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asher553GENESIS - PARASHATH VAYETZE
ALIYAH 1 [28:10 - 22] - JACOB IN BETH-EL: HIS DREAM AND VOW.
Fleeing his brother Esau, Jacob leaves Be'er-Sheva and travels to Charan. In a night vision, G-d promises three things to Jacob, as G-d promised to Abraham and Isaac: descendants, the Land of Israel, and that "all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your descendants." (Haim Sabato, 'Rest for the Dove', p. 38.) Jacob vows to give a tithe of all his possessions to G-d.
ALIYAH 2 [29:1 - 17] - JACOB AT THE WELL.
Jacob meets locals at a well, who reveal that they are from Charan and know Lavan son of Nachor, and are awaiting more manpower to roll the stone from the mouth of the well. Just then, Rachel appears, and the love-struck Jacob rolls the stone away by himself. Jacob stays with Lavan, and when asked what compensation he desires for his work, he answers that he wants the hand of Rachel - the younger of Lavan's two daughters - in marriage, in exchange for seven years of work.
On Jacob's feat at the well, Robert Alter notes: "But Jacob is the antithesis of his father: instead of a surrogate, the bridegroom himself is present at the well, and it is he, not the maiden, who draws the water; in order to do so, he must contend with a stone, the motif that is his narrative signature. If, as seems entirely likely, the well in the foreign land is associated with fertility and the otherness of the female body to the bridegroom, it is especially fitting that this well should be blocked by a stone, as Rachel's womb will be 'shut up' over long years of marriage." (Alter, p. 103.)
ALIYAH 3 [29:18 - 30:13] - LEAH, RACHEL, HANDMAIDENS, AND CHILDREN.
Now it is Jacob's turn to be deceived. Awaking from his wedding night, Jacob discovers that "behold, she was Leah" (28:25). ("The sages assume that ... a certain measure of cooperation on the part of Rachel was necessary" - Steinsaltz, p. 158, note on 29:23.) Lavan belatedly explains that "it is not done thus in our place, to give the younger before the elder" and extracts another seven years from Jacob - although he permits the marriage to take place right away, rather than making the couple wait another seven years.
On 29:31, Steinsaltz notes: "It is possible that Leah loved Jacob even before their marriage ... If so, she might have conspired with her father in his act of deception."
Leah bears Jacob's first four children (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah) while Rachel remains barren. Rachel and Leah give their handmaids (Bilhah and Zilpah respectively) to Jacob as concubines. Bilhah bears Dan and Naftali, and Zilpah bears Gad and Asher. [459]
ALIYAH 1 [28:10 - 22] - JACOB IN BETH-EL: HIS DREAM AND VOW.
Fleeing his brother Esau, Jacob leaves Be'er-Sheva and travels to Charan. In a night vision, G-d promises three things to Jacob, as G-d promised to Abraham and Isaac: descendants, the Land of Israel, and that "all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your descendants." (Haim Sabato, 'Rest for the Dove', p. 38.) Jacob vows to give a tithe of all his possessions to G-d.
ALIYAH 2 [29:1 - 17] - JACOB AT THE WELL.
Jacob meets locals at a well, who reveal that they are from Charan and know Lavan son of Nachor, and are awaiting more manpower to roll the stone from the mouth of the well. Just then, Rachel appears, and the love-struck Jacob rolls the stone away by himself. Jacob stays with Lavan, and when asked what compensation he desires for his work, he answers that he wants the hand of Rachel - the younger of Lavan's two daughters - in marriage, in exchange for seven years of work.
On Jacob's feat at the well, Robert Alter notes: "But Jacob is the antithesis of his father: instead of a surrogate, the bridegroom himself is present at the well, and it is he, not the maiden, who draws the water; in order to do so, he must contend with a stone, the motif that is his narrative signature. If, as seems entirely likely, the well in the foreign land is associated with fertility and the otherness of the female body to the bridegroom, it is especially fitting that this well should be blocked by a stone, as Rachel's womb will be 'shut up' over long years of marriage." (Alter, p. 103.)
ALIYAH 3 [29:18 - 30:13] - LEAH, RACHEL, HANDMAIDENS, AND CHILDREN.
Now it is Jacob's turn to be deceived. Awaking from his wedding night, Jacob discovers that "behold, she was Leah" (28:25). ("The sages assume that ... a certain measure of cooperation on the part of Rachel was necessary" - Steinsaltz, p. 158, note on 29:23.) Lavan belatedly explains that "it is not done thus in our place, to give the younger before the elder" and extracts another seven years from Jacob - although he permits the marriage to take place right away, rather than making the couple wait another seven years.
On 29:31, Steinsaltz notes: "It is possible that Leah loved Jacob even before their marriage ... If so, she might have conspired with her father in his act of deception."
Leah bears Jacob's first four children (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah) while Rachel remains barren. Rachel and Leah give their handmaids (Bilhah and Zilpah respectively) to Jacob as concubines. Bilhah bears Dan and Naftali, and Zilpah bears Gad and Asher. [459]
