Jacob left his parents’ home to escape from his brother Esau’s wrath, and to find a wife from his mother’s family as well.
On his way to Charan, Jacob stopped to sleep at the mountain of Moriah, the same spot where Abraham had brought Isaac as a sacrifice. He dreamed about a ladder reaching from earth up to the heavens. G-d spoke to him from above the ladder, and promised Jacob that He would accompany him throughout his exile, and that eventually he would return to the Land of Canaan with his children. The ladder represented Jacob’s mission of bridging the spiritual world he had enjoyed until this point, and the physical world he would encounter in the house of his uncle, the deceptive Laban.
In Laban’s house, Jacob had to overcome many difficult challenges. He offered to work seven years for Laban’s younger daughter Rachel’s hand in marriage. Laban tricked Jacob into marrying his older daughter, Leah. Jacob had to work another seven years in order to marry Rachel. Although Jacob loved Leah, he did harbor some resentment towards her because of her involvement in this deception.
G-d saw Leah’s pain and allowed her to bear children, immediately, unlike any of the other three Matriarchs. This endeared her to Jacob. She bore him a total of six sons, Reuben, Simon, Levi, Judah; and then later, Yissachar and Zevulun. She also bore Jacob a daughter, Dinah.
Rachel saw that she could not yet bear children, so she gave her maidservant Bilhah to Jacob as a concubine. Bilhah bore Jacob two more sons, Gad and Asher. Leah also gave her maidservant Zilpah as a concubine to Jacob. She too bore him two sons, Dan and Naftali. Finally, Rachel conceived, and she bore Jacob a son, Joseph. Later, on the road back to Canaan, she bore him another son, Benjamin, but she died during childbirth.
Laban tried to cheat Jacob out of his hard earned wages. Jacob had to make numerous deals with Laban in order to receive his fair pay. Even then, only through miraculous intervention could Jacob stop Laban from cheating him.
After twenty years in the house of Laban, Jacob spoke to his wives, and decided to return to his parents’ home in Canaan. He tried to leave secretly, but Laban learned of the escape and caught up with Jacob’s camp. Eventually, the two made peace with one another, and Jacob left peacefully. The peace was short-lived, however, as Jacob received word that Esau was awaiting his return with an army of four hundred men.
All these circumstances helped prepare Jacob with the fortitude he needed to be able to build the Jewish nation.
Jacob said to them, "My brothers, where do you come from? The day is still long and it is not yet time to gather in the flocks." (Gen. 29:4)
Jacob felt the need to admonish an injustice when he saw one, but in a soft manner.
The Chafetz Chaim once heard that a student of his had strayed from observance and smoked on Shabbos. He called the young man to his room and spoke to him for a few minutes. The boy emerged a changed person. Many years later, the fellow related that the Chafetz Chaim hadn’t scolded him at all. He had merely taken the boy’s hand in his own and stroked it. With tears in his eyes he murmured, “Shabbos! Shabbos!”
The man said, “I remember how one tear from the Chafetz Chaim rolled onto my hand, and I can still fell the burn from that tear fifty years later!”
Did You Know...
It is customary to arrange a party on the first Friday night following the birth of a boy, even if the baby has not yet come home. This is called the Shalom Zachor, and it dates back to Talmudic times. Different explanations are offered for the Shalom Zachor:
- Since birth is dangerous, we make a party of thanksgiving for a safe birth. A kiddush is similarly made for the birth of a girl.
- The Talmud teaches that a child studies Torah in the womb, and then forgets it at birth. The party is to offer comfort for this loss, and to bless the child that he should study and regain the loss.
- A third reason suggested is to offer good wishes for a timely circumcision, as the child must first experience the sanctity of Shabbos before being circumcised.
