Parsha

Parshas Vayaitzai

In this week’s parsha, Yaacov ran away from Eisev who was in Eretz Yisroel and started traveling towards Charan. On his way, Yaacov went to sleep, surrounded by rocks to protect him. He dreamt of a tall ladder that went from the ground all the way into the sky. There were some malachim (angels) going up and some coming down. Hashem was telling Yaacov that the malachim from Eretz Yisroel were leaving him but new malachim would come down to protect him. He also promised Yaacov that the land he was laying on, Eretz Yisroel, would belong to him and his children and grandchildren,  (the Jewish people.)

 Yaacov got to Charan. There, Yaacov met his cousin Rachel at a well. Yaacov realized that Rachel is the girl he should marry. Rachel ran home to tell her father Lavan that Yaacov came! Yaacov begins to work for Lavan, by being a shepherd, watching Lavan’s sheep. Yaacov asked Lavan that instead of being paid, if he can marry Rachel.  Lavan agrees, only if he works for another seven years!

But Lavan was very tricky…when the wedding day finally came, Lavan tricked Yaacov, and gave him his older daughter Leah in marriage. Leah was covered by a veil and Yaacov didn’t realize she was not Rachel until the morning after the wedding, and he was very angry at Lavan. Lavan said that in his country one doesn’t marry off the younger sister before the older one. Yaacov agrees to work another seven years for Lavan in order to marry Rachel. He marries Rachel a week after his wedding to Leah. (At that time a man could marry more than one wife at a time.)

Leah gave birth to seven children, Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yehudah, Yissachar, Zevulun and to a girl named Dina. Rachel didn’t have any children and this made her very sad. She asked Yaacov to marry her helper (maid) Bilhah so that she should have children instead of her. Bilhah has two sons, Dan and Naftali. Leah also gives her helper Zilpah as a wife to Yaacov and she too has two sons, Gad and Asher. Finally, Rachel gets pregnant and has a son, Yosef!

Yaacov decided it was time to go back to Eretz Yisroel.  However, Lavan didn’t want to let him go! He convinced him to stay, he offered to pay him by giving him sheep so that Yaacov can have a flock of his own. Hashem blessed Yaacov with his work, his flock became bigger and bigger.  Finally, Yaacov left Lavan’s house and together with all his wives, children and animals, started traveling towards Eretz Yisroel.