Parshat Vayetze Dvar Torah
By Josh Kaye

In the beginning of this week's parsha, Yaakov flees from his brother Esav to go to his Uncle Lavan in Charan, to the northeast of Eretz Yisrael. Our sages derive from the chronology of events that Yaakov spent thirty-six years away from his parents Yitzchak and Rivka. We can account for 20 of these years as Yaakov worked consecutive 7 year stints in order to win the hand of Leah and Rachel and an additional six years working for Lavan for wages (in the payment of sheep, goats, and other such animals).

So what about the other sixteen years? Our sages teach that two of the years were spent traveling, and the midrash teaches that Yaakov spent the other fourteen years learning in the Torah academy of Shem (Noach's son) and Aiver (Noach's great-grand son) before leaving Eretz Yisrael and going to Charan. Why did Yaakov do this? Surely he was already a great Torah scholar! Our sages answer that he did this so he could prepare spiritually for leaving Eretz Yisrael and going into galut!

I think that we at Yeshivat Shvilei Hatorah can learn a lot from this. We are here at yeshiva, from all across the galut, studying here for a year (or two) to prepare ourselves for the rest of our lives. Some of us may make aliyah right after we finish yeshiva. But most of us will be going back to exile, just like Yaakov did, to university, to find a wife, or to take on various projects. Our year at Shvilei will prepare us spiritually and give us a Torah toolbox, of sorts, for the rigors of exile, before, someday, returning to Eretz Yisrael and realizing the Jewish dream and mission: to be an Am Kadosh in Eretz Hakodesh.

Shabbat Shalom


Author's preface: The following Devar Torah is a medley of various vortlach and shiurim I've heard from several of the great Rabbaim at this Yeshiva- Rav Daniel Mann, Rav Jason Knapel and Rav Yitzchak Rubin. I did not cite them directly in this form as I borrowed but bits and pieces, combined thoughts, adapted ideas and took certain views to places that the above listed may not have intended. Nevertheless credit is given where credit is due. I thank all the Rabbaim of Shvilei for the Torah they teach; it has had a profound impact on me and my weekly Divrei Torah.

Parashat Vayeitzei

Every Jew has two choices to make in life that will decide the level of commitment to Torah he or she will have forever: How will I learn and who am I going to marry.

Parshat Vayeitzei takes us through Yaakov’s decisions on both of these pressing issues. Yaakov flees Eretz Yisroel, both to save himself and to find a wife. Along the way he takes a fourteen year pit stop at Yeshivat Shem V'ayver. If one would oversimplify the complex dynamics of the clash between two sects of Judaism ("ultra" orthodox and "modern" orthodox) in respect to Yeshiva, one could say as follows: The Chareidi ("ultra" orthodox) Jew goes to Yeshiva to escape the toxic world. The Yeshiva life acts for him as a safehaven in which it is possible to be a Jew, raise a Jewish family and "hide" from the throes of modern society. The "modern" orthodox Jew goes to Yeshiva as a means to an ends. For him Yeshiva is an educational and grounding experience that readies one for the outside modern world by instilling deep roots of Judaism in a person through the study and implementing of Torah.

Both views make a very strong point but the question most apropos to us in this context is: which did Ya'akov follow? By reading what he did after his years of study, one can tell what his initial intentions were. Ya'akov leaves Yeshiva to go find a wife and to work.

The "well" of the biblical era was a happening place; a 24/7 singles mingle event. The wives of many of our biblical heroes are met at a well and yet this doesn't seem quite like the place a beautiful, spiritual and lasting relationship "kicks off." Perhaps we can venture to say that this "well" is a euphemism. Perhaps what the Torah is trying to stress (even if it means it literally) is that the basis of these relationships (and their initiation) was water. As we all know: "Ain mayim ela Torah." Relationships need to be rooted in something beyond the physical, they need to have a spiritual foundation but they also need to pose the characteristics of water: love must always flow continuously, love must always be adaptable, love must always satisfy, and like water on a rock, love must always make an impression.

Once we realize that the root of everything is divine and that the blueprint to our world is Torah, we can properly understand the importance of its study and application in our daily lives. It is only through applying the above that the modern Jew has a chance at living in a modern world successfully.

Ya'akov understood the difficulty of being a man of Torah in the big, wide world and he took fourteen years of study before he felt confident enough to be able to thrive even in the house of Lavan. Ya'akov comes out of the experience the stronger man with a beautiful relationship, not only with the woman of his dreams but also with the G-d of his destiny.

We are all climbing Jacob's ladder. We are all at different places, some of us are higher up, some of us are lower down and some of us are still staring up at the seemingly infinite climb in awe and speechlessness; but we are all ascending. Maybe we go down a few rungs here and there, but the general direction of the whole is towards the source-that distant but steady glow emanating from above, sometimes hidden behind the clouds.

We take the time to study Torah in Shvilei in order to build a relationship with G-d and then to apply that connection to our relationships with others. We can never stop moving, never stop learning, always keep growing and forever be loving.

From Eretz Yisroel, I wish you all a Shabbat Shalom U'mivorach.

Hayim Ani