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Want to know what people have written on 929 about Esther?<\/p>\r\n

Click on the links below to get to the posts for each chapter<\/p>\r\n

Chapter 1<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 2<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 3<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 4<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 5<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 6<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 7<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 8<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 9<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 10<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Chapter summary - some of the greatest 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MEGILLAH PROJECT ","post_title":"THE MEGILLAH 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From the Studio that brought you The Plagues and The Binding, we present \u2013<\/span><\/p>\r\n

THE MEGILLAH PROJECT<\/span><\/p>\r\n

With an all-star cast from around the world, including musicians, independent film makers, literary critics, scholars, theologians, public intellectuals, activists, authors, educators, rabbis, and poets, offering unique perspectives <\/span>on The Book of Esther from a wide variety of disciplines and sources of knowledge.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Visit the full collection at <\/span>www.megillahproject.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\r\n

We believe that a plurality of voices can be brought together to explore the vast canon of Jewish literature. Tradition tells us that the Torah has \u201cseventy faces,\u201d and we look forward to exploring them with you.\u00a0The Megillah Project \u2013 an online platform of specially curated content exploring the many dimensions of The Book of Esther \u2013 is brought to you by a unique partnership between <\/span> BINA: The Jewish Movement for Social Change<\/a>,\u00a0Judaism Unbound<\/a>,\u00a0929 English<\/a>,\u00a0The Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto<\/a>, and\u00a0jewishLIVE<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":89233,"alt":"","title":"megillah 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"29","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The much-maligned good uncle\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Jacob returns to the town where his grandfather\u2019s servant made a match for his parents. As discussed back in chapter 24, the commentators paint Laban as an evil villain. The text does not match this vitriol. Rebekah, who lived with her brother, would have known that he was such a bad person; yet she tells her son to run away and seek safety in her brother\u2019s home. Isaac also wants Jacob to seek out one of Laban\u2019s daughters as a wife. Verse 10 emphasized the fact that Laban and Rebekah are related. The word \u201chis mother's brother\u201d appears three times in just one verse.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This familiarity matches how Laban reacts upon hearing that Jacob has arrived. \u201cOn hearing the news of his sister\u2019s son Jacob, Laban ran to greet him; he embraced him and kissed him, and took him into his house. He told Laban all that had happened\u201d (verse 13). The commentators spin this reaction and say that Laban remembered the riches Eliezer brought and expected an actual family member to be fully laden with gifts. When Jacob appears destitute, Laban kisses him in order to see if he is hiding jewels in his mouth. This is quite a reading of verse 13. A simpler reading is that Laban is excited to see his nephew whom he has never seen. Laban only had a few hours to say goodbye to his sister and now his long lost nephew has arrived. His reaction does not seem out of line given the circumstances.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After staying with Laban for a month, verses 14-15 show that it is Laban who approaches Jacob about a payment plan after Jacob had been working for Laban for free. Jacob, in turn, is the one who offers to work for seven years for Rachel. Laban accepts and is happy to have his daughter marry his nephew.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The more complicated part is Laban switching Leah for Rachel. His reasoning does make sense: that the rule of the land was that the oldest daughter should marry first. Perhaps he had hoped that after seven years Leah would find someone. In any event, he gives his maidservant as a gift to both daughters, and then allows Jacob to marry Rachel after only a week. Jacob does not wait another seven years. If Laban\u2019s intention was simply to trick and torture Jacob, he would have made him wait the full seven years again. The bottom line is that except for this one action, everything else that Laban does in this chapter does not seem bad at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There will be more to come in chapter 30.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102993,"alt":"","title":"-62303d0e9dd1d--62303d0e9dd1egen29-old man 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":35832,"alt":"","title":"Ruth Fogelman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","width":969,"height":973,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--768x771.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":771,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","large-width":969,"large-height":973,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","1536x1536-width":969,"1536x1536-height":973,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","2048x2048-width":969,"2048x2048-height":973,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","post_full_size-width":969,"post_full_size-height":973,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--418x420.jpg","home_baner-width":418,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"29","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"what\u2019s going on \/ between that stranger and the shepherdess?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

And [Jacob] made the camels kneel\u2026 beside the well in the evening, the time the women come out to draw water.<\/em>
\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Genesis 24:11<\/p>\r\n


\r\n\u201cPush harder!\u201d I tell my mates
\r\nas we try to heave the heavy stone from the mouth of the well.<\/p>\r\n

A stranger approaches \u2013
\r\nmy friend elbows my ribs \u2013
\r\n\u201cwho\u2019s this covered with dust from face to feet?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cMy brothers\u2026\u201d the man extends his arms,
\r\nand greets us with a smile. Resting from his journey,
\r\nhe leans his back against the well.<\/p>\r\n

As my pal plays his flute,
\r\nI stretch on the grass, scratch a lamb\u2019s ear
\r\nand stare at a small shepherdess arriving with her flock.<\/p>\r\n

My friend\u2019s jaw drops, as the stranger rises, lion-like,
\r\nand alone he rolls the stone off the mouth to ground.<\/p>\r\n

I nudge my pal, \u201chey, look at him watering her sheep \u2013
\r\nnow \u2013 he\u2019s kissed her \u2013 what\u2019s going on
\r\nbetween that stranger and the shepherdess?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Her white skirt like dove\u2019s wings, the shepherdess flies across the field,
\r\nthe bleating sheep, white shadow at her heels.<\/p>\r\n

She returns with her father, hand in hand.
\r\nHe smooths his upper lip, hugs the stranger,
\r\nand as arm in arm they cross the field,<\/p>\r\n

deep-pink sunrays encircle their three 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A 2011 recipient of the prestigious Covenant Award for excellence in Jewish education, Rabbi Held has been named multiple times to Newsweek\u2019s list of the 50 most influential rabbis in America. He holds a doctorate in religion from Harvard; Rabbi Held's first book, Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence, was published by Indiana University Press in 2013; The Heart of Torah, a collection of essays on the Torah in two volumes, was published by JPS in 2017.","short_description":"Rabbi Shai Held is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar,","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37919,"alt":"","title":"shai held","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","width":150,"height":186,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":186,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":186,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":186,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":186,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":186}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"29","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"It is one thing to be grateful when everything is wonderful, but it is quite another when life is complicated","post_main_content_content":"

It\u2019s not often that a biblical character makes you want to cry, but if you pay careful attention to the matriarch Leah, she can break your heart. Leah is married to Jacob, a man who does not love her\u2014indeed, who barely notices her.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The way the story unfolds is well-known. Jacob works for seven years for the right to marry Rachel, but Laban deceives him, and Jacob ends up being married to Leah, whom he does not love and does not want. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Imagine Leah\u2019s humiliation when, on the morning after her wedding, her husband\u2019s only response to discovering that she, rather than her sister, is his wife is an excruciating mix of outrage and disappointment. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Genesis tells us simply that Jacob \u201cloved Rachel more than Leah\u201d (29:30), but Leah wishes for something different: She names her first son Reuben, hoping \u201cNow my husband will love me (Ye\u2019e<\/span>hevani<\/b>\/Re<\/span>uven<\/b>)\u201d (29:32). Her second son, Simeon, proves that her hope with Reuben did not come to fruition: \u201cThis is because the Lord heard (<\/span>Shama<\/b>\/<\/span>Shimo<\/b>n) that I was unloved and has given me this one also\u201d (29:33). Leah names her third son Levi, and declares: \u201cThis time my husband will become attached (Yi<\/span>laveh\/Lev<\/b>i) to me, for I have borne him three sons\u201d (29:34). Still, nothing changes. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Leah bears a fourth son, and we wait for yet another expression of her sadness and desolation. But something else entirely occurs: \u201cShe conceived again and bore a son, and declared: \u2018This time I will praise (<\/span>odeh<\/b>) the Lord.\u2019 Therefore, she named him Judah (Ye<\/span>hudah<\/b>)\u201d (29:35). What has happened here? How does she do a total about-face and express gratitude rather than longing?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Leah has somehow found the courage to accept that her life is not going to turn out as she had hoped. Her disappointment is real and deep. But something inside of her shifts, and she is able to embrace the beauty and fullness of what she still has. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Simeon b. Yohai says that Leah was the first person in the history of the world who expressed gratitude to God (BT, Berakhot 7b). It is one thing to be grateful when everything is wonderful, but it is quite another to be grateful when life is complicated. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Strikingly, Yehudah becomes the basis for the name of all Jews (<\/span>Yehudim<\/b>, from <\/span>Yehud<\/b>ah). Who is a Jew? One who discovers the possibility of gratitude even amidst heartbreak.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":38259,"alt":"","title":"leah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah.jpg","width":794,"height":397,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah.jpg","large-width":794,"large-height":397,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah.jpg","1536x1536-width":794,"1536x1536-height":397,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah.jpg","2048x2048-width":794,"2048x2048-height":397,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah.jpg","post_full_size-width":794,"post_full_size-height":397,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah.jpg","home_baner-width":794,"home_baner-height":397}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Leah\u2019s Gratitude Amidst Heartbreak","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It is one thing to be grateful when everything is wonderful, but it is quite another when life is complicated","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":38259,"alt":"","title":"leah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah.jpg","width":794,"height":397,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah.jpg","large-width":794,"large-height":397,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah.jpg","1536x1536-width":794,"1536x1536-height":397,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah.jpg","2048x2048-width":794,"2048x2048-height":397,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah.jpg","post_full_size-width":794,"post_full_size-height":397,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah.jpg","home_baner-width":794,"home_baner-height":397}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"29","chapter_main_number":"29","date":"20251008","wall_id":"29"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"},{"term_id":"518","name":"Leah","old_id":"918"},{"term_id":"519","name":"Courage","old_id":"919"},{"term_id":"520","name":"Gratitude","old_id":"920"}]},{"order":8,"id":"44002","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Shabbat With a Schmear: Vayetsei - Complexities of Sisterhood ","post_title":"Shabbat With a Schmear: Vayetze - Complexities of Sisterhood","slug":"shabbat-with-a-schmear-vayetsei-complexities-of-sisterhood","old_id":"44002","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"29","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

Shabbat With a Schmear: Vayetze- Complexities of Sisterhood<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/uwxYSPo1Hn8","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Shabbat With a Schmear","tile_main_caption":"Vayetze - Complexities of Sisterhood","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Adam Mintz with Meredith Berkman (ShabbatMom)","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/uwxYSPo1Hn8","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"29","chapter_main_number":"29","date":"20251008","wall_id":"29"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":9,"id":"38228","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Jacob and Esau Reflected in Leah and Rachel ","post_title":"Jacob and Esau Reflected in Leah and Rachel","slug":"jacob-and-esau-reflected-in-leah-and-rachel","old_id":"38228","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37498,"post_title":"Clive Lawton","slug":"clive-lawton","old_id":"37498","first_name":"Clive ","last_name":"Lawton ","description":"Clive Lawton is co-founder of Limmud worldwide, and founder and developer of the field of school-aged Holocaust education in the UK. He is currently CEO of the Commonwealth Jewish Council, formerly a governor of London's Police Service, Chair of a hospital board, principal of a high school, Chair of the Third World Development charity, Tzedek, advisor to the UK governement on curriculum development and Race Equality and deputy director of a municipal education authority. Clive works worldwide in the fields of community development, education development and diversity and lectures regularly at JW3, London's flagship community centre, of which he was also a founding trustee.","short_description":"Clive Lawton is co-founder of Limmud, and works worldwide in the fields of community development, education and diversity .","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37499,"alt":"","title":"Clive Lawton","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton.jpg","width":1168,"height":1262,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton-278x300.jpg","medium-width":278,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton-768x830.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":830,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton-948x1024.jpg","large-width":948,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton.jpg","1536x1536-width":1168,"1536x1536-height":1262,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton.jpg","2048x2048-width":1168,"2048x2048-height":1262,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton-1111x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1111,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton-389x420.jpg","home_baner-width":389,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"29","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"We are all amalgams of our families, echoes of our siblings, continuations of our parents, vanguards for our children","post_main_content_content":"

Brothers and sisters eh? Can\u2019t live with \u2018em, can\u2019t live without \u2018em! And then add the complication and intensification of twins!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Much is made of how Jacob and Esau are so very different, but that\u2019s probably a gross over-simplification. While they\u2019re together, the contrast between them is evident. But once apart\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this chapter, we see Jacob, the mummy\u2019s boy, going off on his own and before long, he\u2019s not only doing the he-man thing, rolling the stone off the mouth of the well all by himself, but he kisses Rachel virtually at first sight. How Esau can you get! And as if that wasn\u2019t Esau enough, he weeps on kissing her, utterly overwhelmed by love at first sight. This is Esau-style, hedonistically in the moment, moved beyond reason.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And then unfolds the well-known story of Laban\u2019s duplicity \u2013 and of course Jacob getting his comeuppance. Jacob can\u2019t complain about being tricked at his (first) wedding, and he doesn\u2019t. He knows that he took advantage of his father\u2019s inability to see in order to get what wasn\u2019t his, so that Laban obscures Jacob\u2019s vision to give him what he doesn\u2019t want is beautifully poetic justice.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And then the sisters\u2026 I\u2019ve always disliked the practice, when we bless our daughters on Friday evening \u2013 I hope you do, it\u2019s a beautiful practice! \u2013 we say \u2018May you be like Sara, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah\u2019. Not me! I reverse those two and say, \u2018Leah and Rachel\u2019. Leah\u2019s never loved as she should be, nor is she given the due she deserves as elder sister. And, of course, being a Levi too, she\u2019s my great-great-great-\u2026 grandmother . She had a tough deal in her lifetime, we don\u2019t have to compound it by our mealy-mouthed blessings. \u00a0I\u2019m not demoting her for anyone.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There\u2019s sisterly jealousy too then, with Rachel wishing she could produce children as Leah does, while no doubt Leah wishes she could procure love and admiration as her sister does.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So this is a chapter about everyone failing to value their own qualities while also failing to notice that they probably embody those of other family members too. We are all amalgams of our families, echoes of our siblings, continuations of our parents, vanguards for our children.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How lovely that the chapter ends with Leah at last seeming to find a kind of peace (no thanks to Jacob!). She deserves it.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":99030,"alt":"","title":"1chron7-nephews family","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Jacob and Esau Reflected in Leah and Rachel","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We are all amalgams of our families, echoes of our siblings, continuations of our parents, vanguards for our children","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":99030,"alt":"","title":"1chron7-nephews family","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron7-nephews-family-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"29","chapter_main_number":"29","date":"20251008","wall_id":"29"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"379","name":"Family","old_id":"779"},{"term_id":"385","name":"Siblings","old_id":"785"},{"term_id":"486","name":"Esau","old_id":"886"},{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"}]},{"order":10,"id":"38235","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Biblical Man and the Rabbinic Man ","post_title":"The Biblical Man and the Rabbinic Man","slug":"the-biblical-man-and-the-rabbinic-man","old_id":"38235","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38017,"post_title":"Orna Piltz","slug":"orna-piltz","old_id":"38017","first_name":"Orna ","last_name":"Piltz","description":"Rabbi Orna Piltz is an Israeli writer, lecturer and Reform rabbi. She established a bat mitzvah program that brings women and daughters together and started a bat mitzvah program for adult women in the Reform movement.\r\n","short_description":"Rabbi Orna Piltz is an Israeli writer, lecturer and Reform rabbi.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":2560,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/183-1.png","width":155,"height":203,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/183-1-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/183-1.png","medium-width":155,"medium-height":203,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/183-1.png","medium_large-width":155,"medium_large-height":203,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/183-1.png","large-width":155,"large-height":203,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/183-1.png","1536x1536-width":155,"1536x1536-height":203,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/183-1.png","2048x2048-width":155,"2048x2048-height":203,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/183-1.png","post_full_size-width":155,"post_full_size-height":203,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/183-1.png","home_baner-width":155,"home_baner-height":203}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"29","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Turning sibling rivalry on its head","post_main_content_content":"

Our forefather Jacob waited seven years for the first night with his beloved Rachel, but at the break of dawn, he realized that he had spent the night with her older sister. Rashi, following the midrash, exposes the drama that ensued behind the scenes:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhen morning came, there was Leah!\u201d Genesis 29:25. However, at night it was not Leah, for Jacob had given Rachel code signals, and when Rachel saw that they were bringing in Leah for Jacob, she said (to herself) \u2018now my sister will be shamed,\u2019 and so she decided to give her the same code signals\u201d (Rashi on Genesis 29:25). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Even before the big night, Rachel shared with Jacob her fear of a last minute stunt by her deceitful father. The pair of lovers decide on the code signals that will identify the bride. At the last minute, before the fateful moment, Rachel realizes the extent of the humiliation that her rejected sister will experience when her identity is revealed on the wedding night. She decides to give Leah the identifying signs she and Jacob have. In another version of the story Rachel hides under the bed, and during the wedding night she talks to Jacob instead of her sister!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This short story constitutes a sample of the process of the development and ultimate disruption of the male consciousness. The innocent and happy biblical author is sure of his power and superiority. Two sisters? Of course they compete for this man's love. Is there any other possibility?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The rabbinic commentator is already less sure of himself. The doubt makes him uneasy. \u00a0Perhaps he is not the crown of creation? Perhaps women (his wife?) have other connections, previous loyalties, greater loves? The undermining of the rabbinic man\u2019s sense of security and his subsequent desire to preserve his superiority has led to the violation of the status of women in Jewish law ever since.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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of a Barren Woman ","post_title":"Emotions of a Barren Woman","slug":"emotions-of-a-barren-woman","old_id":"38225","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38045,"post_title":"Elana Bekerman Frank","slug":"elana-bekerman-frank","old_id":"38045","first_name":"Elana ","last_name":"Bekerman Frank ","description":"Elana Bekerman Frank has over 18 years of experience working with non-profits (in America and in Israel) in fundraising, marketing, community outreach, and program development in the field of fertility. She is the Executive Director & Founder of Jewish Fertility Foundation and resides in Atlanta, GA with her husband Jason and their two children, Levi and Avidan.\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Elana Bekerman Frank is the Executive Director & Founder of Jewish Fertility Foundation and resides in Atlanta, GA","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38046,"alt":"","title":"elana bekerman frank","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","width":146,"height":190,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414-146x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":146,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","medium-width":146,"medium-height":190,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","medium_large-width":146,"medium_large-height":190,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","large-width":146,"large-height":190,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","1536x1536-width":146,"1536x1536-height":190,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","2048x2048-width":146,"2048x2048-height":190,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","post_full_size-width":146,"post_full_size-height":190,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","home_baner-width":146,"home_baner-height":190}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"29","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Despite medical breakthroughs, all of the raw negative feelings, pressure, jealousy, marital stress and pain are still as real and painful as they were for Rachel","post_main_content_content":"

Gen 29: 31 \u2013 \"And the LORD saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The pressure is on for Rachel. Her womb is barren. She is infertile. She cannot produce a child. This is HER issue. Rachel feels this sense of guilt and shame that her body has failed her. Jacob is not the one with fertility issues, he has children with his other wife, Leah. Where does that leave Rachel? Frustrated, sad, angry, jealous, stuck and alone. Many women (and men) who suffer from infertility today relate to Rachel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The verse implies that fertility is a reward or a pity-present gifted to Leah and that because Rachel was loved, she deserved to suffer. There is a stigma surrounding fertility where the woman is blamed for this medical issue that does not exist when it comes to other medical conditions. Certainly infertility feels like a punishment. It is an attack on all of your plans and visions for your future. As someone who has gone through what Rachel has gone through, I have asked myself \u201cWhat did I do wrong to deserve this?\u201d \u201cWhy me?\u201d And even, \u201cWhy her, and not me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rachel gets to a place in her fertility journey where she envied her sister Leah and tells her husband, Jacob, \u201cGive me children, or I shall die.\u201d Infertility really is that powerful. Jewish identity is so intertwined with children that it often leaves adults without children feeling alone, isolated, and even suicidal. Couples struggling to build their own families feel left out of Jewish life cycle events, holiday celebrations, Shabbat invites, and they are often overlooked or not included in leadership roles within the Jewish Community. Emotions are raw and painful and Jacob too is frustrated. He tells Rachel that it really has nothing to do with him, it\u2019s up to God. Jacob may be trying to be a supportive partner but instead, he further alienates himself from Rachel, leaving her even more alone. Fertility puts additional pressure and stress on marriages. This is not how they envisioned their life together.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Thanks to medicine, fertility breakthroughs and adoption, women and families today have many more options and resources on how to face their infertility. However, all of the raw negative feelings, pressure, jealousy, marital stress and pain are still as real and painful as they were for Rachel in Biblical times.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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Do you see people as a means to an end, or an end unto themselves? These two models meet in chapter 29. For Jacob, people are to be cherished, greeted, hugged, kissed. His model is family, and for Jacob, complete strangers are family, too. \"My brothers!\" He calls out warmly to the shepherds. Their terse replies have a clear message- we mean business. The level of social cohesion is nil. The only way to ensure that no one shepherd takes advantage of the limited resources is through a coercive social contract. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

For Jacob, the moment family appears, social contracts and conventions are meaningless. He can't see Rachel as just another cog in the wheel- she's family. Laban begins with this approach, but after a month, the instrumental calculus of business relationships wins out over the family model. 'Are you my brother, that you should work for free?' When he gives Leah to Jacob, the same calculus and social conventions are at work. Jacob's powerful love, which made his years of toil pass as days, is irrelevant. That's not the way things are done. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Leah, at least to begin with, is very much Laban's daughter. She names her first three children based on their utility as a means to an end: gaining the love of Jacob. Indeed, when we think about the destiny of these three tribes, they are all understood to fill service positions for the Jewish people. Religious service is at first the purview of Reuben, the firstborn, and then transfers to Levi and his tribe; the tribe of Simeon is understood to form the Jewish people's teachers corps. A king is born (i.e., the tribe of Judah, from which the House of David will arise) only when Leah for the first time can see and name her child not for his instrumental value, but solely for the wonder he is. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61020,"alt":"","title":"2sam20-gears","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears.png","width":1784,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears-279x300.png","medium-width":279,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears-768x827.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":827,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears-951x1024.png","large-width":951,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears.png","1536x1536-width":1427,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears.png","2048x2048-width":1784,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears-1115x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1115,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears-390x420.png","home_baner-width":390,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Seeing Others as Means to Our Ends","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Leah starts out as Laban\u2019s daughter\u2026.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61020,"alt":"","title":"2sam20-gears","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears.png","width":1784,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears-279x300.png","medium-width":279,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears-768x827.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":827,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears-951x1024.png","large-width":951,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears.png","1536x1536-width":1427,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears.png","2048x2048-width":1784,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears-1115x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1115,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-gears-390x420.png","home_baner-width":390,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"29","chapter_main_number":"29","date":"20251008","wall_id":"29"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"379","name":"Family","old_id":"779"},{"term_id":"436","name":"Morality","old_id":"836"},{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"}]},{"order":13,"id":"38223","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Work ","post_title":"Negotiations","slug":"work","old_id":"38223","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34233,"post_title":"Janet R. 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Who opens a negotiation with, \u201cI will work for your younger daughter Rachel for seven years.\u201d \u00a0Offer to work for a year, maybe two, then settle on three or four. After seven years of labor, what does Jacob get? Leah, the older sister, instead. Their father, Laban, tells him after he marries Leah, \u201cIt is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the older.\u201d \u00a0Says he\u2019ll give him Rachel if he serves another seven years. What choice does Jacob have? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Take a look at Joseph. He interprets Pharaoh\u2019s dreams and tells him a great famine is coming, tells Pharaoh he needs someone to run the country. So Pharaoh appoints him viceroy. Now\u2019s there\u2019s a man who knows how to get ahead. He even gets a wife for free, doesn\u2019t have to work a stitch for her. Of course, his descendants end up as slaves in Egypt for two hundred and ten years, but that\u2019s another story.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

-Published in <\/span>drafthorse<\/span><\/i>, Winter 2012<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Janet: <\/span><\/i>Each year, when this portion is read, I keep thinking, how could Jacob have done this? \u00a0He was a smart guy. I know he was in love and he would agree to anything. But he kept being taken advantage of by Laban who must have felt like he was shooting fish in a barrel. \u00a0I wanted to compare Jacob to Joseph, who seemed far shrewder in his dealings with Pharoah, and getting a wife without having to work for her. 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","post_title":"Jacob and Laban - Actors on Whose Stage?","slug":"jacob-and-laban-actors-on-whose-stage","old_id":"38232","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38018,"post_title":"Moran Gam Hacohen","slug":"moran-gam-hacohen","old_id":"38018","first_name":"Moran ","last_name":"Gam Hacohen ","description":"Dr. Moran Gam Hacohen is a lecturer and pedagogic facilitator in the Department of Bible and Jewish Culture at Seminar Hakibbutzim. One of her areas of expertise is studying trends in Kabbalah research in Israel in the 20th century.\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moran Gam Hacohen is a lecturer and pedagogic facilitator in the Department of Bible and Jewish Culture at Seminar Hakibbutzim. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":2345,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/165-1-e1534413689744.jpg","width":2790,"height":3461,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/165-1-e1534413689744-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/165-1-e1534413689744-242x300.jpg","medium-width":242,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/165-1-e1534413689744-768x953.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":953,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/165-1-e1534413689744-825x1024.jpg","large-width":825,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/165-1-e1534413689744.jpg","1536x1536-width":1238,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/165-1-e1534413689744.jpg","2048x2048-width":1651,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/165-1-e1534413689744-967x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":967,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/165-1-e1534413689744-339x420.jpg","home_baner-width":339,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"29","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Biblical text between a Divine Comedy and Commedia dell'arte","post_main_content_content":"

The story of Jacob's life in Laban\u2019s house provides the characters needed to bring the <\/span>Commedia dell'arte<\/span><\/em>, an early form of Italian professional theatre, to its best. It features the pair of lovers - Florindo and Isabella (played by Jacob and Rachel) who desperately try to fulfill their love, and the domineering father figure - Pantelone (starring Laban) who poses difficulties and obstacles in the couple's way. And in the version of \"the biblical director,\u201d Jacob is enslaved to Laban for twenty years, and Laban does not cease to change the terms of his employment. (For 14 years Jacob worked for his beloved Rachel, even though his employment contract required only seven years, and for six more years he worked for a wage that kept changing).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But contrary to the rules of comedy, it seems that this story employs another character that is not part of the typical cast of characters, i.e. God, who steers the entire plot; for it is God who has determined Jacob\u2019s wage even before he arrived at Laban\u2019s house: \u201cThe ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and to your offspring. Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south\u201d (28:13-14).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob, meanwhile, from his standpoint, is the one who determines what he will give God in return: \u00a0\u201cand of all that You give me, I will set aside a tithe for You\u201d (28:22).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In fact, as soon as Jacob arrives at Laban\u2019s house, his real employment contract begins to be implemented, the one that was signed in front of the Master of the Universe. God, on His part, takes care of Jacob\u2019s fertility and prosperity (He orchestrates the reproductive capacity of Jacob's wives, who give birth to 12 of his offspring in Haran, and at the same time takes care of the fertility of the Laban\u2019s flock), while Jacob saves a tenth of the profits for God, as he committed to do.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Thus, not only does Laban function as a secondary actor in this comedy, but he is cast as a mere pawn in God's great drama.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Cover illustration:\u00a0Claude Gillot\u00a0(1673\u20131722),\u00a0Four Commedia dell'arte Figures: Three Gentlemen and Pierrot<\/em>, c.\u00a01715 (Wikipedia).<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":38233,"alt":"","title":"Commedia_dell\u2019Arte_Figures","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Commedia_dell\u2019Arte_Figures.jpg","width":640,"height":413,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Commedia_dell\u2019Arte_Figures-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Commedia_dell\u2019Arte_Figures-300x194.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":194,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Commedia_dell\u2019Arte_Figures.jpg","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":413,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Commedia_dell\u2019Arte_Figures.jpg","large-width":640,"large-height":413,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Commedia_dell\u2019Arte_Figures.jpg","1536x1536-width":640,"1536x1536-height":413,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Commedia_dell\u2019Arte_Figures.jpg","2048x2048-width":640,"2048x2048-height":413,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Commedia_dell\u2019Arte_Figures.jpg","post_full_size-width":640,"post_full_size-height":413,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Commedia_dell\u2019Arte_Figures.jpg","home_baner-width":640,"home_baner-height":413}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Jacob 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little Biblical math shines some new light on the story","post_main_content_content":"

How old was Jacob when he fell in love with Rachel? What was Jacob\u2019s age when he first kissed Rachel and broke into tears? (Genesis 29:11) How many were the years of Jacob\u2019s life when he agreed to serve seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her? (Genesis 29:20).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The answer is not written in this chapter, but it is given in the following chapters of our book.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The book of Genesis mentions that Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Genesis 41:46) At that time began the seven years of plenty. After the years of plenty began seven years of famine.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When Joseph asked his brothers and his father to immigrate to Egypt, he explained to them that \u201cIt is now two years that there has been famine in the land, and there are still five years to come in which there shall be no yield from tilling\u2026 there are yet five years of famine to come\u201d (Genesis 45:6,11). So at that time, Joseph was 39 years old.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A few weeks later Jacob went down to Egypt, stood before Pharaoh and said to Pharaoh that the years of his sojourn on earth were one hundred and thirty. (Genesis 47:9) So the year Jacob was 130 years old, his son Joseph was 39 years old.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This shows us that 39 years earlier, when Joseph was born, Jacob\u2019s age was 91. Joseph was born almost 20 years after Jacob came to live with his uncle Laban. (Genesis 30:25, 31:38) Thus we see that Jacob met his beloved Rachel for the first time at the age of 71.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Seeing his sweetheart Rachel, the young daughter of Laban, gave old Jacob strength to go up and roll the stone off the mouth of the well, and water the flock of his uncle Laban. With the power of love, Jacob spent twenty hard working years in his uncle\u2019s service (Genesis 31:38-40).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(In memory of Zvi Ainhorn z\u201dl and his beloved wife Chana z\u201dl)<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":76549,"alt":"","title":"hos12-love locks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks.jpg","width":1920,"height":1079,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks-1024x575.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":575,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":863,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1079,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks-1200x674.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":674,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"True Love is Ageless","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A little Biblical math shines some new light on the story","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":76549,"alt":"","title":"hos12-love locks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks.jpg","width":1920,"height":1079,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks-1024x575.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":575,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":863,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1079,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks-1200x674.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":674,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-love-locks-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"29","chapter_main_number":"29","date":"20251008","wall_id":"29"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"381","name":"love","old_id":"781"},{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"}]},{"order":16,"id":"38238","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"At the Circumcision of Judah ","post_title":"At the Circumcision of Judah","slug":"at-the-circumcision-of-judah","old_id":"38238","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. 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\u201cShe [Leah] conceived again and gave birth to a son; \u2026 she named him Judah.\u201d<\/em> (Genesis 29:35)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At the circumcision of her fourth son,
\r\n<\/span>Leah couldn\u2019t stop crying;
\r\n<\/span>Jacob alone had to welcome the many guests
\r\n<\/span>Who crowded into the tent.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah was the <\/span>sandak<\/span><\/em>
\r\n<\/span><\/i>And Maimonides the <\/span>mohel<\/span><\/em>,
\r\n<\/span>Whose hands remained steady
\r\n<\/span>Even as Leah cried.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbi Akiva sat at the main table with Rashi,
\r\n<\/span>Learning together a difficult passage in the Talmud,
\r\n<\/span>While Freud and Einstein argued in German,
\r\n<\/span>With Heine eavesdropping.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As King David played his harp, eyes closed,
\r\n<\/span>Felix Mendelssohn listened and tapped his fingers,
\r\n<\/span>While Mahler and Schonberg scribbled quickly,
\r\n<\/span>Trying to write down the notes.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After Jacob delivered a short speech
\r\n<\/span>About Jewish fate and links in the chain of the generations,
\r\n<\/span>The grandfather, Isaac,
\r\n<\/span>Embraced his son warmly.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet Leah couldn\u2019t stop crying,
\r\n<\/span>Even though Rabbi Nachman told a story about joy without end,
\r\n<\/span>Even though the Baal-Shem-Tov had everyone dancing,
\r\n<\/span>Even though the Messiah\u2019s wife stroked Leah\u2019s hands and kissed her.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And in a corner of the tent, Paul Celan
\r\n<\/span>Looked on as Nelly Sachs, sighing, took out her pen
\r\n<\/span>And wrote about butterflies
\r\n<\/span>And chimneys.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Leah cried.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0A photo of an exhibit of the development o, f Jewish Oral lawat the Diaspora Museum, Tel Aviv\u00a0 \/ Beit Hatefutsot.\u00a0<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103019,"alt":"","title":"-6230a014de27b--6230a014de27cgen29-oral law jewish history.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg.jpg","width":785,"height":900,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg-262x300.jpg","medium-width":262,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg-768x881.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":881,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg.jpg","large-width":785,"large-height":900,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":785,"1536x1536-height":900,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":785,"2048x2048-height":900,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":785,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg-366x420.jpg","home_baner-width":366,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"At the Circumcision of Judah","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"All of Jewish history, refracted in a moment; and Leah cried...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":103019,"alt":"","title":"-6230a014de27b--6230a014de27cgen29-oral law jewish history.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg.jpg","width":785,"height":900,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg-262x300.jpg","medium-width":262,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg-768x881.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":881,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg.jpg","large-width":785,"large-height":900,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":785,"1536x1536-height":900,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":785,"2048x2048-height":900,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":785,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6230a014de27b-6230a014de27cgen29-oral-law-jewish-history.jpg-366x420.jpg","home_baner-width":366,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"29","chapter_main_number":"29","date":"20251008","wall_id":"29"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"444","name":"History","old_id":"844"}]},{"order":17,"id":"66533","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Vayetze: Laban The Aramean ","post_title":"Vayetze: Laban The Aramean","slug":"vayetze-laban-the-aramean","old_id":"66533","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42813,"post_title":"Covenant & Conversation","slug":"covenant-conversation","old_id":"42813","first_name":"","last_name":"Covenant & Conversation","description":"Covenant & Conversation: Family Edition is a new and exciting initiative from The Office of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Written as an accompaniment to Rabbi Sacks\u2019 weekly Covenant & Conversation essay, the Family Edition is aimed at connecting older children and teenagers with his ideas and thoughts on the parsha. Each element of the Family Edition is progressively more advanced; The Core Idea is appropriate for all ages and the final element, From The Thought of Rabbi Sacks, is the most advanced section. Each section includes Questions to Ponder, aimed at encouraging discussion between family members in a way most appropriate to them. We have also included a section called Around the Shabbat Table with a few further questions on the parsha to think about. The final section is an Educational Companion which includes suggested talking points in response to the questions found throughout the Family Edition.","short_description":"Covenant & Conversation: Family Edition is a new and exciting initiative from The Office of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42814,"alt":"","title":"CCfamilylogo-693x457","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","width":693,"height":457,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457-300x198.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":198,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","medium_large-width":693,"medium_large-height":457,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","large-width":693,"large-height":457,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","1536x1536-width":693,"1536x1536-height":457,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","2048x2048-width":693,"2048x2048-height":457,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","post_full_size-width":693,"post_full_size-height":457,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457-637x420.jpg","home_baner-width":637,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1073","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

In this week's parsha, Jacob ran away from home, because his brother Esau had promised to kill him for sneakily getting the firstborn's blessing from his father. On his way to his Uncle Laban\u2019s home in Charan, he stopped for the night on Mount Moriah. While asleep, he dreamed of angels climbing up and down a ladder that reached heaven. During this vision, Hashem promised that he would become father to many children and that his family would inherit the Land of Israel.<\/p>\r\n

He awoke and realised it was a prophetic dream, then continued his journey towards Charan. He met Rachel, the daughter of Laban, at a nearby well, and fell in love with her. Rachel had older sister called Leah. Laban agreed to let Jacob marry Rachel (although she was the younger sister) if Jacob worked for him for seven years. After the wedding finally took place, Jacob realised that Laban had tricked him and he had really married Leah. Laban said that he had done this because the custom was to marry the older child first, but if Jacob agreed to another seven years of work, he could also marry Rachel. They married, but both Rachel and Leah became unhappy. Leah felt unloved, but had many children (6 sons and 1 daughter). Rachel was deeply loved by Jacob, but could not have children. Both wives asked their maidservants to also be wives to Jacob, and Jacob became father to 4 more sons. Eventually Rachel had her first child, a son who she called Joseph.<\/p>\r\n

There was tension between Jacob and Laban over the flocks, as Laban often changed the agreement of who owned which sheep. Eventually Jacob decided to leave with his wives and children. Laban followed behind and tried to stop him, but they finally parted ways in peace, and 20 years after leaving home, the 4 wives, 12 children and all their sheep journeyed together, led by Jacob, towards the place of his birth - Israel.<\/p>\r\n

Download the Family Edition for Vayetze as a PDF<\/strong><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":42816,"alt":"","title":"covenant and conversation - Sacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","width":723,"height":426,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-300x177.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":177,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","medium_large-width":723,"medium_large-height":426,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","large-width":723,"large-height":426,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","1536x1536-width":723,"1536x1536-height":426,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","2048x2048-width":723,"2048x2048-height":426,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","post_full_size-width":723,"post_full_size-height":426,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-713x420.jpg","home_baner-width":713,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Family Study Materials","tile_main_caption":"Vayetze: Laban The Aramean","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"for Parashat Vayetze","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42816,"alt":"","title":"covenant and conversation - Sacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","width":723,"height":426,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-300x177.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":177,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","medium_large-width":723,"medium_large-height":426,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","large-width":723,"large-height":426,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","1536x1536-width":723,"1536x1536-height":426,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","2048x2048-width":723,"2048x2048-height":426,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","post_full_size-width":723,"post_full_size-height":426,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-713x420.jpg","home_baner-width":713,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1073"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"481","name":"Laban","old_id":"881"}]},{"order":18,"id":"38354","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Gen 29 ","post_title":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Gen 29","slug":"milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-29","old_id":"38354","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"29","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u05d2\u05dc\u05dc - Galal - Roll","post_main_content_content":"

29:3 (cf 8, 10) - \"When all the flocks were gathered there, the stone would be rolled <\/span>vegalelu<\/span><\/em> from the mouth of the well and the sheep watered; then the stone would be put back in its place on the mouth of the well.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Most Hebrew roots have three consonants (<\/span>g-d-l<\/span><\/em>, \u201cbig, large,\u201d <\/span>k-d-sh<\/span><\/em>, \u201choly\u201d). Some however are essentially two consonants, with one of them repeated. That is the case with the word in question today. The basis root here is <\/span>g-l<\/span><\/em>, with the added \u201cl\u201d at the end: <\/span>g-l-l<\/span><\/em>. As we see from the passages in today\u2019s chapter, <\/span>g-l-l<\/span><\/em> means \u201croll.\u201d Above we see the form <\/span>galelu<\/span><\/em>, \u201cthey rolled\u201d (or would roll), and in 29:10, is the singular <\/span>vayagel<\/span><\/em>, (note - only one \u201cl\u201d) as Jacob rolled off the large stone covering the well. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Many other words are formed from these two letters <\/span>g-l<\/span><\/em>, having to do with roll, wave, or cyclicity of various forms. The basic word <\/span>gal<\/span><\/em> means \u201cwave,\u201d whether <\/span>galei yam<\/span><\/em>, \u201cocean waves,\u201d or <\/span>galei tzahal<\/span><\/em>, the \u201cwaves\u201d of Tzahal (the IDF), the army radio station (\u201cradio waves\u201d). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Repeat not just the last letter, but the whole syllable, and you get <\/span>galgal<\/span><\/em>,<\/em> \u201cwheel.\u201d This is relevant for many \"wheeled\" inventions: <\/span>galgaliot<\/span><\/em> are \"roller skates,\" a <\/span>galgelet<\/span><\/em> is a \"pulley,\" and every gymnast knows <\/span>galgalon<\/span><\/em>, \"cartwheel.\" You can \u201croll your own\u201d, <\/span>legalgel<\/span><\/em> (smoking \u00a0materials of choice), and your own (soul, that is) can be \u201crolled,\u201d or reincarnated, in <\/span>gilgul neshamot<\/span><\/em>. <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Back to <\/span>g-l-l<\/span><\/em>: <\/span><\/i>What we now call a \"book\" is technically a codex, a bound set of papers with writing on both sides. Books of this sort came into being in the first and second centuries, supplanting the previous print technology, the scroll, known in Hebrew as the <\/span>megillah<\/span><\/em> (such as that of Esther read tonight! (in 2022 that is...) from this root. While we call the biggest scroll in our tradition a <\/span>sefer<\/span><\/em> \u00a0<\/em>- the <\/span>sefer Torah<\/span><\/em> - when we roll it back up to return to the Ark, we call it <\/span>gelilah<\/span><\/em>, \u201crolling,\u201d or perhaps, even \u201cscrolling.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ironically, the same digital technologies that are threatening to make the printed book extinct have brought \"scroll\" back in fashion. But this time the word is a verb involving a computer mouse, rather than a noun involving an ink quill.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103003,"alt":"","title":"-62305d91eaf41--62305d91eaf43gen29-milim galal.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"

Artwork by: Ben Schachter<\/p>","tile_top_caption":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner","tile_main_caption":"Chapter 29: \u05d2\u05dc\u05dc - Galal - Roll","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"... a word from the daily chapter...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":103003,"alt":"","title":"-62305d91eaf41--62305d91eaf43gen29-milim galal.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/62305d91eaf41-62305d91eaf43gen29-milim-galal.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Robert Kneschke (shutterstock 161025986)","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"29","chapter_main_number":"29","date":"20251008","wall_id":"29"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"361","name":"Hebrew language","old_id":"761"}]},{"order":19,"id":"38077","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Lessons on the Daily Chapter- Gen 29 ","post_title":"Lessons on the Daily Chapter- Gen 29","slug":"lessons-on-the-daily-chapter-gen-29","old_id":"38077","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"29","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Lessons on the Daily Chapter - Gen 29","tile_main_caption":"Short talks by Adam Mintz and by David Silber","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Rabbi Silber's teachings are dedicated in memory of Joan Silverstein Meyers and Ellen Goodstein Koplow. ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/sets\/genesis-chapter-29","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"2","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"29","chapter_main_number":"29","date":"20251008","wall_id":"29"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":20,"id":"38257","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Chapter Summary - Genesis 29 ","post_title":"Chapter Summary - Genesis 29","slug":"chapter-summary-genesis-29","old_id":"38257","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"29","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Chapter 29 Summary: Jacob\u2019s Love for Rachel\r\n\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Welcome to a love story, the story of Jacob\u2019s love of Rachel. (At least it starts out that way. \u00a0As for what happens next, you will have to judge for yourselves.)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob arrives in Haran, to the local center: the town well. \u00a0At first, things are rather mundane. Jacob arrives to marry a woman from Laban\u2019s family (Jacob\u2019s mother Rebecca\u2019s brother), and he clarifies with the shepherds who are waiting by the well for the watering of the flock, if \u00a0they know the family and how everybody is doing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And Rachel arrives: \u00a0\u201cAnd when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, and the flock of his uncle Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of his uncle Laban. \u00a0Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and broke into tears.\u201d verses 10-11.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The word \u201clove\u201d appears only in the following verses, but it is customary to view these verses as the moment they fell in love with one another, and the great power of love. \u00a0Power in its simplest meaning of strength. Jacob with great physical strength single-handedly rolls off the rock that is covering the mouth of the well in order to provide water to Rachel\u2019s flock. \u00a0This is the type of stone that typically would require the strength of all the shepherds working together to remove it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob\u2019s love for Rachel demands of him great strength also in the rest of the chapter. \u00a0Jacob works as a shepherd for Laban\u2019s sheep for seven years where the compensation is permission to marry Rachel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Then, in an act of trickery, taking advantage of darkness. On the night of the wedding Laban replaces the younger sister Rachel with the older sister Leah: \u201cthen morning came, there was Leah!\u201d (verse 25). Laban does not apologize, but he is ready to talk business. At the end of a week (seven days of celebration following a wedding?), Jacob will be given Rachel, too, as a wife. \u00a0But this is in exchange for\u2026..seven additional years of work.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And so, Jacob the lover, finds himself at the end of the chapter with two wives. \u00a0One is loved and one is not loved (see verses 31-33). One is barren, and the other is fertile, and within four verses (32-35), from his fertile wife Leah, Jacob has four sons.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Points to Ponder:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  1. \u00a0<\/span> The word \u201clove\u201d appears four times in the chapter. \u00a0Three times Jacob loves Rachel (verses 18, 20, 30), and once Leah requests Jacob\u2019s love (verse 32). \u00a0How does Rachel feel? Does she love him or not? The text does not say.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. \u00a0<\/span> Verse 20 is one of the canonical symbols of love \u201cthey (the seven years) seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. \u00a0<\/span> Another phrase that comes from the chapter is \u201cyour younger daughter Rachel.\u201d (verse 18), which is a Hebrew idiom that has come to mean \u201cdown to the last detail\u201d (because Jacob could have just said \u201cRachel\u201d or \u201cyour daughter Rachel\u201d but instead he was very detailed in his description \u201cyour younger daughter Rachel.\u201d) \u00a0It is too bad that it did not help Jacob and that he was not specific enough to Laban \u201cdown to the last detail.\u201d <\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>It is difficult not to pay attention to the great similarity between the incident of the theft of the blessings and the incident of the switching of the sisters. \u00a0In the two stories, in the cover of darkness\/blindness, one brother is switched for another, one sister for another. One is the firstborn and the other is the younger. This is what is called measure for measure. Jacob pays with his life the price for the deceitful action that he committed.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. \u00a0 At the end of the chapter (verses 31-35) the great competitiveness between Rachel and Leah begins. Between Rachel who is barren but loved and Leah who manages to give birth to one son after another, and each name that she gives her son speaks of her pain and yearning to capture Jacob\u2019s heart. \u00a0The continuation is in the next chapter.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Daily Summary","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder: Genesis 29","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"29","chapter_main_number":"29","date":"20251008","wall_id":"29"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"posts_home":[],"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/38034"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}