25 Nov VAYESE- THE HUMILITY OF YAAKOB ABINU

Parashat Vayeseh
begins: “Yaakob left
from Be’er Sheba, and
he went to Haran.”
Many commentators
addressed the question
of why the Torah needs to tell us here that
Yaakob left from Be’er Sheba, his hometown.
The ensuing verses tell of his experiences
along the road as he journeyed to Haran, and
upon arriving in Haran. The important point
here is where Yaakob was going, not where he
was leaving from.
Moreover, this entire verse seems unnecessary,
as we are already told at the end of the
previous Parasha, Parashat Toldot (28:7), that
Yaakob, obeying his parents’ instructions,
left home and made his way to Haran to live
with his uncle. Why, then, did the Torah need
to repeat now that he left his hometown and
headed to Haran?
An especially fascinating answer to this
question is offered by Rav Azariah Figo
(Italy, d. 1647), in his Bina Le’ittim, where he
closely analyzes the events that unfolded after
Yaakob’s departure.
As Yaakob traveled to Haran, he slept along
the roadside, and beheld his famous vision
of a ladder that extended to the heavens.
During this vision, G-d spoke to Yaakob,
and promised to care for him and to bring

him safely back to Eretz Yisrael. Yet, when
Yaakob arose, he made a pledge, promising to
give one-tenth of his possessions to G-d if G-d
would protect him, care for him, and bring him
back to his homeland. Surprisingly, Yaakob
was uncertain whether Hashem would care
for him and return him safely home – despite
having just received an explicit promise to
this effect. Why?
Furthermore, we read in next week’s Parasha,
Parashat Vayishlah, that when Yaakob was
making his way back to Eretz Yisrael, he
received a report that Esav was approaching
with an army, and he was overcome by fear
(32:8). Once again, we must wonder why
Yaakob did not trust the explicit guarantee
Hashem gave him that he would be protected
and would return safely to his homeland.
Rav Figo answers all these questions by
positing that Yaakob questioned whether the
dream he dreamt truly constituted a prophecy.
For several reasons, he had reason to suspect
that this was simply a dream, and not a
prophetic message from the Almighty. For
one thing, the Rambam writes that one of the
prerequisites for prophecy is a joyful spirit, and
Yaakob’s current condition – fleeing penniless
from his brother who wanted to kill him – did
not lend itself to the necessary feelings of joy.
Secondly, when a prophet receives prophecy,
Hashem normally brings sleep upon him,
and he then awakens immediately after

the vision. Yaakob, however, did not wake
up immediately after his dream. Rav Figo
explains on this basis why the Torah tells that
in the morning, Yaakob arose “Mi’shenato”
– “from his sleep” (28:16). At first glance,
this seems unnecessary; when somebody
wakes up, he obviously wakes up “from his
sleep.” Rav Figo writes that the Torah here
is telling us that Yaakob did not wake up
immediately after beholding his vision, but
rather continued sleeping until he woke up in
the morning – and this led to his uncertainty
as to whether what he saw was just a dream,
or in fact a prophetic vision.
Rav Figo applies this same approach to explain
the first verse of the Parasha. Normally, with
rare exceptions, prophecy is given only in
Eretz Yisrael, and not outside the land. As
Yaakob had left his home in Be’er Sheba,
and was heading outside the land, to Haran,
he was, in a sense, considered to have already
left the Holy Land. This, too, contributed to
his doubts regarding the nocturnal vision that
he beheld. The Torah told us that Yaakob was
making his way to Haran, leaving the Land
of Israel, as an introduction to the story of
Yaakob’s dream, explaining why Yaakob was
unsure whether this was a prophecy or an
ordinary dream.
In the end, of course, it became clear that
Yaakob’s dream was, in fact, a full-fledged
prophecy, and Hashem fulfilled all the

promises He had made during that prophetic
vision.
This understanding of the verses shows how
Yaakob serves for us as an inspiring example
of humility. Although he beheld a clear
vision, during which G-d promised to protect
him, and named him as heir to the covenant
with Abraham and Yishak, Yaakob remained
uncertain about his standing. He did not jump
to conclusions, or rush to assume that he had
earned G-d’s blessings. We have much to
learn from Yaakob Abinu’s example about
avoiding overconfidence. While we must
of course take pride in our accomplishments
and in all the good that we do, we must also
ensure not to take this pride too far, to remain
ever cognizant of our deficiencies. We should
never feel too spiritually confident, certain
that we do everything correctly, that we know
better, that we always get it right. We are to
live with the humility to acknowledge our
imperfections, so that we are always working
to correct them and continuing to grow and
improve.