"all the great Rabbis of the Mishnah were very learned and yet had professions" 

When reading the stories of the Torah we can often times encounter a single word that is filled with meaning. A good example of this is G-d’s command to Abraham of “Lekh Lekha”. The words “Lekh Lekha”, which mean “to go or move”, become the embodiment of Abraham’s life. He is a man who is constantly on the move moving from one challenge to the next.

Another such word can be found in [the]Torah portion describing the life of our forefather Jacob. The Parasha begins with the word “Vayetze” which means “and he went out from”. The simple meaning of this word is that Jacob went out from his home in Beersheba. Perhaps there is much more than meets the eye with the word “Vayetze”. Can this one word “Vayetze” (going out) form the basis to understand the life of Jacob? 

Let me digress for just one moment. That same word “Vayetze” is also used by our Rabbis in “Pirkei Avot” (Ethics of our Fathers). In chapter 2:13 we read the following, “He (Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakai) said to them (his students) go out and see which is the best way that a person should choose. Rabbi Eliezer said one should have a good eye. Rabbi Yehoshua said choose a good friend. Rabbi Yosi said choose a good neighbor. Rabbi Shimon said see the consequences of your actions. Rabbi Elazar said have a good heart.” 

Notice that here too the word “Vayetze” to go out is used. What did Rabbi Yohanan mean when he used this word as an introduction for his students? Where were his students that he needed to tell them “go out”? To where was he telling his students to go? 

One way to explain this statement is that when the statement was made they were all students sitting in the confines of the study halls. They had amassed great knowledge, but it was all in their heads. It was now time for them to leave the study halls and put that knowledge to use in the world. The Torah that they had all learnt had to now be taken and applied to the world. In essence what he was saying was “go out from the study halls”, and apply all that you have learnt to the world. It is for this reason that none of them, when asked what one should choose as a path in this world, say more study. Instead they give very practical advice of how to live.

It is with this in mind that we can move to our forefather Jacob. It is not a coincidence that [the] Parasha begins with the word “Vayetze”. Jacob was also in need of “going out”. He had yet to embody the total Jewish experience of study and involvement in this world. That turning point takes place at the beginning of our Torah portion.

He too must “go out” as the students of Rabbi Yohanan did. He too must take all that he has learnt and become a man of the world. That transition takes place in our Parasha. How interesting that in this week’s Parasha we are introduced to a very different Jacob than the dweller of tents.

The very first story after his famous dream takes place at the well. On the well is a stone whose size and weight requires the strength of many men in order to move. While the Sheppard’s are waiting for enough manpower to roll the stone off the opening of the well we are told the following, “And Jacob was still talking to them (the Sheppard’s) and Rachel came with the sheep that belonged to her father…and it was when Jacob saw Rachel… and he approached and rolled the stone from the well” (Bereshit 29:9:10). 

What a remarkable passage, what remarkable strength. Who was this strapping young man with bulging muscles? Was this the same Jacob who poured over books? Indeed it was, but he was no longer the man of intellectual pursuit. It was his time to “go out” and become a man of this world as well. From this point on we see Jacob as a person who is very much involved with matters of this world in addition to his Torah study. In fact the next twenty-two years of his life he spends as a Sheppard. I think that there is a very important message to be learnt from Jacob. As Jews we are expected to study the Torah and know it as best we can. But the Torah is not just an intellectual exercise in which we gain knowledge and know a lot about Judaism. The Torah is a way of life and so at some point we must graduate from student to participant. There comes a time where we must take the Torah that we learn and apply it to our lives. Indeed Jacob teaches us that one can be a Shepard, or have any other profession for that matter, and still live according to the ideals of the Torah. In fact what Jacob teaches us is that before we enter any profession first we must study the Torah. In this way no matter where we go we guarantee that we will live Jewish lives and that our future as a nation will be secure. For twenty-two years Jacob lives in a dark exile, but he remains the ever so committed Jew. How different would the Jewish world be today if every person, no matter what profession they chose, studied just a little more about Judaism? How different would the Jewish world be today if we followed in the footsteps of Jacob, studying and filling ourselves with Torah as we enter into our professions. My hunch is that we would have a little less assimilation and intermarriage. 

Rabbi Yosef Benarroch

Sephardic Educational Center, Jerusalem

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