Vayeitzei - Rachel and Yaakov at the Well - 2020

** resumed his journey Literally, “lifted up his feet,” a phrase found nowhere else. It has variously been interpreted to mean that (i) the going was now easier; (ii) he directed his feet, that is, he went with resolve and confidence; (iii) he had to force himself to leave the site of the theophany. -Sarna

** The Tables Turned

Our Daughters Ask: Both Eliezer and Jacob meet brides at a well. How do their meetings compare?

Our Mothers Answer: When Abraham’s servant Eliezer devises a test to identify the right wife for Isaac, he’s looking for the following qualities: kindness to strangers and animals, beauty, modesty, and loyalty to family. He finds them all in Rebecca. But when Jacob comes to the same well years later, he finds himself replaying Rebecca’s script, not Eliezer’s: so instead of waiting for a young woman to approach him, he come forward to meet her; instead of her watering his animals, he waters hers. When he reveals himself to her, it’s not Rachel but he who weeps. Yet the very qualities that made Rebecca the perfect wife for Isaac turn out to be liabilities to Rachel’s husband-to-be: Jacob’s generosity, friendliness, and family feeling make him easy prey to Laban’s shrewdness.

Wily Rebecca Explains: By keeping Jacob home by my tent, schooling him in the traditional ways of women, I raised my smooth-skinned, sweet-smelling boy as my daughter, shielding him from the harsher ways of men. In this way, I set Jacob up to play the woman’s role in the family drama.

Leah and Rachel Retort: And how Laban exploited your fantasy! -Frankel

A Buddhist proverb states: “Before enlightenment: chop wood, draw water. After enlightenment: chop wood, draw water.” Even after a spiritual insight of searing clarity, we have to go back to our daily routine and try to integrate hat transcendent experience into the simplest menial tasks.

It would be wonderful if our lives could be transformed overnight – if our character and destiny could be metamorphosed by the power of a single vision. But it’s a lot easier to have a dream of redemption than to actually make a serious course correction in our lives.

Having scaled the heights of his celestial dream, Jacob must now continue his journey at ground level, contending as best he can with the potholes and blind turns in the road ahead. His head hangs precariously in the clouds, but a trapdoor is about to open beneath his feet… Rosenblatt

• How do we make Jewish spirituality a part of our daily lives?
• How do Jewish stories and values guide us in our relationships?

Behold, a well . . .! The Torah narrates this incident at length to illustrate how those who trust in God shall renew their strength (Isaiah 40:31). For though Jacob was weary from his long journey, he was able to roll away the stone unassisted, a task that usually required the combined effort of all the shepherds, as they explained to him in verse 8 (Ramban). -Artscroll

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The stone restricted the use of the well to a closed group, and outsiders were required to pay for water. At the same time, the cover would serve as a protection against dust and filth and as a guard against accidental fall by man or beast. The prominence given to “the stone” in this episode (vv. 2,32,10) provides a link with the important stone of Bethel (28:P11, 18, 22), a reminder that the God who there promised Jacob protection now endows the weary fugitive with superhuman strength. Sarna, JPS

Literally, “his mother’s brother.” The threefold repetition of this phrase links the incident to the instructions of his parents (27:43; 28:2) and contains a hint that this girl is to become his wife. -Sarna in JPS

Jacob went and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well, and water the flock… This display of machismo is a young man’s way of showing off in front of a prospective mate. It is also heavy with sexual and psychological symbolism. In the previous episode, the ladder was a phallic image of Jacob’s emerging manhood. The well represents Rachel’s virgin sexuality, which Jacob unseals by removing the stone, the portal of her body and soul. Psychologically, the well is symbolic of Jacob’s unconscious. When he pushes the stone aside, he exposes the dark undercurrents of his wounded psyche. Perhaps it is the power of love that banishes his fear. Or perhaps it is a blind mating urge. But once Jacob draws from this subterranean pool, he is destined to taste its bittersweet waters, with unforeseen consequences. -Rosenblatt

“And Jacob kissed Rachel (Gen. 29:11) All kisses are frivolous, except three: the kiss of homage, the kiss after long separation, and the kiss at parting. The kiss of homage: "“Samuel took the vial of oil and poured it upon Saul’s head, and kissed him” (I Sam. 10:1); the kiss after a long separation: “[Aaron] went and met [Moses] at the mountain of God, and kissed him” (Exod. 4:27); the kiss at parting: “Opah kissed her mother-in-law” (Ruth 1:14). Also the kiss of kinship, said R. Tanhuma, as when “Jacob kissed Rachel,” she being his kinswoman. -The Book of Legends

ויגד יעקב לרחל, “Yaakov told Rachel;” He must have identified himself already previously, or he would not have dared kiss her as is reported in verse 11. Now he told her more details about himself. כי אחי אביה הוא, “that he was a brother of her father.” After having told her this, he kissed her.

Another exegesis of this sequence: Yaakov first told Rachel that he was the brother of her father in order that she should not feel insulted that he had been fresh enough to kiss her. ותגד לאביה, “she told her father.”[This is already the second time that Bethuel is described as alive; I do not understand why our author has claimed that he died before Lavan ever came to Charan, as he did on verse 5. Ed.] When Rivkah had a similar experience with Eliezer, she is reported as relating her encounter to her mother, as she did not know precisely who Eliezer was. Daughters normally keep their mothers’ company, not their father’s. -Chizkuni

serve This is a key word, occurring seven times in the narrative. What bitter irony! This is precisely the term that conveyed the essence of the blessing that Jacob fought so desperately to obtain. The original oracle to the pregnant Rebekah forecast that “the older shall serve the younger”; the purloined blessing contained the phrase, “Let peoples serve you,” which Isaac confirmed, saying to Esau, “I have given him all his brothers for servants,” “You shall serve your brother.” Now it is Jacob who must do the serving. -Sarna in JPS

“Leah had weak eyes” (Gen. 29:17). Rav said: That they were weak was no disgrace to her, but cause for praise. For at the crossroads she used to hear people say. “Rebekah has two sons, and Laban has two daughters – the older daughter should wed the older son, and the younger, the younger son.” So she sat at the crossroads asking all passersby, “The older one – what kind of person is he?” and was told, “‘A cunning hunter’ (Gen. 25:27), a wicked man, given to robbing people.” And the younger – what kind of person is he?” “A quiet man, dwelling in tents” (ibid.). At this, Leah wept so much that her eyelids seemed to disappear. -The Book of Legends

Laban substitutes Leah for Rachel. Living up to his reputation as a deceitful rogue, Laban substituted Leah for Rachel on the wedding night. Jacob and Rachel expected Laban to attempt such a deception, and they prepared against it by arranging a secret signal between them. Seeing that they were about to substitute her sister Leah for her, however, Rachel confided the sign to her sister so that Leak would not be put to shame. Laban “magnanimously” presented the bride with Zilpah as a maidservant, but this was part of his ruse. Zilpah was the younger of two maids in the household, and it was assumed that she would become the maidservant of the younger sister, while Bilhah, the older maid would become the servant of Leah. Thus, by presenting Zilpah to the bride, Laban fortified the deception that she was Rachel (Rashi from Megillah 13b).

All of Laban’s machinations, however, could not have succeeded had not God wanted them to, for it is illogical to believe that Jacob could not have detected something amiss until the morning. Despite Rachel’s incredible unselfishness and Laban’s equally incredible dishonesty, the marriage to Leah took place unimpeded because God’s plan required that Jacob and Leah become husband and wife – in fact, in a real sense, she became his primary wife, because she had as many sons as Jacob’s three other wives combined, and she, not Rachel, was buried with Jacob in the Cave of Machpelah. On the wedding night, Jacob’s acute spiritual antenna recognized that he was with the partner who was destined for him, and that is why he detected nothing wrong (R’ Aharon Kotler).

Michtav MeEliyahu explains the respective roles of the two sisters. Rachel was Jacob’s intended mate for this world; Leah was his intended mate for the higher world of the spirit. Rachel was the wife of Jacob and Leah was the wife of Israel – the name signifying his higher spiritual role of the future.

It is illustrative of this concept that Rachel produced Joseph, who would save his family from famine, but Leah produced Levi and Judah, the tribes of priesthood and the Davidic, Messianic monarchy. Because his destiny was to become Israel, he had to marry Leah, and God arranged for him to do so, contrary to his perceptions at that moment. The Midrash declares, “Jacob dedicated his entire being to work (for Laban) only because of Rachel.” Rachel – the “beautiful” one who attracted the notice of people occupied with the activity of the material world – represents the mission of elevating and ultimately conquering this world. Because “Jacob” had the task of turning the resources of this world toward God, it was fitting for him to unite with Rachel. This is why he was attracted to Rachel as soon as he saw her; his prophetic soul recognized in her his helpmate on earth. -Artscroll