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If you’ve come seeking Torah wisdom, settle down and read my 2009 Torah commentary on VaYetze. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is VaYetze, a Hebrew word that means “And he went out.” It covers Genesis chapter 28, verse 10 through chapter 32, verse 2. This is another Torah portion rich in narrative, symbolism and meaning, and what I’d like to concentrate on is Jacob’s relationship to Leah and Rachel.

As we recall from last week’s Torah reading, Jacob has triumphed over his brother Esau, Rebekah learned that Esau sought to kill Jacob as soon as Isaac was gone, and so both Isaac and Rebekah urged Jacob to leave the area until Esau has forgiven him, and not to take a wife from among the Hittites, as Esau had done, but to return to the family of Rebekah, to her brother – Jacob’s uncle – who has two daughters.

So, as we begin this week’s reading, Jacob has traveled east, beyond the land promised to Abraham, and as Jacob enters the lands where his grandfather Abraham once dwelled, we read this in:

Genesis 29:1-3
Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples. There he saw a well in the field, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well. The stone over the mouth of the well was large. When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.

Jacob has come to the lands belonging to Laban, his mother’s brother, and I find it interesting that what he encounters are sheep, and a well, covered with a stone that must be rolled away for the water to flow. Let’s read on:

Genesis 29:7-8
“Look,” he [Jacob] said, “the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.” “We can’t,” they replied, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.”

Now, on the pashat – the literal level – this is simply what is happening as Jacob enters the land of his mother’s brother, the lands of Laban. Yet I believe that as we begin to search for the sod – the deeper meaning, and begin to remez – to see what this passage brings to mind, we’ll find much more going on in these seemingly mundane actions.

So on seeing what is before him, what does Jacob say? It’s not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water them and send them back out into the fields. But this cannot be, he is told, until what else happens? Until the stone is rolled away. Only then can there be access to the water, and the sheep need to be watered before they can be sent back into the field.

From a Messianic mindset, this entire passage is highly suggestive of the first appearance of Messiah. When Jacob sees the flocks being gathered, he says it is not yet time for them to be gathered. This should remind us of how the Jewish people of the first century were looking for the appearance of the Messiah, and expecting an earthly deliverance – the establishment of an earthly kingdom with Messiah as king. In other words, they were expecting to be gathered and delivered but, as Jacob points out, from the L-RD’s perspective the sun was still high in the sky, the day not yet over, and there was more work yet to be done in the fields.

Would the appearance of Messiah in the first century be the right time to expect Messiah’s earthly reign? No.

Even rabbinic tradition teaches about the seven thousand year plan of the L-RD for His creation; in the first century, they were completing the fourth day of that plan, the fourth one-thousand-year period, and bringing to an end a two-thousand year period the Sages described as the Era of Instruction. And since there was another two thousand year period remaining – the Era of Messiah or Salvation – we can look at Jacob’s words here as a gentle reminder of that.

Yet what ushers in the Messianic era? That is alluded to here as well. “We can’t,” they replied, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled away … then we will water the sheep.” Does this align with what we know of Messiah’s time? It does. Under Roman rule, nearly the entire world was under one authority and all the nations to which the tribes of Israel had scattered spoke a common language. So, in a sense, the flocks were gathered; yet that alone was not enough. What else had to happen? The stone had to be rolled away. This clearly alludes to Messiah’s resurrection from the dead.

And what would these conditions being met allow? For the flocks to be watered – refreshed. And then what? Sent back out into the fields. In the same way, Yeshua’s time on earth was a time of refreshing for the people of the L-RD, a long-awaited fulfillment, and something that empowered those who clung to the Messiah – the Living Torah of the L-RD – to complete the work ahead, the work of the dawning Messianic era.

Taken to its deeper meaning and its allusions to Messiah, this seemingly mundane moment from the life of Jacob is suddenly filled up with new meaning and significance. And there’s more to come, as we read on in:

Genesis 29:9-11
While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud.

Here, Rachel becomes an allusion to Messiah – the Great Shepherd. As she arrives with her father’s sheep – an allusion to those who trust in the shepherd and who belong to the father of the shepherd – this is just rich, isn’t it? – what is Jacob’s response? In this Torah picture, Jacob represents Israel, eagerly rolling the stone away and embracing the Messiah, weeping for joy at Messiah’s arrival.

Now, I’d like to move on to another part of this week’s portion, and explore another part of Jacob’s life and relationship with his wives; we’ll find that it paints a different Torah picture than this one, but one that is still important to notice. Let’s move on to:

Genesis 29:16-17
Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful.

Now many people have speculated as to what is meant when the Torah describes Leah as having weak eyes. Some Bible encyclopedias will talk about poor eyesight being a blemish according to the Near Eastern standards for beauty. Rabbi Stan has suggested it might be an indirect way of saying that Leah was “hard on the eyes.” And one Jewish midrash I read suggested that there had been an original plan between Rebecca and Laban to have Rachel given to Jacob, while Leah, the older of the two sisters, would be given to Esau, the older of the two brothers; as the midrash explains, Leah’s eyes had grown weak from a lifetime of weeping over her fate, horrified she should be promised to such a corrupt man as Esau.

But let’s see what exactly “weak eyes” means in Hebrew. There are two words that represent the concept translated as weak eyes; they are rak and ’ayin. Here’s the insights we gain from the Strong’s:

STRONG’S H7390 rak {rak}
• AV – tender 9, soft 3, fainthearted + 03824 1, one 1, weak 1, tenderhearted + 03824 1; 16
• 1) tender, soft, delicate, weak 1a) tender, delicate (of flesh) 1b) weak of heart, timid 1c) soft (of words) 1c1) gentle words (subst)

STRONG’S H5869 `ayin {ah’-yin}
• AV – eye 495, sight 216, seem 19, colour 12, fountain 11, well 11, face 10, pleased + 03190 10, presence 8, displeased + 03415 8, before 8, pleased + 03474 4, conceit 4, think 4, misc 66; 887

The most common definitions of both words would give us the rough translation of “tender-eyes” or “delicate eyes.” So perhaps this suggests vision impairment. But some of the alternate definitions could suggest here a timid presence; perhaps she was painfully shy.

One possibility I like is that she had a gentle conceit – suggesting humility. And this interpretation would make sense, because although she is not loved, each time she bears Jacob a child, she expresses her hope that maybe this time, she’ll capture her husband’s devotion. Even when that doesn’t seem to happen, she bears the pain of his love for her sister Rachel in relative silence. That would suggest a gentle conceit.
And there’s another possibility.

Growing up, I often would rush home from school to watch my favorite after-school TV show – reruns of Gilligan’s Island, which ran for several years in syndication back then. Anyone who has seen that show will remember that there are two younger women among the castaways; Ginger, the movie star, and MaryAnn, the Kansas farm girl. Now Ginger was the eye-catching beauty on the show; the one everyone would notice first. But as you watched, you began to realize it was humble MaryAnn who seemed more pleasant to be around.

Perhaps that is what the Torah is also telling us about Leah and Rachel; while Rachel is an eye-catcher, could it be that Leah is actually the better wife?

Let’s explore this further and more deeply, because there’s some significance here beyond the debate over which sister – Leah or Rachel – was cuter. So let’s read on in:

Genesis 29:18-20
Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.” Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

So, it’s obvious Jacob was in love with Rachel first and foremost. And anyone who has read the parashah knows how the story plays out; after working for Laban for seven years, Jacob ends up with Leah as his wife, rather than Rachel. When he confronts Laban about the deception, Laban gives him this evocative explanation in:

Genesis 29:26-28
Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.” And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.

Whenever one encounters sevens in Torah, it is significant and naturally brings to mind the time of Jacob’s Trouble. Here, we are told Jacob should finish his bridal week with Leah, then he can have Rachel, his desired bride, in exchange for seven more years of work.

In this Torah picture, Leah becomes representative of those who come to faith in Messiah before the time of Jacob’s trouble – the tribulation period of Revelation – who are taken in the catching away of the righteous to the wedding supper of the Lamb. Jacob becomes the shadow of Messiah, desiring the bride promised to him. Rachel is representative of the Tribulation saints, but especially of the fullness of Israel, those who recognize Messiah after the catching away of the righteous; they endure the time of Jacob’s trouble, but are ultimately united with their bridegroom, the Messiah Yeshua. The wedding week of Leah alludes to the seven year period of Jacob’s trouble at the end of the sixth millennium; the additional seven years of work for Rachel alludes also to this.

Now, one can overthink such Torah pictures. For example, does Rachel’s theft of her father’s household gods allude if Israel’s unfaithfulness to the L-RD or not? Does Leah’s vast fertility – she personally bears half of the twelve tribes of Israel – signify that the pre-Jacob’s Trouble believers are superior to those who come to faith in Messiah in that time, or simply that they had longer to work in the field, as in the parable Yeshua told of those who labored in the final hour of the day were paid the same as those who labored from the start of the day?

When considering these questions, we must always keep in mind that these are shadows, not fulfillments; they are the lives of real people, as well as allusions to future events. Because of this, not all details may fit; but that is the way of shadows, as compared to the reliable consistency of our Fulfilled Promise, the Messiah Yeshua.

Shabbat Shalom.