Vayetze

Vayetze - Nurith Cohen

Nurith Cohen was born in Haifa, Israel. Nurith graduated from the London School of Jewish Studies with a degree in Hebrew and Jewish Studies. She taught at Immanuel College and now teaches at adult education centres. She lectures in multicultural seminars on British Jewry. Nurith is a Susi Bradfield fellow.

In Parshat Noach (Bereshit: 11:31), the narrator tells us that Avram (prior to his name change to Avraham) and his family were travelling from Ur Kasdim in Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) to the Land of Canaan when they stopped in Haran and settled there. In this week's parsha of Vayetze (28:10), the process is reversed. Ya'acov leaves Be'er Sheva and travels towards Haran, from where his grandfather Avraham – the founder of monotheistic religion – came. Avram went forth, and Ya'akov went out. Although the Hebrew verb "Yatza" is used in both cases, commentators have interpreted it differently in each parasha.

Avram is instructed by God to go, without knowing his destination (though it is a place later promised to his descendants). Ya'akov, on the other hand, is instructed to leave. Why is the verb "Yatza" interpreted differently? 

Rashi quotes the Midrash to tell us that the departure of a righteous man from any place diminishes its importance. The influence that a person has on his surroundings may not be realised until his departure. The old saying is true – you don’t appreciate something until it's gone. Therefore, Ya'akov needed to leave his parents' house to build a family of his own. "A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife." (Bereshit: 2:24). The verb "Yaazov" is used to mean departing with the intention of not returning to the same family status of a single man.

Bereshit Rabah, a Midrashic commentary, remarks that Ya'akov’s descent to Haran alludes to the descent of the Jewish people into exile. Ya'akov fled from his brother Eisav. Whilst the reason for his departure is negative, the Midrash adds positive intent, that of building a family and establishing the Jewish people. "God only exiled Jewish people in order to add converts to them." (Talmud Pesachim 87b).

Midrash explains that Avraham and his son Yitzchak promoted the awareness of God, but their effort was superficial as they did not win over the forces of evil. They merely appeased them. For this reason, both were forced to make peace treaties with their enemies, and their first born sons, Ishmael and Eisav respectively, did not follow their teachings

Ya'akov on the other hand succeeded in bringing to people a deeper recognition of God. He had the ability to transform the forces of evil to good. For this reason, all his children were righteous. It is said to be more difficult to observe Judaism outside Israel. For Ya'akov the journey was not merely physical. It was a detachment from his origins, from everything familiar to him, and an immersion in foreign culture. It was the growth of a man in strange surroundings. Therefore, we have to try harder to keep our own inner space when away from home. There are numerous temptations out there to distance us from our origins, but like Ya'akov, we can keep our identity by returning to the place of our ancestors.