Vayetze - A seasonal hint: Jacob didn’t ask for so much stuff

Parshat Vayetze  (Genesis 28:10 - 32:3)

I always think of this time of year as a time of transition. The trees are almost finished shedding their leaves and the air is charged with the smell of winter. We ourselves are transitioning from the vestiges of the High Holiday season of teshuva and gratitude to the modern world’s all too long season of consumption.  

In Vayetze, we read of the famous Jacob’s Ladder and his receiving of God’s blessing. He vows his loyalty and faith to God, “.... If God will be with me ...and gives me bread to eat, and clothing to put on ... then shall the Lord be my God.” (Genesis 28:20-21)

While Jacob could have asked for anything, he asks only for bread and clothing. Radak, a 12^th century commentator, wrote that Jacob asked only for the bare necessities of life. He didn’t even ask for water because one can find water to drink, on (and in), the earth.  The Kli Yakar, a 16^th century commentator, puts it even more starkly, saying that Jacob asked for the essentials, no more and no less. 

As often happens, the Parsha’s message is remarkably relevant for this time of year. We have entered into the season of consumption. Do we really need all that we buy, all that we own? 

I look around my house and I can see so much that I do not need. The mass of possessions in my home make me feel spiritually and creatively stifled as well as embarrassed. Who am I to require so much “stuff?” I know that I am not the only one to be in this situation nor am I the first. Proverbs 30:8  states “... give me neither poverty nor wealth, provide me my allotted bread...”  This implies that all we need are the basic necessities lest we are so deprived that we need to resort to theft and so sated that we forsake God.  

For some, Jacob’s request of bread and clothing may seem like too little in a world filled with so much and with people who have so much ambition. The Sages also recognized the simplicity of this request and instructs us to translate the word bread to mean Torah (Breisheit Rabbah). There is no stinginess in considering the Torah as a bare necessity of life; in fact it signifies depth and largess for our souls.   

Each morning in Shacharit we recite the following prayer, “Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all the worlds, who acts for all my needs.” The Sages would recite this prayer as they were putting on their shoes. Why? Because shoes were made of leather and therefore a luxury. If one could afford shoes then one’s other basic needs were being met. Today one could argue that in our world of plenty shoes are a necessity and if a luxury, then a low-level one at that. But we must remember that while we are in a time of perceived plenty and invented want, there are many who do not have enough bread to eat nor the money for sufficient clothing. 

Let us take Jacob’s example and realign our lives.  Let us be content with the material basics and aspire to spiritual riches. Let us share what we have with those who are in need. Let us turn this season of consumption into what our lives and time are meant to represent – generosity and caring. 

A version of this dvar has been published in the Washington Jewish Week, December 8, 2016

Vayechi: A [Grand] Parent’s Blessing as Protection in the face of Assimilation

Parshat Vayechi is the last Parasha in the book of Genesis. In this parsha we find Jacob on his deathbed and desirous of blessing his sons. This is the first instance in the Torah of someone getting sick and knowing that their death is approaching. Prior to this point in the Torah, when someone’s death is mentioned, it says “and so-and-so was old, and died.” The commentaries say that Jacob requested of G-d that he become sick before he die, thereby giving him warning that his end was approaching and giving him time to to bless his sons before he died.

In verse 48:1 Joseph found out that Jacob was sick. Joseph then "took his two sons with him." (presumably to bring them to Jacob, although it doesn't say that anywhere). When Joseph and his sons got there, Jacob sat up in bed, and told Joseph that his two sons would now be considered like Jacob's children, and will get a portion in the land just like the rest of the brothers. 

Interestingly, the Torah doesn't say that Joseph brought his sons to Jacob, but that Joseph took his sons with him. What it could mean is that not only did Joseph bring his sons physically to Jacob, but also that Joseph kept them close to himself, so that they wouldn't be spiritually influenced by their non-Jewish surroundings. Jacob recognized this, which is why he felt strengthened when Joseph came to him with his sons.

With the act of Jacob claiming his grandsons as his own, he made sure to stress that it was those two sons that were born in Egypt (48:5). Their greatness and Joseph's greatness was that they identified as and lived as Jews despite living in Egypt. And finally, although his hands were on the two grandsons, Jacob's blessing was that Joseph's children, and anyone who has to live in a non-Jewish world, should be protected throughout history so that we can all be proudly called the children of Avraham and Yitzchak (and Jacob).  The blessing that is given is:  Y’simcha Elohim k’Efraim v’Menasseh”   “So he blessed them that day, saving, "By you shall Israel invoke blessings, saying: God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh."

This is the same blessing that parents all over the Jewish world give their children on Friday nights. What is special about Efraim and Manasseh? They didn’t assimilate. They were the sons of an important man in Egypt, living for much of their lives apart from any kind Jewish community, yet they kept to their heritage. This is a blessing to forestall assimilation. This is a blessing that says you can be successful and fulfilled regardless of where you live and what’s going on around you – and still remain Jewish.

Perhaps this message is why we read this Parasha so soon after Chanukah, a holiday about Jewish identity. With all that is going on in the world today regarding religion and tolerance, the message of this parsha should be taken to heart. Even in a place as hostile to Jews as Egypt was, there was a way to live there and continue to have a positive Jewish identity. My prayer is that in our world today, all people can find a way to live through these hostile times and still maintain their own positive religious identities and at the same time, allow others to as well, whatever religion they may belong to.

Food for Thought: 
~If you were to compose a blessing to give to your children each Friday night, what would it be?
~Jacob blessed his grandchildren, Efraim and Manasseh, before his eldest child Reuben. Why would he do that? Note: consider the biblical motif of the younger son inheriting before the elder. How does that fit in here?

This dvar originally appeared in the Washington Jewish Week.

The Holiness Around Us

THIS WEEK’S TORAH PORTION IS VAYETZE, GENESIS: 28:10-32:3.

In this parsha we meet Jacob as he is on the run from his brother Esau. One would assume that he is afraid, lonely, missing his mom and unsure of what is to come. He falls asleep in a place that is holy but he doesn’t sense the holiness until after he has that amazing dream of the ladder and the angels. Upon awakening he says, “Surely God is present in this place, and I did not know it.” (28:16)

I love this story because it shows what Judaism is all about — taking the ordinary and elevating it to holiness. We all have moments like this in our lives, perhaps the birth of a child or seeing a rainbow. Jacob falls asleep in what he assumes is this regular piece of land, but upon arising realizes that the place is steeped in holiness. He marks the place to commemorate the holiness. We can do that in our everyday life in many different ways.

 It’s what happens next that has always bothered me.

After Jacob marks the location, instead of thinking about how to incorporate this into his life, he strikes a bargain with God disguised in the form of a vow: “If God stays with me, if God protects me, if God provides for me, if I return safely, then I will believe in You, then “the Lord shall be my God.” (Genesis 28:20-22) Midrash has various explanations that try to prove that this is indeed a vow and not a bargain, including the idea that the Torah actually flips the order in which these events occurred such that Jacob’s vow actually came before the revelation in the dream. Thus, the dream is a response from God to Jacob’s vow/bargain. The second is that Jacob is pledging himself to specific behaviors in gratitude to God for the promise made to his ancestors and that will be fulfilled.

I am choosing to follow the order of the events in the Torah and interpret them accordingly. Jacob goes to sleep along the road and experiences a dream that includes a visible manifestation of God. He wakes up full of awe and appreciation of how the ordinary in one’s life can become extraordinary and holy. But instead of running with that feeling, he acts in a very human way and decides to take advantage of the moment. He thinks “OK, God, now that I know firsthand that you are with me, I am going to ask you to alleviate my deepest concerns. And if you do that, then I will believe in and follow you always.”

Not everyone will agree with my reading. It’s distressing when we see one of our patriarchs do something that lessens him in our eyes. Jacob, however, is one of our ancestors who revels in his humanity with all its frailties. In this reading, Jacob is every person. He has parents who love him but they too are flawed and their flaws impact Jacob’s every action. He does wonderful things, but makes some colossal mistakes. Jacob receives proof of God’s presence, and instead of integrating that into is his life, he proceeds to bargain with the Holy One in his if-then scenario.

Jacob is all of us. We forget that there is everyday holiness. When we notice it, we are awed — and then lapse back into our everyday lives, sometimes denying the very holiness we’ve just experienced. But when we are troubled or afraid, we know what to do. We turn to God and pray. We bargain bargains that are sometimes outrageous in scope but are designed to get us through the bad times. Later, after the crisis has passed, we forget the terms of our bargains and relapse into our everyday lives. We do this because we are human.

My dream for all of us is that we are able to recognize the holy in the world in both the good and the bad times. I pray that the bargains we strike, because we will strike bargains, are of a type that can be kept and that infuse our ordinary world with the holy and the extraordinary that is Judaism.

Rabbah Arlene Berger is the rabbi of the Olney Kehila in Olney, MD.

Published originally in Washington Jewish Week  11/18/15