Answer to Vayetze

VaYetze 5731
Alef.

1. א. In 28:7, the Tora states that Yaakov went to Padan Aram. But in 28:10 we are told that he is now just leaving Be’er Sheva. RaShI states that the reason why the Tora has to flashback at this point is because the story of Yaakov had been interrupted by the account of Eisav marrying additional wives. Once this tangent was completed, the story of Yaakov is resumed and even though 28:7 suggests that he already had reached his destination, 28:10 ff. is filling in details of an event that took place while he was on his journey prior to arriving at his destination.

ב.

רש"י בראשית פרק לט פסוק א

(א) ויוסף הורד - חוזר לענין ראשון, אלא שהפסיק בו כדי לסמוך ירידתו של יהודה למכירתו של יוסף לומר לך שבשבילו הורידוהו מגדולתו. ועוד, כדי לסמוך מעשה אשתו של פוטיפר למעשה תמר, לומר לך מה זו לשם שמים אף זו לשם שמים, שראתה באצטרולוגין שלה שעתידה להעמיד בנים ממנו ואינה יודעת אם ממנה אם מבתה:

רש"י שמות פרק ו פסוק כט

(כט) וידבר ה' - הוא הדבור עצמו האמור למעלה (פסוק יא) בא דבר אל פרעה מלך מצרים, אלא מתוך שהפסיק הענין כדי ליחסם, חזר הענין עליו להתחיל בו:

רש"י שמות פרק ו פסוק ל

(ל) ויאמר משה לפני ה' - היא האמירה שאמר למעלה (פסוק יב) הן בני ישראל לא שמעו אלי, ושנה הכתוב כאן כיון שהפסיק הענין, וכך היא השיטה כאדם האומר נחזור על הראשונות:

רש"י שמואל א פרק לא פסוק א

(א) ופלשתים נלחמים בישראל - כאדם האומר נחזור לענין ראשון:

Each time a story line in interrupted, when it is resumed, there is overlap with the previous story to reposition the reader so that he can pick up the theme that had been begun previously.

ג. Since in 28:1, Yitzchak had specifically said to Yaakov that he didn’t want his son to marry someone from the Canaanites, when Eisav became aware of this, he determined to do something about it, i.e., go to Yishmael to marry one of his daughters. RaShI is citing why the story of Yaakov is interrupted, i.e., because of an element in this story, Eisav responded in his own way to his father’s pronouncement. This suggests that although the Tora had earlier stated (26:35) that Yitzchak and Rivka were unhappy with Eisav’s original choices for wives, Eisav had been oblivious to their displeasure. That either means that the parents concealed their opinion from Eisav, or he had been oblivious to their feelings. It is interesting that RaShI comments that the reason why Eisav had gotten married at age forty (26:34) was in order to emulate (mislead?—in light of RaShI on 25:27, 28) at least his father, he had not considered that certain women may have been more acceptable to his parents than others. This only becomes apparent to him when he overhears his father’s instructions to Yaakov, instructions that were given on the initiative of Rivka, whose intention was not that Yaakov find someone to marry, but rather that he remove himself from the household in order to be spared the wrath of his brother as a result of his obtaining the blessing meant for Eisav (27:43, 46).

2. א. In this case, rather than comparing 28:10 with the earlier 28:7, RaShI is analyzing the contents of 28:10 in terms of itself, i.e., the first half of the verse seems to be irrelevant, and the only piece of information that seems to be significant is the destination of his journey, rather than his point of origin. If the assumption that the Tora prefers not to waste words would be applied to this verse, unless a rationale for the first part of the verse can be established, it would seem that it is superfluous.

ב.

רות פרק א

(ז) ותצא מן המקום אשר היתה שמה ושתי כלתיה עמה ותלכנה בדרך לשוב אל ארץ יהודה:

The fact that RaShI interchanges the two sources, i.e., in Ruth, Beraishit is the parallel proof and in Beraishit, Ruth is the parallel proof, does not suggest that one is more obvious than the other, but rather that these are two examples of the same turn of phrase, stressing that a journey does not only consist of reaching the destination, but also the effect of leaving the starting point. While this is obvious from the perspective of the traveler him/herself, the reverberations that it has regarding the two locations involved, i.e., the change in the starting point now that this individual is no longer there, and the change in the end point once the traveler has taken up residence in the new location, is less apparent, precipitating RaShI’s comment.

3. א. The apparent symbolism is that the inanimate rocks are “desirous” (an example of the literary conceit of “personification”)¹ of being associated as directly as possible with the righteous Yaakov and therefore are struggling with one another to be the one rock that lies directly beneath his head.

ב.

שמואל א פרק כו

(ז) ויבא דוד ואבישי אל העם לילה והנה שאול שכב ישן במעגל וחניתו מעוכה בארץ מראשתיו ואבנר והעם שכבים סביבתו סביבתיו: ס

(יא) חלילה לי מיקוק משלח ידי במשיח יקוק ועתה קח נא את החנית אשר מראשתיו ואת צפחת המים ונלכה לנו:

(יב) ויקח דוד את החנית ואת צפחת המים מראשתי שאול וילכו להם ואין ראה ואין יודע ואין מקיץ כי כלם ישנים כי תרדמת יקוק נפלה עליהם:

מלכים א פרק יט

(ו) ויבט והנה מראשתיו עגת רצפים וצפחת מים ויאכל וישת וישב וישכב:

In the instances in Shmuel and Melachim, it appears that “מראשותיו” refers to a large area rather than a single spot, i.e., Shaul’s spear and water container were not directly under his head, but rather in the vicinity of his head; the cake and water container were close to Eliyahu’s head but not underneath it. Consequently, it would make more sense according to the Peshat to say that several stones were taken initially and placed in the vicinity of Yaakov’s head, leading to them “vying” to be the “closest.”

Beit.

1. א. According to R. Shmuel bar Nachman in Midrash Tanchuma:

   The Ladder: The duration of the rule of various empires over the Jewish people.

   The Rungs of the Ladder: The specific number of years that each empire would rule.

   The Angels: The representatives of the various empires (parallel to “Saro Shel Eisav”—   RaShI on Beraishit 32:25; “Saro Shel Mitzrayim”—RaShI on Shemot 14:10)

   Their Ascent: The period during which they will hold sway over the Jews.

   Their Descent: The time when they will lose their power to rule over the Jews.

The Dream as a Whole: A foreshadowing of Jewish history, and a vision meant to reassure Yaakov that no matter which civilization, including Rome whose end of influence was not clearly indicated, i.e., their Angel only went up but did not come down, they all would eventually be reduced to having no power over the Jews.

ב. As long as the Temple has not been rebuilt on Har HaBayit, we are considered to continue to be suffering from the domination of Rome whose Empire was responsible for  destroying the Second Temple.

ג. It would appear that in the Midrash, HaShem is “Standing” over the Ladder, Making sure that even the Angel that has ascended and not yet descended, will not be able to remain on High forever, but will eventually be reduced to the same condition as the other empires that had preceded it.

2. א. The first citation from the Tanchuma depicts the Jewish people as being inevitably subjugated to these various empires and the question is only for how long will such domination last. With respect to the latter two citations from the Midrash, Israel is depicted as not willing to take its place among those climbing the ladder, symbolizing therefore not the domination of Israel, but rather a preeminent place in the world in general, paralleling the influences that these other dynasties had during their respective ascendancies.

ב.  From the simple sense of the text, following the vision of the dream, HaShem Tells Yaakov, (28:15) “Behold I will Be with you and Guard you wherever you go…” According to the principle of “Ma’asei Avot Siman LaBanim” (the events that effect the forefathers serve as precursors for  what will be experienced by their descendents), what God is Assuring Yaakov is that he and his offspring will be protected, not necessarily that they should seek out world domination paralleling the likes of Babylonia and Rome.

ג.  One could respond to Abrabanel that in light of the principle of “Ma’asei Avot…” (see answer ב above), it is more relevant to show this vision to Yaakov than to either Avraham or Yitzchak because with Yaakov’s 13 children, you have the true beginnings of the Jewish people, something that could  be said neither of Avraham’s children that included Yishmael and the offspring of Ketura, nor Yitzchak’s that included Eisav. Consequently, the dream could be operating on two levels: reassurance to Yaakov that he will be protected during his immediate travels and travails, and just as he will be protected, so too will the Jewish people be protected throughout Jewish history. Furthermore, the reason why these dreams are taking place in this particular place is because according to tradition, it is the place of the Holy of Holies where the Temple would eventually be built (see e.g., RaShI on 28:11), the epicenter of Jewish history and which will play such a prominent role in the fate of the people in terms of their autonomy on the one hand, and their occupation and exile on the other, down through the ages.