By: Menachem Levy (10th Grade)
In this week’s Parsha, Parshat Vayetzei, Yakov flees from his parents fearing that Esav, his brother, would harm him. He was afraid because Yakov took the blessing of the first-born that Esav felt entitled to as the older brother. On his journey out, he passed a well where he saw a woman named Rachel coming to provide water for her father’s flock. He instinctively rolled a stone off the mouth of the well and began to water her sheep.
Acts of kindness most often take place when someone asks another for help, time, money etc. If the person says yes, the kind act is done. This deed cannot be overlooked, even though it is just the surface level of kindness.
Yakov’s action here is a much higher level of kindness. He anticipated the fact that Rachel would need water to give to her flock and acted upon it immediately. He did not wait to be asked and was in no need of a special invitation.
Most of the people we surround ourselves with are generally good people that are willing to do nice things when asked. In order to become a great person like Yakov and take this to the next level, we must anticipate the needs of others and act on it before we are asked. Not all people are comfortable asking for help, so we should learn from Yakov to be proactive in helping others so that we can all become better people.
Shabbat Shalom!
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