Vayetze — A Hollywood Story With a Divine Script

The Most Dramatic Torah Portion

The Torah reading of Vayetze is one of my favorites from the whole Torah. The reason it is one of my favorite Torah readings is because it has just about every type of narrative you can imagine. There is the scandal in the family! There is hate of brother against brother with intention to murder. There is intrigue. There is love at first sight. There are lies and deception in the family. There is great business wisdom. There is victory of the underdog and the abused over the great extraterrestrial messenger with divine power. There is no doubt in my mind that if Cecil B. DeMille, the great movie director that did movies like "The Ten Commandments" would have taken this Torah reading and made a Hollywood movie out of this story, the movie would receive more than one Oscar.

This reading is one of the most exciting texts in the book of Genesis and maybe in the whole five Books of Moses. You have here in these texts the makings of a major Hollywood movie that has intrigue, deception, love, exploitation, a journey of destiny, and the presence of the hand of God, acting behind the scenes, as Deus Ex Machina.

Rebecca — Prophetess and Protector

The background of Jacob's going "out" — or running away — is of great importance. Rebecca, Jacob and Esau's mother, received a message. It was not a simple message, because it was a message of what Esau, Jacob's brother, said in his own heart. How could Rebecca know what Esau said in his heart? On this basis the rabbinical tradition is that Rebecca was a prophetess — that the Lord revealed to her what Esau her son said in his heart. This is what Esau said in his heart:

Now we can see that Rebecca was not an unfair and manipulative woman that was partial to her son Jacob. She had good reasons for her behavior with Isaac, and with Jacob. She knew from the birth of these two boys, Esau and Jacob, that there was unfairness and an unfair competition between them from her womb. Esau's physical strength dominated in the birth and then there is his lack of appreciation for his position as the first born son of Isaac, and for his own inheritance. He showed a lack of interest for and dedication to the family tradition, and disdain for the promises of God to Abraham and to Isaac their father. So Rebecca decided to help God's plan come together, and I love it when God's plans are fulfilled!

In order to understand this even more deeply, Rebecca's existential question at the twins' birth needs to be heard in its full weight. In the JPS — the Jewish Publication Society translation — the text reads like this:

The question was understood by the Jewish Publication Society translators, but it was not understood in the early 17th century by the Christian translators of the King James Version. Her question ought to be spelled out in the following way: "If these, my only children, have started to fight with each other, already in my womb, what will be their future, and my future, living with these two? Will my whole life be spent trying to referee between these two and in the end one will kill the other and our family's future and the promises that God gave to Abraham and to Isaac, will not they be totally ruined?"

This existential question of Rebecca is, in my opinion, the reason that she acted the way she did until, according to my opinion, she saw that the pre-birth ordained destiny of Jacob would be played out to the end.

Jacob on the Run — Alone With His Staff

Esau has murderous intent, but still has respect for his father Isaac. He does not want to cause sorrow and grief to his old father. You could learn something from this story. Even murderous criminals have some humanity and respect and love for people whom they revere.

This is the second story of brothers in conflict, hate, and murderous intentions. The first case was with Cain, who killed his brother Abel out of envy and religious competition. In Jacob and Esau's case, the two brothers actually started to compete in the womb of their mother Rebecca. This conflict between these two brothers is lasting for more than 3,500 years, and it is not over yet. It is wishful thinking that it will be over soon. However, if you believe in the prophets of Israel, you must realize that this battle of the titans is going to last until the return of the Messiah, who will vindicate Jacob and his descendants.

So Jacob leaves. Jacob didn't have a suitcase full of clothing and "stuff." All that Jacob has with him is a shepherd's staff, and probably a small bag with some provisions. He leaves Be'er Sheva and walks north alone. It is a long distance for a young man alone to track this distance on foot. As Jacob himself later says in Genesis 32:10:

There is another major biblical principle that comes into play in this narrative. The principle of "mida k'neged mida" — by the measure that you measure you will be measured. Jacob took advantage of Esau's weakness and eventually Laban takes advantage of Jacob's weakness. By the end of the story Jacob will have paid in full for usurping Esau's inheritance. He pays in cash.

Jacob's Story Is Israel's Story

I see this Torah portion as a pattern of Israel's history. Every time that we have a major encounter with the Creator of the Universe there are tests that accompany and threaten the very existence of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is the Messiah. The destiny of Jacob is the destiny of the Messiah and the salvation of the world. Every bump along the way is an attempt to destroy and stop the process of salvation. If one link in the events of Israel's history is annulled, the whole process and chain is damaged. Israel's history is the history of salvation itself. What happened to Jacob, and to his descendants throughout history up to our own day is always an attempt to disrupt and stop the redemption of the whole world.

Jacob's repeated success, every time that hardship threatens his very existence and the existence and future of His descendants, the nation of Israel, is because God in the end comes to our aid and delivers us. We sing and pray the following prayer in the Passover Seder that actually defines and proclaims the very paradigm that defines our history as the children of Israel. This text from the Passover Haggadah says it all:

The story of Jacob, our patriarch, and his 12 sons — their tribulations, their sins, their mistakes, and their inheritance in the Lord and in the Land — is the paradigm of Israel's history, and in the end, it is the salvation of the whole world, through the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — salvation and blessing for humanity.