Vayeitzei – Page 7 – Peninim on the Torah

ועיני לאה רכות

Leah’s eyes were tender. (29:17)

Leah Imeinu had good reason for her excessive weeping. She feared that she would be relegated to marry the wicked Eisav. After all, it made sense. Rivkah had two sons; her brother Lavan had two daughters. It was only “right” that the older daughter Leah would marry the older son, Eisav. For this reason, she cried. When we think about it, especially through the spectacles of contemporary society, what really was so bad about marrying Eisav? As an ish sadeh, man of the field, he was out there making money. Eisav would not settle for a mediocre paycheck. He certainly…

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ויפגע במקום וילן שם... ויעקב הלך לדרכו ויפגעו בו מלאכי אלקים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5773

And he (Yaakov) encountered the place and he stayed there. (28:11) – And Yaakov went on his way; and Angels of G-d encountered him. (32:2)

Horav S. R. Hirsch, zl, explains that the word vayifga has the special connotation of an unexpected encounter. Thus, we understand that Yaakov Avinu experienced something unexpected when he arrived at “that” place. He saw Heavenly Angels ascending and descending a ladder. This was a significant personal experience which conveyed a special message to the Patriarch. Likewise, at the end of the parsha, as the Patriarch was leaving the house of his wicked father-in-law, Lavan, he encountered Angels. This time, however, it was the Angels who encountered him. They were “surprised” by Yaakov as he had been surprised by them…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5772

“Yaakov departed from Beer Sheva and went toward Charan.” (28:10)

In the previous parsha, Parashas Toldos, the Torah records Yitzchak’s and Rivkah’s instructions to Yaakov to leave Beer Sheva in search of a wife. Yaakov Avinu listened to his parents and proceeded to leave. The last pasuk in the parsha tells us about Eisav’s quest for a wife, a search that led him to Yishmael, whose daughter he married. The Torah now reverts to telling us about Yaakov’s journey, his initial encounter with Rachel and the travail that ensued prior to and during their eventual marriage. The commentators wonder why Eisav’s marriage is placed in the midst of the…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5772

“And he dreamt, and behold! A ladder was set earthward and its top reached heavenward.” (28:12)

It is interesting to note that the vision of a ladder whose legs are on the ground, while the top reaches the heavens, occurred only to Yaakov and not to the preceding Patriarchs, Avraham and Yitzchak. Horav Shlomo Margolis, Shlita, attributes this phenomenon to the different lives that they lived. Avraham initiated Tefillas Shacharis, the morning prayer. He understood that life has its challenges, its trials and travail. The sun shone for him. He succeeded in life, overcoming whatever challenges may have stood in his way. He was accepted by those around him. Indeed, he was recognized as G-d’s…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5772

“And it was in the morning, and behold- it was Leah!” (29:25)

Lavan lived up to his reputation as a corrupt, duplicitous miscreant. Yaakov and Rachel were prepared for Lavan’s certain deception. They, therefore, arranged a secret signal between them. Upon seeing that her sister, Leah, was about to be substituted for her, Rachel decided to give Leah the pre-determined sign, in order not to cause her embarrassment. Horav Aharon Kotler, z.l., observes that had it not been Hashem’s will that Leah marry Yaakov, then all of Lavan’s “shtick,” contrivances, would have been futile. One should not think that it was Lavan’s dishonesty, and Rachel’s magnanimous gesture, that brought about the…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5771

And Yaakov went out from Beer Sheva. (28:10)

When Yaakov Avinu fled his father’s home, he was sixty-three years old. He was a wholesome, G-d-fearing Torah scholar whose entire life was devoted to studying Torah. Yet, prior to arriving in Lavan’s home, he had chopped arein, grabbed, another fourteen years of Torah study in the yeshivah of Shem and Eiver. Rashi writes that during those fourteen years our Patriarch was glued to the sefer. He did not lie down in bed to go to sleep the entire time he was there. Why? He was preparing himself for his entrance into the outside world. Imagine, if this was Yaakov Avinu’s…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5771

He encountered the place and spent the night there…He took from the stones of the place which he arranged around his head, and lay down in that place. (28:11)

Yaakov Avinu left for Charan without any assurances. The road was dangerous. His brother, Eisav, who had sworn to do him bodily harm, was after him. He was on the way to the home of Lavan, the corrupt swindler, to a house filled with idols. One wonders what motivated him to go to Charan. Did Hashem promise him safe passage? No! Hashem was allowing him to go to Charan, but had made no promises. Yaakov was basically on his “own,” or as much on his own that anyone ever is. One is never on his own – only in his mind….

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5771

Lavan had two daughters. The name of the older one was Leah, and the name of the younger one was Rachel. (29:16)

When Boaz married Rus, the elders and the assemblage conferred upon them the following blessing: “May Hashem make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and like Leah, both of whom built up the house of Yisrael” (Rus 4:11). The word shteihem, “both of them,” seems redundant, since, if we are mentioning only Rachel and Leah, obviously there are two/both of them. Horav Aryeh Leib Heyman, zl, cites a number of places in Tanach which have a similar redundancy, whereby names and a total number are mentioned. We find this especially significant concerning the two he-goats used for…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5771

Reuven went out in the days of the wheat harvest, and he found dudaim in the field…Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s dudaim.” But, she said to her, “Is it a small thing that you have taken my husband? And to take my son’s dudaim as well?” And Rachel said, “Therefore he shall be with you tonight in exchange for your son’s dudaim.” (30:14, 15)

There is a reason that one must learn Torah from a rebbe and that without the interpretation of the commentators, the Torah remains a closed book. We often come across instances, attitudes and actions that seem strange, atypical and questionable. We are struck by glaring reactions, which are obvious to one who is seeking a way to question the Torah. There is no shortage of bona fide commentators who elucidate and not only make sense of the circumstances, but also illuminate for us a perspective which indicates that this was specifically the only approach to ameliorate a potentially volatile situation….

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5770

“Yaakov departed from Beer Sheva and went toward Charan.” (28:10)

In the previous parsha, Parashas Toldos, the Torah records Yitzchak’s and Rivkah’s instructions to Yaakov to leave Beer Sheva in search of a wife. Yaakov Avinu listened to his parents and proceeded to leave. The last pasuk in the parsha tells us about Eisav’s quest for a wife, a search that led him to Yishmael, whose daughter he married. The Torah now reverts to telling us about Yaakov’s journey, his initial encounter with Rachel and the travail that ensued prior to and during their eventual marriage. The commentators wonder why Eisav’s marriage is placed in the midst of the…

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ועיני לאה רכות

Leah’s eyes were tender. (29:17)

ויפגע במקום וילן שם... ויעקב הלך לדרכו ויפגעו בו מלאכי אלקים

And he (Yaakov) encountered the place and he stayed there. (28:11) – And Yaakov went on his way; and Angels of G-d encountered him. (32:2)

“Yaakov departed from Beer Sheva and went toward Charan.” (28:10)

“And he dreamt, and behold! A ladder was set earthward and its top reached heavenward.” (28:12)

“And it was in the morning, and behold- it was Leah!” (29:25)

And Yaakov went out from Beer Sheva. (28:10)

He encountered the place and spent the night there…He took from the stones of the place which he arranged around his head, and lay down in that place. (28:11)

Lavan had two daughters. The name of the older one was Leah, and the name of the younger one was Rachel. (29:16)

“Yaakov departed from Beer Sheva and went toward Charan.” (28:10)

YEARS

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