Hello friends and welcome to Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel, the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa and based in Mason City. This edition is incredibly late and for that I am sorry. It has been quite the week both professionally and personally. Nothing at all bad...just many hands to hold and conversations about life, faith, politics and business. Whew! A reminder that we will hold services on Friday the 9th of December at 7:00PM and our Midrash on Shabbat (the 10th) at 10AM. Both events will be at the shul. Hope to see you there.
Parsha Vayetzei
This week we read Parsha Vayetzei (Gen 28:10 - 32:3) the word means "and he left" as in "Jacob departed from Beer-Sheba and went toward Haran." (Gen. 28:10). Here we learn that Jacob starts his journey that, unknown to him at the time would include 20 years in the home of Laban a scoundrel of the highest order. But, before going he spent 14 years studying at the academy of Shem and Eber. Why?
Truly a wise man who had studied with his father Isaac for sixty-three years did not need more training. (A reminder that no matter how stepped in Torah we are...we can always use more study.) But he was with Shem and Eber for another reason. Jacob was about to go to Haran among people who were as dishonest at Laban. Shem and Eber had also faced evil as they were alive during The Flood...and knew how to cope.
The Evening Prayer
" And Jacob departed from Beer-Sheba and went to Haran. He encountered the place and spent the night there because the sun had set .." ( Gen. 28:10-11). What is this "place"? It was a place to...pray to communicate with G-d. It was the same place that Abraham took Isaac and bound him on the alter and it is the same place that the Temple would be built.
And so Jacob had a dream and rested there...and prayed.
Jews pray three times each day.
The sages teach that the three prayer services (Shacharit – morning service, Mincha – afternoon service, and Ma’ariv – evening service) were established by the three forefathers: Abraham instituted Shacharit, Isaac instituted Mincha, and Jacob instituted Ma’ariv.
Yet this seems a little odd. We know that in Judaism every day begins with the onset of the prior evening. That is, Monday begins at sunset on Sunday. Thus, the first prayer that we pray each day is Ma’ariv. Wouldn’t it be more logical for Abraham, being the first of the forefathers, to have instituted the first prayer service of Ma’ariv? Moreover, Ma’ariv was originally established as a non-obligatory prayer. Why should Jacob, who is considered the greatest of the forefathers, institute a prayer that is not even obligatory?
The purpose of the prayers being established by our forefathers is that they leveraged their relationship with the Almighty to establish an “appointment,” as it were, for their children to speak and connect with the Almighty.
The Answer
Daytime is the period in which mankind goes out and contributes to the functionality of the world, while nighttime is the period when man reaches out to connect.
In Hebrew, the word “yom – day” is masculine and “leila – night” is feminine. Day is the time for people to do and night is the time to connect. This is also why when a woman tries to express an issue to a man he focuses on trying to solve it (the do/give aspect) even though what she really wants is for him to just listen (the connect aspect). Sound familiar?
So much more is in this Parsha...I hope you will take the time to study.
Thank you for reading and Shabbat Shalom!
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