This week’s Parsha is Parshat Veyetzei. One of the many things that happen in this Parsha is that Yaakov leaves Israel—scared of his twin brother Eisav—and seeks refuge in the house of Lavan, his uncle.
As soon as Yaakov arrives, he meets Rachel, Lavan’s daughter, and instantly falls in love. Yaakov therefore agrees to work for Lavan for seven years if it means he gets to marry Rachel.
Fast forward to their wedding night: Lavan tricks Yaakov by substituting Rachel with her older sister Leah. Despite Yaakov’s anger of not marrying Rachel, he agrees to work another seven years so that he can marry Rachel too, his true love.
After getting married to both Rachel and Leah and having worked a total of fourteen years, Yakov is finally ready to return home.
Lavan is reluctant to send him back though, seeing the value of Yaakov and all of the blessings that he brought to Charan. Because of this, Lavan tries to persuade Yaakov to stay. Lavan offers Yakov a deal, in which he’ll give Yakov some sheep in exchange for staying in Charan for a longer period of time. Yaakov, after thinking it through, decides to take this opportunity and stays for six more years, under the condition that Lavan provides cattle for him.
When dividing the cattle between them, Lavan suggests splitting them up by basic categories, such as the color of them or location of their spots. Lavan once again tries to swindle Yaakov and give him whichever type of cattle there is the least of, to which Yaakov prospers. Although Yaakov understood the unfairness of this deal, he agrees knowing that Hashem will protect and bless him regardless.
Lavan’s deal didn’t work out so well for him. For instance, if Lavan asked Yaakov to take only the black sheep, the black sheep would suddenly multiply, becoming more numerous than the white sheep. Lavan, jealous and wanting to manipulate Yaakov, asked Yaakov to switch the types of sheeps multiple times. No matter which way the sheep were divided, Yaakov always came out on the better side of the deal, with his cattle multiplying a lot more.
Yaakov’s success was a mere reflection of his trust in Hashem. Yaakov never displayed an ounce of greediness, which led him to get what he deserved for all his years of hard work.
His complete Emunah and acceptance that whatever he got was for the best allowed him to face challenges without trying to control the world around him. This is what ultimately allowed him to flourish. May we all emulate the behaviors of Yaakov and strive to trust in Hashem, no matter the difficulty of the situation.
Good Shabbos!
By: Tamar Van Dam (10th)
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