GENESIS XXVIII:10-XXXII:3

YAAKOV OR THE STRENGTH OF BEING

Yaakov (Jacob) was forced to leave his father’s home to prevent his brother Esav (Esau) from murdering him for having snatched his father’s blessing through deception. The mother, Rivka (Rebecca), who had devised the stratagem for Yaakov to  obtain the blessing, finally convinced her husband, the elder Yitschak (Isaac), that Yaakov was the right person, who would ensure the transmission of the patriarchal teachings to future generations. It was now necessary for him to marry a member of the family who still resided in Haran, to prevent him from marrying one of the Canaanite women who were likely to lead him to the practice of idolatry in the marriage.

According to the biblical text, Yaakov was Yoshev Ohalim, a young man accustomed to the warmth of his father’s home, who now had to go into exile to find his destiny in the environment of relatives he did not know. There he would stumble upon the deception of his uncle Lavan (Laban),who would take advantage of the fruit of his labor and marry him to his two daughters, even though Yaakov only wanted Rachel, the youngest daughter.

Unlike Avraham (Abraham), who had commissioned his faithful servant Eliezer to choose a suitable wife for Yitschak, the attitude of Yaakov‘s parents  is different: they rely on his judgment to select a suitable partner to ensure the survival of the monotheistic ideal.

It should be noted that while Avraham was willing to offer to Yitschak on an altar, he did not have enough confidence in his judgment to choose the companion of his life. According to the exegetes of the Bible, Yitschakwas thirty-seven years old when he was “bound” on the altar, so that the father had not subdued a minor. Yitschak had consciously participated in the “test” to which they had been subjected by God.

However, in the case of marriage, Avraham preferred to send Eliezer to find a wife for Yitschak, even though one cannot entrust the feeling and passion to another person. If we consider that love is the fundamental ingredient for the choice of a partner, Eliézer‘s opinion  should not have been decisive.

But when it is opined that virtues such as kindness and charity are the qualities that should predominate, then Eliezer could be more objective, because emotion and personal passion would be absent.

Yaakov’s case is different, because he could contrast his behavior with the way of being of his brother Esav: he knew other alternatives and, therefore, he could probably defend himself against any ruse. However, he was deceived by Lavan, who took improper advantage of the fruit of their labors. After a twenty-year stay at Lavan’s side, Yaakov returned to the land of his ancestors.

According to the opinion of the Chachamim (Sages), Yaakov was never infected by his uncle’s immoralities. They identify the phrase Im Lavan “garti“ with the 613 mitsvot he observed. Although he saw Lavan’sexample, he remained faithful to Yitschak’s teachings. However, the biblical text reports that when Yaakov resided in the Land of Israel and wanted to enjoy tranquility and tranquility, the drama began among his sons: the envy and rivalry that caused the “sale” of Yosef, one of the brothers. Although Yaakov was not infected by Lavan’s immorality, his sons, on the other hand, did not emerge unscathed from the experience. The jealousy that arose between the brothers was a consequence of the example they observed in Lavan’s home  and that they now reproduced in their relationship.

It is possible that in the process of nation-building, differences of opinion and adversity are necessary, and perhaps indispensable. Without the subsequent period of slavery in Egypt, which began with the “sale” of Yosef, the Hebrew people would never have been consolidated, who have resisted millennia of exile and have never lost their identity.

Adversity is the crucible in which the national character is forged, while the mission of propagating the monotheistic ideal of the patriarchs is the spur that gives rise to the indispensable energy to reach the destination: a nation whose task is to be “or lagoyim”, a beacon for Humanity.