Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 10 Kislev, 5784
Parsha Vayeitzei (Genesis 28:10 – 32:3)
Fifth Portion: Genesis 30:28 – 31:16
Good morning! Happy Thanksgiving! May you arrive at your destinations safely this week! It is super interesting that we are reading about Jacob’s process for leaving Laban during this time.
Yesterday we left off with a cliffhanger. Jacob wants to leave, and Laban gives Jacob some flattery.
Let’s dig in:
(30:28) Then he said, “Specify your wages for me, and I will give [them].”
29And he said to him, “You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock was with me.
30For the little that you had before me has increased in multitude, and the Lord blessed you upon my arrival; but now, when will I, too, provide [something] for my household?”
So Laban asks “Name your price to stay” And Jacob doesn’t want to work for wages. Jacob wants to PROVIDE for his household. He’s got sons (and Dinah) to feed! Let’s keep going:
31And he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall give me nothing; if you do this thing for me, I will return, I will pasture your flocks, [and] I will watch [them].
32I will pass throughout all your flocks today, removing from there every speckled and spotted kid, and every brown lamb among the sheep, and [every] spotted and speckled [one from] among the goats, and this shall be my wages.
33And my righteousness will testify for me at a future date for it will come upon my wages before you. Whatever is not speckled or spotted among the goats or brown among the sheep [shall be counted as] stolen with me.”
34And Laban said, “Very well! If only it would be as you say!”
That must have sounded crazy to Laban, right? Put it in the hands of Hashem. Basically “I will work for you – but when it is time to leave – Laban, you keep the solid goats and sheep, and I get the speckled and spotted goats and brown sheep.” But Laban had a plan. He knew a thing or two about how this works:
35And he removed on that day the ringed and the spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, whichever had white on it, and all the brown [from] among the sheep, and he gave [them] into the hands of his sons.
36And he set three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob tended Laban’s remaining animals.
So basically, he started Jacob with zero. Jacob was going to tend to all the solid goats and non-brown sheep. But that didn’t seem to phase Jacob.
37And Jacob took himself moist rod[s] of trembling poplar and hazelnut, and chestnut, and he peeled white streaks upon them, baring the white that was on the rods.
38And he thrust the rods that he had peeled, into the gutters in the watering troughs where the animals would come to drink opposite the [other] animals, and they would come into heat when they came to drink.
39And the flocks came into heat by the rods, and the animals bore ringed, spotted, and striped [young].
40And Jacob separated the sheep, and he turned the faces of the animals toward the ringed one[s] and every brown one among Laban’s animals, and he made himself flocks by himself, and he did not place them with Laban’s animals.
41And it came to pass, that whenever the animals that were bearing their first would come into heat, Jacob would place the rods in the troughs, before the eyes of the animals, [in order] to bring them into heat by [means of] the rods.
42But if the animals would delay, he would not place them, so that the ones that delayed were Laban’s, and the ones that bore their first became Jacob’s.
43And the man became exceedingly wealthy, and he had prolific animals, and maidservants and manservants, and camels and donkeys.
So – Jacob figured out natural selection, didn’t he? He became wealthy.
Something I am reflecting on from yesterday’s thoughts. Jacob FINALLY figured out his worth – Rachel had borne him a son. Beauty came through. And Jacob seemed satisfied – and was ready to leave. The aftermath of this? He got what he wanted. He chose material wealth. He lacked tenderness. He chose his gift – and Hashem delivered. But – this caused a problem, didn’t it? For Laban? Jacob over hears Laban’s sons talking:
(31:1) And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken all that belonged to our father, and from what belonged to our father, he has amassed this entire fortune.”
2And Jacob saw Laban’s countenance, that he was not disposed toward him as [he had been] yesterday and the day before.
Uh oh. Jacob saw the shift in energy and feelings. He saw the external signs it was time to go. And Hashem meets with Jacob at this point:
3And the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your forefathers and to your birthplace, and I will be with you.”
I write about this below, and REALLY encourage you to read it. Jacob hears DIRECTLY FROM HASHEM. And instead of telling his family what to do? He calls a family meeting to bring them along. He involves Rachel AND Leah – and explains to them what happened which is also interesting:
4So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flocks.
5And he said to them, “I see your father’s countenance, that he is not disposed toward me [as he was] yesterday and the day before, but the God of my father was with me.
6And you know that with all my might I served your father.
7But your father mocked me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not permit him to harm me.
8If he would say thus, ‘Speckled ones shall be your wages,’ all the animals would bear speckled ones, and if he would say thus, ‘Ringed ones shall be your wages,’ all the animals would bear ringed ones.
9Thus, God separated your father’s livestock and gave it to me.
10And it came to pass at the time the animals came into heat, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the he goats that mounted the animals were ringed, speckled, and striped.
11And an angel of God said to me in a dream, ‘Jacob!’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’
12And he said, ‘Now lift your eyes and see [that] all the he goats mounting the animals are ringed, speckled, and striped, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.
13I am the God of Beth el, where you anointed a monument, where you pronounced to Me a vow. Now, arise, go forth from this land and return to the land of your birth.'”
And again, he doesn’t tell them to come with him. He allows them to offer feedback:
14And Rachel and Leah replied and said to him, “Do we still have a share or an inheritance in our father’s house?
15Are we not considered by him as strangers, for he sold us and also consumed our money?
16But all the wealth that God separated from our father is ours and our children’s. So now, all that God said to you, do.”
We’ve come a long way since yesterday’s portion, haven’t we? It would see everyone got what they wanted. Leah had connection with Jacob. Jacob had material wealth and a son with Rachel. Rachel had a child. And they were all on the same page.
I ALSO go back to yesterday’s portion and commentary. Do Leah and Rachel represent thoughts and feelings? They have not been aligned in the story – until now. Did Jacob check in on his heart and mind – and see congruence? So he believed?
What if they were NOT on the same page? What if one of them wanted to stay and the other wanted to go? What would Jacob have done? What would he have chosen? What if they WERE on the same page and wanted to stay, asking Jacob to ignore Hashem’s instructions? What then?
These are the curious questions I ask myself as we come to a close today. I am grateful for the opportunity to think curiously about the Torah! What are your thoughts!
Enjoy thanksgiving!
Here is my commentary from the past two years:
Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for Kislev 7, 5783
Reading this from a year ago; it’s interesting how it was time to leave for Jacob. He could see the countenance of Laban was shifting. He listed to Hashem.
How often do we miss these moments to leave? When someone’s body language shifts; where they were pleasant and now they aren’t?
How often as well; as we develop our own spiritual and internal power and sovereignty, does it create a threat for those who are currently in power? Especially those in power who don’t want to share that power?
This last weekend I visited a wolf sanctuary near here. The docent told us about the idea of wolf packs. Yes; they are very loyal; but there does come power struggles. If the alpha male or female start feeling like a kid in the pack is gaining too much power – they will push that member out of the pack. One she-wolf at the sanctuary had pushed out multiple members of the pack. I thought that was interesting.
When a wolf has left the pack, they have two options; find a new pack, or start a new pack. You can see those elements here. Laban was the alpha. Jacob’s wealth and power were growing. It was time to leave the pack. But he didn’t leave alone. He spoke with his wives. They went with him.
Who is in your “pack?” What power dynamics exist? Are you able to be your authentic self? Or do you have to hide your success because it’s a threat to others in the pack?
Something I’m reflecting on from todays passage. What about you?
Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for Kislev 7, 5782:
So yesterday we left off where Joseph has just been born. Jacob feels Joseph will destroy Esau and is feeling much more safe about returning home and facing Esau after a while away. He goes to Laban to ask to leave, and Laban asks him to stay.
Laban basically makes an offer Jacob can’t refuse. “name your wages!”
Jacob reminds Laban that Jacob has grown Laban’s flocks significantly. He has worked for Laban, but Jacob is now considering how he can work for his own family.
I’m reflecting on how this mirrors our society and our perspective of work. How often do we forget our vocation exists to support our family? How often do we mistakenly believe that our family exists to support our workplace?
I personally reflect on how often I made choices to prioritize my employer over my family. In my mind I believed the sacrifice would be worth it in the end. I was wrong. Jacob is teaching us how critical it is to have our priorities in the right place!
Jacob’s response is REALLY curious. Laban says “what can I give you?” Jacob responds; “nothing!”
Jacob turns around and says “let’s make a deal! If you do the following for me, I will come back and pasture your flocks and guard them.” What are the things Jacob wants Laban to do for him?
Allow Jacob to Pass throughout all the flocks and remove the following:
- every spotted and patched lamb and every brown lamb.
- Every spotted and patched goat. Jacob told Laban his sons could guard these goats so that Laban wouldn’t think Jacob was breeding them.
Once this is finished, what is left are the non spotted, non patched, non brown goats. Jacob asked Laban to pay him any spotted, patched goats, or brown sheep from those Jacob is guarding. If Laban finds any non spotted or non patched goats or non brown sheep in Jacob’s possession, they will have been stolen from Laban.
Laban agrees. This is a fascinating deal for sure; because Jacob leaves his wages in the hands of Hashem. He certainly cannot control what the animals being born would look like, can he?
Jacob gets to work. Once he has the flock from Laban he is to tend (the non spotted and patched goats and the non brown sheep), he sets out to put some distance between himself and Laban.
Then, Jacob makes these striped looking rods out of poplar, hazel, and chestnut wood. He put them in the group by the watering holes where the flocks would drink, and they became “stimulated” and mated.
Surprisingly, the flocks all bore ringed, patched, and striped younglings. Jacob
Separates these from Laban’s flocks.
We discover that Jacob is basically able to control the birth of the flocks – based on whether he puts the sticks in the ground or not. He took the early bearing flocks and stimulated them with the sticks and removed the sticks for the late bearing flocks. because of this, the early born belonged to Jacob, and the late ones belonged to Laban.
Jacob became wealthy. This OBVIOUSLY didn’t sit well with Laban!!!!
God spoke to Jacob and said “it’s time to go. Go home and I will be with you.” I do see a pattern here. Before a significant change, Hashem has spoken to our forefathers and has said “it will be ok, trust me! I’m with you!”
Jacob called his wives (Rachel and Leah) to the field, and we learn more about Jacob’s wealth and how it developed. Jacob reminds Laban’s daughters (his wives) that Laban kept changing the wages, and Hashem kept giving Jacob more. Basically, Hashem took Laban’s livestock away from Laban and gave it to Jacob.
Now. Before we go further, I think it’s interesting that all of this happened right after Laban said to Jacob “God has blessed me because of you.” Which is how our portion yesterday ended.
Jacob continues to talk to Rachel and Leah; he shares with them the dream he had and how this all came about. He explains that God has basically given him all of Labans flocks (and God says it’s because of the monument Jacob made where he made a vow to Hashem) and has told him it was time to leave.
Rachel and Leah respond and provide us MORE information on just how toxic Laban was. They explain:
- It’s not like we still have a share or an inheritance because that’s all going to our brothers
- We are considered strangers to Laban because he sold us in marriage (without a dowry they add)
- When Jacob worked for Laban, Laban consumed all their money
They acknowledge that everything Hashem separated from Laban belongs to them and their children, so go ahead, Jacob! Do what God told you to do!
So. This is where todays portion ends. But I think it is REALLY important. We often criticize how patriarchal Judaism can be (and often with good reason based on the behavior of Jewish men). But it is interesting to me that EVEN THOUGH Jacob heard directly from God, he is consulting with his two wives on whether to go or not. He didn’t say “he God said we are leaving! Pack your bags and let’s go!” No. He walked them through the story; and he seemed interested in their opinion and counsel. He wanted them to go with him. They had value.
I’m not saying this undoes the hypothesis that Judaism is patriarchal; but it does seem to challenge it a bit. As a dude, I can recognize my own confirmation bias here, so I’d love other opinions (especially of those who do not identify as male).
Interesting stories! What do you think?
No responses yet