Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayetze And he dreamed, and, look, a ramp was set against the ground with its top reaching the heavens, and look, messengers of god were going up and coming down it. (Bereishit 28:12)   Bar Kaparah taught: There is no dream that has no interpretation: "And see, a ramp' – this is the ramp; "Set against the ground" – this is the altar (Shemot 20) 'You shall make for me an altar of earth'; 'With its...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayetze …And Rachel said to Leah, "Give me, pray, some of the mandrakes of your son." And she said, "Is it not enough that you have taken my husband  and now you would take the mandrakes of my son?" And Rachel said, "Then let him lie with you tonight  in return for the mandrakes of your son." And Jacob came from the field in the evening and Leah went out to meet him and said, "With me...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayetze And he dreamed, and behold! a ladder set up on the earth and its top reached to heaven; and behold, angels of God were ascending and descending upon it. (Bereishit 28:12)   "The Omnipresent has many ladders" Ascending and descending upon it: R. Hiyya and R. Yanai . One said, "ascending and descending upon the ladder," and one said, "ascending and descending upon Jacob." Bar Kapra taught: No dream lacks an interpretation. And behold a ladder...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayetze And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, that Jacob drew near and rolled the rock off the mouth of the well, and he watered the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother. (Bereishit 29:10)   Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother. The expression Laban, his mother's brother is repeated three times in this verse, because she told him...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayetze So Jacob took a stone and set it up a monument. And Jacob said to his kinsmen, "Gather stones," and they took stones and made a pile, and they ate there by the pile. And Laban called it Yegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Gal ed. And Laban said, "This pile is a witness between me and you today." Therefore, he called it Gal ed. (Bereishit 31: 45-48)   And Jacob said to his kinsmen:...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayetze AND JACOB WENT ON HIS WAY, AND ANGELS OF GOD MET HIM. AND JACOB SAID WHEN HE SAW THEM, "THIS IS THE CAMP OF GOD," AND HE NAMED THE PLACE MAHANAIM. (Bereishit 32:2-3)   and angels of God met him: In the same way that the Lord showed him the ladder and the angels on his way to Padan Aram in order to strengthen his heart, here too, upon his return to his homeland,...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayetze AND JACOB SAID WHEN HE SAW THEM, "THIS IS THE CAMP OF GOD," AND HE NAMED THE PLACE MAHANAIM. (Bereishit 32:3)   Mahanaim Two camps, outside the land, who came with him up to here, and of Israel, who came to greet him (from Tanchuma Vayishlach 3). (Rashi on Bereishit 32:3, Judaica Press translation)   Angels of God met him – To aid him on his...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayetze 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. ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BLESS THEMSELVES BY YOU AND YOUR DESCENDANTS. (Bereishit 28:14)   You shall spread out to the west… All the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you.   But the word paretz, wherever it is used, signifies...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayetze This edition is dedicated to the memory of Avraham Nuriel, z"l   JACOB KEPT LABAN THE ARAMEAN IN THE DARK, NOT TELLING HIM THAT HE WAS FLEEING, AND FLED WITH ALL THAT HE HAD. SOON HE WAS ACROSS THE EUPHRATES AND HEADING TOWARD THE HILL COUNTRY OF GILEAD.  (Bereishit 31:20-1)     From What or Whom is it Possible or Desirable to Flee, and to Where? And fled – Throughout the Torah, the word...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Vayetze THERE BEFORE HIS EYES WAS A WELL IN THE OPEN. THREE FLOCKS OF SHEEP WERE LYING THERE BESIDE IT, FOR THE FLOCKS WERE WATERED FROM THAT WELL. THE STONE ON THE MOUTH OF THE WELL WAS LARGE… AND WHEN JACOB SAW RACHEL, THE DAUGHTER OF LABAN HIS MOTHER'S BROTHER, JACOB WENT UP AND ROLLED THE STONE OFF THE MOUTH OF THE WELL, AND WATERED THE FLOCK OF LABAN, HIS MOTHER'S BROTHER. THEN JACOB KISSED...