Parshat Vayeitzei
December 5th-6th, 2003
11 Kislev, 5764

In next week’s parsha, we will read about Ya’akov’s [Jacob’s] struggle with a shadowy adversary: "And Ya’akov was left alone with a man who wrestled with him until the break of dawn." Our Sages identify the mysterious figure as the "guardian angel" of Ya’akov’s brother, Esav, and this wrestling match has great symbolic (and mystical) overtones—the paradigm, in a sense, of the historical battle between the Jewish people (and Jewish ideals), and its enemies.

Ya’akov emerges from the contest wounded ("limping on his hip"), but victorious, and with a new and glorious name, Yisrael ("fighter for G-d," is one possible translation). We witness his courage, tenacity, strength and heroism in the face of a powerful opposing force.

The truth is that we witness an equal (if not greater) display of courage, tenacity, strength and heroism on the part of Ya’akov in this week’s Torah portion, as he struggles against another implacable foe—his own father-in-law, Lavan. [Please be assured that there is absolutely no aspersion implied against the class of fathers-in-law in general, and I am proud to say that I have been blessed with a most honorable and kind one in particular! And need I say that the same goes for mothers-in-law?] If Ya’akov’s struggle is perhaps not quite so openly or dramatically presented as next week’s, it is nonetheless of great import. And the way our Patriarch conducts himself is meant to be a model to all succeeding generations of K’lal Yisrael.

Fleeing from his brother, Esav, Ya’akov travels to the ancestral home of his mother, where (as instructed by his parents) he hopes to find a wife from the household of his uncle Lavan. Aware from the start of Lavan’s reputation for deviousness, Ya’akov nonetheless pledges to work for him for seven years in exchange for the hand of his younger daughter, Rachel. When the term is completed--you may remember--Lavan switches daughters on Ya’akov on the wedding night, and her older sister Leah ends up becoming his first wife. Ya’akov agrees to work for another seven years for Rachel (whom he marries after the week of celebration with Leah is over). After that period of time, he stays on for an additional six years of employment tending to Lavan’s flocks.

Now, there is a whole lot to talk about over here, including how Ya’akov was permitted to marry sisters (one answer: this was before the Torah was actually given, so that prohibition did not apply). And, signifcantly, hovering over the whole story—as over all of the accounts of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs in the Book of Genesis—is the clear hand of Divine Providence, directing the formation of the Jewish people.

But we are going to skip to the end result of Ya’akov’s term with Lavan. By the time he secretly takes leave of Lavan near the end of this week’s parsha (for he greatly fears the designs of his father-in-law, and brothers-in-law), Ya’akov is the father of 11 sons and one daughter, and has been blessed with enormous wealth. "The man [Ya’akov] became exceedingly prosperous and he had proliferating flocks, and maidservants and servants, and camels and donkeys." (30, 43)

Lavan hotly pursues, and overtakes, Ya’akov—originally with malevolent intent, our Sages tell us. (Remember the words of the Hagaddah, "…Pharaoah decreed destruction only for the males, but Lavan intended to eradicate all"). In the course of their verbal confrontation, Ya’akov steps forward and defends his conduct in taking flight from Lavan, as well as his steadfastness throughout all the years of his employment:

"…[I stole away] Because I was afraid, for I thought perhaps you might steal your daughters from me…What is my transgression? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me?…These twenty years I have been with you, your ewes and your she-goats never miscarried, nor did I eat of the rams of your flock. That which was mangled, I never brought you—I myself would bear the loss, from me you would exact it, whether it was stolen by day or stolen by night. This is how I was: By day scorching heat consumed me, and frost by night; my sleep drifted from my eyes. This is my twenty years in your household: I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flocks; and [yet] you changed [the terms of] my wage a hundred times. Had not the G-d of my father—the G-d of Avraham, and the Dread of Yitzhak—been with me, you would surely have now sent me away Empty handed; G-d saw my wretchedness and the toil of my hands…."  (Translation: Artscroll Stone Chumash)

What’s especially remarkable, then, is not that Ya’akov became wealthy--all of the Patriarchs were blessed by G-d with material success--, but that he achieved all that wealth despite the continuous deceit and ill will of his employer, Lavan. Most important of all, Ya’akov did not forsake his own ethical integrity whatsoever or slacken in his dedication to perform his job faithfully. However often Lavan chose to play fast and loose with their contractual agreements, Ya’akov continued to stand by his own word. To maintain such a level of integrity in an environment of corruption (and against an opponent who never hesitated to aim low) was truly heroic.

Wrestling with angels is impressive, but so is standing firm (and remaining morally pure) while doing business with crooks!

Besides all of his other characteristics of greatness, then, Ya’akov embodies the model trustworthiness and diligence that an employee is supposed to have. He is meant to represent the loftiness of Jewish "business ethics," a standard of conduct far higher than the norm in our commercial (and corporate) culture. Our Sages tell us that our "yes" is supposed to be "yes," and our "no" is supposed to be "no." The Jewish person who conducts his or her business affairs with scrupulous honesty and integrity, upholding the letter and spirit of the Torah, is—according to Maimonidies—referred to in the Scriptural text (Isaiah 49, 3), ‘And He said to me, you are My servant, Israel, in whom I glory."

G-d glories in the integrity exemplified by Ya’akov in his dealings with Esav…and in our own conscientious discharge of our obligations as employee (or employer). Sanctity in business, and the marketplace, is as much a part of our mission of being a "holy people" as is scrupulousness in kashrus and observance of the Sabbath.

It is not easy to remain a person of integrity when others around us are not so scrupulous. But then again, our own obligation to be righteous (and to remain loyal to the Torah’s commandments) is never predicated on the behavior of others. We have to do what is right regardless of what others do. In fact, there is greater spiritual reward, and growth of character, precisely in keeping the Torah when it is most difficult! (And we see from the example of Ya’akov that being righteous does not, in any way, preclude material success—which, we are taught, is ultimately in the hand of Hashem anyway.)

To become people of loyalty and faithfulness, like Ya’akov, firm in our commitment to the Torah’s laws and its high ethical standards: that is the real heroism that Hashem expects of us. May we have the strength (day in, and day out) to rise to that challenge. GOOD SHABBOS.

My e-mail address is yosefe@comcast.net

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Rabbi Yosef Edelstein, Savannah Kollel. Phone: 912-351-0469; fax: 354-9923