21 Nov VAYETZEH: TURNING THE BAD INTO GOOD

Rashi brings a very
famous Midrash in his
commentary to Parashat
Vayetzeh, about
Yaakov’s experiences
when he ran away
from the Land of Israel. The Torah says
that when the sun set, Yaakov went to
sleep, and he took some rocks on which
to place his head as he slept. But when
he woke up, there was only rock. The
Midrash says that the stones “fought”
with each other, as each wanted the
tzaddik, Yaakov, to rest his head on
it. Hashem made a miracle and the
stones merged together into a single
stone.
What does this mean? How can we
explain this image of stones coming
together into one?
In our lives, we have different “rocks,”
different pieces, some good and some
bad. One of the most important qualities
that we need to have is the ability to
take all the different pieces, combine
them together, and reinvent

ourselves. We need to be able to take
everything we have, everything going
on in our lives, the good and the bad,
and create from it something new and
beautiful.
I’ve seen so many people who have
experienced some tragedy or crisis, and
became “stuck.” They let themselves
get caught in a rut because of it. Whether
it’s the loss of a loved one, the loss of a
job or a business, or some other crisis,
people sometimes can’t bring
themselves to move forward. Of course,
I am not judging people who get “stuck”
because of a personal crisis. But this
just compounds the tragedy. We need to
try to take the different “stones,” even
our pain and grief, and create something
new from it, reinventing ourselves and
reinventing our lives.
Yaakov was all alone in a dreadful
situation. He was already older, not
married, and running away from his
homeland because his brother wanted
to kill him. As he faced this terrible
situation, he resolved that he would

take the good and the bad
in his life and create
something. And this is
exactly what he did – he
went to Lavan’s house,
got married, and built the
Nation of Israel.
Every Saturday night,
during Havdalah, we
recite a special berachah
over a flame. We do this to
commemorate the very
first Saturday night in
history. The Rabbis teach
that Adam and Havah were created on
Friday, and that evening, the sun did not
set. The world remained light until the
end of Shabbat, when it became dark
for the first time. Adam and Havah
were very frightened, but then Hashem
showed Adam how to take two stones
and rub them together to create fire,
which provided light.
Adam was shown that when the world
becomes dark, he must take the two
“stones” – the good and the bad – and

use them to create light.
Every week, after Shabbat, as we look
ahead to the coming days, we recall this
message. We know that this week will
bring us different “stones” – some good
and some bad, and we tell ourselves
that we can and must take it all and
create a brilliant, magnificent light.
Let us always have the faith in Hashem
and the confidence in ourselves to take
all the different “stones” in our lives
and use them to create a truly beautiful,
happy and meaningful life.