Semitic people, a custom that seems to have carried over into the first century. So, this being the case then Ya'acov would have given her a holy kiss when he met Rachel for the first time.

However, why did he lift up of his voice and cry out? Most people suggest that he was love struck at that very instant, but I do not see it that way. I see it more like this: Has G-d ever spoken to you and you have doubted that you actually heard from G-d, but then He gave you some type of confirmation that it was truly Him that you heard from? Yes, this is what I believe happened with Ya'acov. In his dream a day earlier Ya'acov saw HaShem standing at the top of this ladder that extended from earth to heaven. From that position HaShem said:

Bereshit {28:13} Behold, HaShem stood above it, and said, "I am HaShem, the G-D of Avraham (Abraham) your av, and the G-D of Yitzchak (Issac). The land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed. {28:14} Your seed will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed. {28:15} Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you."

This was quite the promise and I am sure Ya'acov was impressed by the dream, but I am sure he also had his doubts that it was actually a prophetic dream, that it was true and that it was actually HaShem that was speaking to him. I would have my doubts as well as I am sure you would too.

How do I know that Ya'acov had his doubts? I know by what he said the very next morning after the dream:

Bereshit {28:18} Ya'akov rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. {28:19} He called the name of that place Beit-El (House of G-d), but the name of the city was Luz at the first. {28:20} Ya'akov vowed a vow, saying, "If G-D will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on, {28:21} so that I come again to my av's house in shalom (peace), and HaShem will be my G-D, {28:22} then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be G-D's house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give the tenth to you."

Did you notice the “IF” in verse 20? This tells me that Ya'acov did doubt his dream! Sure he did and like I said you and I would have as well. However, HaShem was not going to let Ya'acov go through his life doubting; He gave him confirmation that it was Him he had heard.

Ya'acov was running from his brother Esav, was heading to strange unfamiliar territory and was looking for someone he never met and therefore did not know. Where would he start looking for his mother's brother? What could he expect to encounter when he did meet him? Would they even receive him? All these questions and more, I am sure, were running through Ya'acov's mind. Then he stumbled upon a well, but not just any old well. I am sure there were many in the area of this city, but this well was the exact well where Lavan had his daughter Rachel water their sheep. An accident, a happenchance, I doubt it! This was from the L-rd and Ya'acov knew it! The kiss he planted on Rachel was a kiss of joy that HaShem had confirmed his promise and the lifting up of his voice was him praising HaShem for the conformation He gave him by this encounter. Now Ya'acov knew that he had heard right, that he had heard from G-d. From here on in he knew his destiny because all of HaShem promises are “Yea and Amen!!!”

Korintim Bet (2 Corinthians) {1:20} For all the promises of G-d in him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of G-d by us.

*********************
Baruch HaShem
Rabbi Ya'acov Farber

Hallelujah for our Lord, our Teacher,our Rabbi, "YESHUA" King Messiah for ever and ever!!!