The Legacy of Lavan In last week's Parshah, Vayetze, the Torah describes the final confrontation between Lavan and Yaakov. Two features of that confrontation were Hashem's intervention in Yaakov's behalf by warning Lavan in a dream not to harm Yaakov, and Lavan's accusation that someone in Yaakov's household had stolen his idols. In making that accusation, Lavan says "ata hiskalta aso," "Now you have acted foolishly." It is striking that the last word in that expression, meaning "acted," has the identical speling - ayin, shin/sin, vav - as Yaakov's brother Esav's name. This is perhaps a threat by Lavan that Yaakov would forfeit G-d's protection when he would encounter Esav because of the presence of idols in his household. And indeed we find that when Yaakov is in the state of "Vayivater Yaakov levado," "Yaakov remained alone," alone with his thoughts, alone with his fears and with the promise of G-d's salvation, that Hashem sends the heavenly representative of Esav, to "wrestle" with Yaakov, forcing Yaakov to define himself. "Lemi ata ve'ana telech?", "With whom is your ultimate loyalty? and What is your goal?", "Are you still just Yaakov, bound by the limitation of "kol adam kozev," "Everyman is a liar" forced by the very structure of your name, built from a root meaning "crookedness" to use unjust means to achieve just ends? Or are you ready to become Yisrael, whose very name, built from a root meaning "fair" and "straight," represents truth and integrity at all times? It is perhaps the inability of the heavenly representative of Esav to decisively defeat Yaakov, and bring him into Esav's camp, and the fact that it is he who first changes Yaakov's name to Yisrael, that takes the wind out of Esav's sails, and curbs his aggression. It is also interesting to note that the gematria of "Esav," 376, is extremely close to the gematria of "gid ha'nashe," 377, that part of Yaakov that records his intense struggle with the "Malach of Esav." It was the injury to his "gid ha'nashe" which caused Yaakov to limp initially, but from which he was healed by the "healing sun," and the part of an animal which Jews are forbidden to eat, to this day. It seems that Yaakov may have figured out that Rachel had taken Lavan's idols, for when Hashem commands Yaakov to proceed to Bait E-l to construct an altar, Yaakov commands his "household" to rid themselves of the idols that they may still have, and thereby cleanse themselves spiritually. He addresses himself to "baiso v'chol asher lo," "his household and all that belongs to him." If we use the principle of "baiso zu ishto," that a man's home is his wife, then it seems possible that Yaakov was asking Rachel to finally rid herself of the idols she still carried. Why would Rachel still have those idols? Maybe it was because of her anger at Yaakov, for unwittingly pronouncing a curse against her, when he'd said to Lavan, "The one with whom you find your idols will not live." But now he said, I hope that Hashem will have mercy, and put aside my curse, but now is the time that we must clean house spiritually, and begin the task of creating a Holy People in the Holy Land. Yaakov says that the altar in Bait E-l is to serve the L-rd "Who answered him in the time of his trouble, and was with him always on the way that he walked." When Yaakov says these words, he speaks in the spirit of prophecy not only about his personal problems, but about all the problems which his descendants would experience. When shortly thereafter Rachel dies in childbirth, she is buried on the way where she will comfort her sons and, weeping bitter tears before the Master of the Universe, secure the response, "V'shavu vanim li'gevulam," "Your children will return to their inheritance." May our mother Rachel continue to give us comfort and support as we struggle with our enemies, external and internal. Rabbi Pinchas Frankel Rabbi Frankel is an Educational Coordinator at the OU |
