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Chassidut on the Torah |
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The week of Vayetze, 5762 Overview (Genesis
28:10 - 32:3) On the way to Charan, Yacov stopped to sleep. He dreamed of
a ladder standing on the ground and reaching heavenward, with angels ascending
and descending. G-d told him that he would give him the land upon which he was
lying. Yacov was so awed by this vision that he made the stone upon which he
slept holy to G-d, and renamed the area G-d’s Temple. He vowed that if G-d
would protect him on his journey, he would dedicate his life to G-d, and
promised to give Him a tenth of his possesions. Yacov continued on his journey,
and arrived at a well near Charan. seeing his cousin Rachel arriving with her
father’s sheep, he lifted the heavy stone atop the well for her, then returned
with her to Lavan’s house. He made a deal with Lavan, to work for him for seven
years, and then marry Rachel. Lavan deceived Yacov and substituted her older
sister Leah, but told him that he could marry Rachel after the celebrations of
this marriage, but he would have to work another seven years. The Parsha
relates the birth of Yacov’s children, through Leah, Rachel, and their
handmaids Bilha and Zilpah. Yacov decided to leave with his family, but then
agreed to continue working for Lavan. Lavan and his sons became jealous of
Yacov’s wealth. After six years G-d told Yacov to return to his birthplace.
They left, and Rachel stole Lavan’s idols. When Lavan learned that they had
gone, he went after them. He asked for his idols, and Yacov, who did not know
that Rachel had taken them, said that anyone here who had them would not live.
Lavan and Yacov made a treaty, with G-d as witness. Insights Occasionally we hear people say that the observant community uses Judaism as an
instrument to advance its interests. The Rebbe has a very surprising insight
into this issue from this week’s Torah portion: It is an accepted fact,
brought in our oral tradition (Kiddushin 82a), that the patriarchs and
matriarchs kept the entire Torah even before it was given. Yaacov said of
himself (32/5 and Rashi there), “I lived with Lavan AND I observed all
613 commandments.” Yet, in this week’s Torah portion, Yaacov marries two
sisters, something forbidden by Torah law (Vayikra 18/18)! Many of the
commentaries provide answers. Yet, Rashi—whose principle is answering
anything a beginning student would find difficult—makes no mention of this
quandary. We therefore have to assume that there is a simple answer that is so
clear, we do not need Rashi to point it out. Because our forefathers were
never directly commanded to observe the Torah commandments, their fulfillment
of them was an added optional observance, akin to extra stringencies and
‘beautifications’ one might make in fulfilling our commandments today. For
instance, today, when we wear a tallis, we want it to be a nice tallis. When a
married woman goes to the mikveh, she wants to make sure that she is especially
careful of fulfilling every small detail. The only commandments that our
forefathers were obligated to keep were the seven commandments of the
descendents of Noach and the extensions of those laws that the nations had
taken on themselves. Therefore, if it so happened that fulfilling a Torah
commandment contradicted the fulfilling of one of the Noachide laws, they were
required to keep the Noachide law, as opposed to the Torah one. One rule that was
universally accepted on the level of the seven Noahide laws by all of the
nations was to be careful not to trick their neighbors. It was a punishable
offense. We see this in Yaacov’s claim to his father-in-law, Lavan, “Why did
you trick me?” So serious was such an offense that Lavan was forced to respond
and apologize (29/25). It was this prohibition of
trickery that forced Yaacov to marry two sisters. Yaacov had promised Rochel
that he would marry her. Fearing trickery, he even gave her secret signs to
guarantee it would be her that he married (since she would be hidden by a
veil). After all these precautions, Yaacov was fooled and married Leah instead.
This placed him in a dilemma. By not marrying her, Yaacov would be guilty of
misleading Rochel, besides all the pain it would cause her by retracting. By
marrying her, he would transgress on a mitzvah of the Torah not to marry two sisters,
to which he was not actually obligated. The Torah command could not overrule
the Noachide commandment not to trick. This is why Yaacov was forced to pass on
the Torah command and marry Rochel, even if he was already married to Leah. This is such a simple explanation Rashi did not need to mention it. Yaacov’s behavior contains
within it a potent lesson for us. It is forbidden to engage in the
beautification of a mitzvah at someone else’s expense. Fulfilling a commandment
in the most beautiful way is very important, but only if it will not do damage
to another. In simple words, sometimes it is better to give up on some personal
achievement if by doing so we can protect another person. It is not acceptable
to say, my total fulfillment comes first. If he is really into what Judaism is
all about, he has to ask himself, what makes me any better than my neighbor,
that I am working on the small details while the fellow next to me is lacking
in the basics. We have to remind ourselves that it is sometimes more important
to give up on 100% perfection in order to do a kindness for someone else. (From Shulchan Shabbos)
Shabbat
Shalom, Shaul |
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