Religious Pluralism \ Parashat Hashavua-- The Weekly Torah Portion by Rabbi Amy Levin

Ya'akov's Version of Faith

Parashat Vayeitzei*: Genesis 28:10 -- 32:3 5-6 December 1997, 7 Kislev 5758

The name of every parasha is taken from the first few significant words of the parasha's first verse. Parashat Vayeitzei opens with the words: Vayeitzei Yaakov mibe'er sheva vayeilech Charana" (Ya'akov went out from Be'er Sheva and went towards Charan").

The Torah presents each of our patriarchs in his own, individual light. The Torah presents us with no one image of "patriarch": the biblical accounts of Avraham, Yitzhak and Ya'akov present each individual with his own particular qualities -- and faults. They are all men of faith -- and they all express their faith according to their own characters.

Throughout the tradition, Avraham is referred to as the "man of faith" -- not only did he accept without question God's command to leave his land and his people, and sent Yishmael away (even though he had accepted his firstborn as the embodiment of God's promise of countless generations), but he also "rose early" -- a biblical term for eagerness -- to sacrifice his beloved Yitzhak.

All this after he had received God's clear promise for an unlikely future of countless progeny -- and believed it: " 'Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.' And He added, 'So shall your offspring be.' And because he [Avram] put his trust in the Lord, He reckoned it to his merit." (15:5-6)

Yitzhak's is a passive faith. There are no fireworks in Yitzhak's relationship to God, no equivalent to Avraham's stunning challenge to God's morality in the story of S'dom and Amorrah. Gunther Plaut, the modern Reform commentator, contends, (with credibility) that the trauma of the binding of Yitzhak left its mark on the partriarch's personality for the rest of his life. When God directs him to stay in the land of Israel despite the current famine and the apparent plenty in Egypt -- and with a renewal of the covenental promises -- Yitzhak simply stays. (26:1-3, 6)

The opening scene of this week's parasha is the famous encounter between Ya'akov and God symbolized by "Jacob's Ladder" -- the ladder by which God's angels climbed heavenward and earthward. God appears next to Ya'akov and speaks to him of covenental promises and divine protection: "All the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendents. Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." (28:14-15) Ya'akov awakes, appropriately moved by the experience, annoints a stone -- as his ancestors had done under similar circumstances -- and the next morning verbalizes his relationship with God:

"Jacob then made a vow, saying, "If God remains with me, if He protects me on this journey that I am making, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and if I return safe to my father's house -- the Lord shall be my God." (28:20-21)

There are a few amazing aspects to this vow of Jacob's.

The first is his outright expression of conditional faith. If God remains with me . . .then the Lord shall be my God.

The second is his redefinition of God's convenantal role.

Do the conditions of Ya'akov's vow expose a lack of faith in God?

I'd suggest the opposite. I'd suggest that Ya'akov is taking the dynamics of brit (covenant) extremely seriously. He is accepting that a brit is a pact between two parties, albeit one party is divine. In biblical terms a vow is the strongest terms of expression. A person soul is laid on the line when taking a vow. Thus, by taking this vow, 

Ya'akov is saying to God "we both have responsibilities in this brit -- and I vow to keep mine if You keep Yours." It is actually a statement of deepest commitment. Later in the parasha, we see that Ya'akov remembers his vow and intends to keep to it:

"And he [Ya'akov] said to them [Rachel and Leah], 'I see that your father's manner toward me is not as it has been in the past. But the God of my father has been with me. . . . . Your father has cheated me . . . . God, however, would not let him do me harm." (31:5-7)

Theologians define divinity in two different terms: transcendental and immanent. The transcendental God is beyond the reach of mortal. He transcends the world He created and He does not engage in the lives of his creations. The immanent God is the accessible God. He is responsive to the appeals of his creations and weaves His presence into their lives.

As David Wolpe has noted in his exceptional book The Healer of Shattered Hearts: "Different answers will appeal to different people at various times in their lives. A religious tradition seeks to keep the channels open. . . . .God is sought by some in moral considerations, aesthetic estimations, in creation, in choice, law and tradition. There are other ways as well." (pg. 52)

By the nature of Ya'akov's vow of conditions he is demanding the most immanent God. He is invoking the God who is willing to involve Himself in the most mundane and the most fundamental aspects of human existence. Ya'akov is not moved by lofty covenental promises. He wants "bread to eat and clothing to wear."

Again, in David Wolpe's terms: " . . . human effort, however sporadically noble and ennobling, is not enough. We are too small. Our fears too great. That is why there is a need of a Divine "ally." (pg. 45)

Ya'akov, in transition, on his way from Be'er Sheva to Charan, needs his God to comfort him, to provide him with the basic necessities of life. At this moment the transcendental God is of no use to Ya'akov. By facing off with God, by turning the terms of the covenant into a two-way street, Ya'akov provides us with a new model of faith. Not Avraham's high-minded morality, not Yitzhak's passivity -- but Ya'akov's free expression of need and commitment, and free acceptance of support and commitment.

Our relationship with God is richly enhanced by this week's parasha. May this week's parasha help all of us develop one more aspect of our relationship to our Creator.

Shabbat Shalom

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Amy Levin has served as rabbi of the Masorti (Conservative) Family Congregation of Beit Ha-Kerem, Jerusalem, since September 1995. She is one of the first women to study in the rabbinical school of the Masorti/Conservative Seminary of Judaic Studies in Jerusalem. In addition to her congregational work, Amy teaches Talmud at Hebrew Union College's new Liberal Yeshiva -- a program designed to introduce English speakers to the basic texts and concepts of the Jewish tradition. Amy made aliyah in 1981 and is the mother of two wonderful teenagers.