WRJ Voices: Vayetzei

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”  -- Harriet Tubman.

Parashah Vayetzei starts with a dream as Jacob left Beersheba and sets out for Haran to his Uncle Laban. He came upon a certain place and stopped for the night. He finds a stone and used it as a pillow to lay his head and then had a dream.  In his dream, there was a stairway reaching to the sky and angels of God were ascending and descending from it. God was standing beside him and said, “I am the Eternal?, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and your offspring. Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants.  Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely, God is in this place and I did not know!”

As I read this parashah, I can visualize a beautiful stained-glass window in Temple Beth Israel’s sanctuary. It shows Jacob sleeping at the base of a ladder with angels of God ascending and descending the ladder. I see this window every Shabbat when I attend services. It also reminds me that this was my son Shawn’s Torah portion for his Bar Mitzvah. 

There was the tale of two sisters. They were sisters but also rivals. Rachel and Leah were both married to Jacob, competing for his affection and the privilege of bearing his children. Jacob meets Rachel, falls in love with her and works for her father Laban for seven years to earn her hand in marriage. Laban tricks Jacob and gives him Leah instead. Jacob thought he might do this so he gave Rachel a signal so he would know she was the one he was marrying. Rachel found out her father’s plan and told Leah the signal to spare her the embarrassment of being shown as the wrong bride.  This was purely an act of compassion on Rachel’s part. But it was Rachel who Jacob desired and he worked another seven years for her hand. 

In the Torah, Leah is said to have “weak eyes” as she was always crying. Leah was the unwanted wife whose only consolation was bearing the majority of Jacob’s children while Rachel had the beauty and charm but prayed to have a child of her own. There seemed to be a competition between the sisters of who could provide the most offspring for Jacob that ultimately become the 12 tribes of Israel. I find it very interesting that this sibling rivalry between Leah and Rachel continued to their sons. For it was Leah’s children who sought to kill Joseph (Rachel’s child) but instead sold him as a slave in a passing caravan. There are other stories in the Torah of the rivalries between Leah and Rachel’s descendant’s but those are for another time.

This parashah gives a real insight into human emotions and helps us to get to know our patriarchs and matriarchs on a human level. What one person may find beautiful, another person may not.

Throughout our lives, we are all given challenges to confront whether they are internal or external. Some of us may identify strongly with Leah, with the feelings of rejection and alienation while others may feel envious and have qualities of Rachel. No one knows each other’s struggles.

As I attend Shabbat services, I struggle with my own challenges. No one knows the battles I’m fighting inside. I put on a brave face and sometimes a fake smile to make it through. I know my community is and will always be there for me when I need them.  We are truly stronger together.

Linn Ullenbrauck is a WRJ Board member, WRJ Midwest District Marketing Technology Chair, WRJ Midwest District 2020 Convention Co-Chair and Past President of Sisterhood Temple Beth Israel, Skokie, IL.