Vayeitzei – Peninim on the Torah

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)

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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ועיני לאה רכות

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5773

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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ועיני לאה רכות

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5773

Leah’s eyes were tender. (29:17)

Rashi comments that Leah Imeinu’s eyes were tender due to her incessant weeping. She thought that,as she was the older sister; it would be her lot to fall into the hands of Eisav for the purpose of marriage. This was clearly a reason to cry. Tears play a significant role in our relationship with the Almighty, especially in the area of prayer; indeed, weeping is considered a form of supplication. In one of the most moving elegies of the Selichos prayers, we ask Hashem: Yehi ratzon, “May it be Your will, You who hear the sound of weeping, that You…

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וישכב במקום ההוא

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5773

And (he) lay down in that place. (28:11)

Rashi notes that ba’makom ha’hu, in that place, is an expression of exclusion, implying that it was only in that place that he lay down. During the fourteen years that he spent in the yeshivah of Eiver, however, he did not lay down at night, because he was occupied with the study of Torah. Previously, in Parashas Toldos, Rashi explained that when Yaakov Avinu left Be’er Sheva, he did not immediately go to Charan. He took a fourteen-year hiatus in the yeshiva of Eiver to study Torah. The Oztrovtzer, zl, wonders why Yaakov Avinu, who was sixty-three-years old when he…

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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)

ועיני לאה רכות

Leah’s eyes were tender. (29:17)

ועיני לאה רכות

Leah’s eyes were tender. (29:17)

וישכב במקום ההוא

And (he) lay down in that place. (28:11)

YEARS

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