The HOPE Cyber Library

“Va’Yetse Ya’aqov” (And Jacob went out): In this parashah we shall follow Ya’aqov-Jacob: what did he go out of, and what did he go out for, what did he follow (aqav, connected with the name Ya’aqov) and where did he arrive, how did the vision which he had when he left Kena’an towards Haran come out (yatsa), and how did there come out (yats’ah) of the vision “the whole stature” (Qomah Shlemah) of Israel-Yisra’el, and how did Ya’aqov finally “exited (yatsa) with a great fortune from his adventures in Haran.

The whole historical-archetypal course described in the Book of Genesis is like a ladder – “Lacob’s Ladder” (Sulam Ya’aqov) – that leads from Parashat Bereshit to Parashat va’Yehi (“He would live”). The Book of Genesis is composed of the tales of realistic living people who form this ladder, and in this process the book also deals with the basic instincts and emotions of the protagonists; but Parashat va’Yetse is loaded more than the other parashot with exteriorised emotions that are given outlet: a tale of love and of suffering, a tale that comences with brothers’ struggle and ends with sisters’ struggle, a tale of emotions that become realized through fertility and births, leading to the birth of twelve fraternal tribes. This multiplicity and mellowing of emotions is integral to the place of this parashah within the historical-archetypal course described in the Book of Genesis. In the course of his exiting, through his noting his movements between his two sister-wives, Ya’aqov would become aware of his own special place in the ladder of the Tree of the Sefirot, the Sefirah of Tif’eret (Glory-Beauty-Compassion), through which he would tie in the assembly – the Merkavah – of the patriarchs.

In this parashah, we also learn about the wrestling of the matriarchs, the Mothers of the nation of Israel, which are significant also for the formation of the future Israel in our times. In the narrative of this parashah, we also learn about the formation of eleven of the twelve brothers who would constitute Yisrael-Israel, about the relationships of the mistress and the bondwoman as wives of the patriarchs of the nation, and about the end of “the hereditary barrenness” of the children of Abraham.

Moreover, in this parashah we learn about the birth of Joseph-Yoseph, the only son of the beloved wife, the beloved of his father, much as Esav was the beloved of his father Yitzhaq. From this opens, in the next parashot and in their continuation in history since then, the way for the great Tikkun (restitution) of Jacob-Ya’aqov and Esau-Esav through the acts of Joseph and his brothers.

Va’Yetse Ya’aqov – And Jacob would exit

The exit of Ya’aqov from Kena’an-Canaan prepares for the other exit, the final one, of the family of Abraham from Haran. Only the exit-exodus of Ya’aqov from Haran, with his wives and children, completes the command to Abraham “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred and from thy father’s house”.

Ya’aqov’s exit from Haran also fashions and prepares for the great exit of the Children of Israel, namely the Exodus from Egypt, “to the land that I shall show thee”. What was true for Ya’aqov and his sons would become also true for the last of the mixed multitudes that join the Children of Israel on their exodus from Egypt and from “the desert of the nations”.

In the course of the parashah, Ya’aqov exits twice in an escape, in hiding. In the beginning of the parasha he exits his parents house in the Land of Kena’an, away from his brother who plotted to kill him; and in its end he escapes from Haran, from the house of his uncle Lavan, and with him most of the property of Lavan: his herds, his daughters, his grandchildren, and even his gods.

In contrast with the servant, who exited one generation earlier for a betrothal visit at the family of Lavan, equipped with the most precious jewels and presents, Ya’aqov – who had just been blessed with all the riches of the earth – arrived at Haran withoput anything. His course would thus be far more difficult than that of the servant. He would have to buy his wife through hard labor, which would prepare him, in turn, to become “Yisra’el”, one who can “contend with gods and men”, facing them and not hiding. Indeed, the adventures that lie in store for him in his exits were destined to change his living, his character, and his outlook.

Even when Ya’aqov did not exit – physically – from one place to another, he exited from his established manner: the spoiled brat, the tent dweller of his mother Rivqah, would become in the course of the parashah into a mighty man, a kind of Esav incarnated in Ya’aqov: he would roll with his own hand a stone that all the shepherds of Haran were needed for removing it, he would work acts of magic in order to increase the spotted lambs in his herds, and mostly he would work as a dedicated laborer, day and night. The spoiled “dweller of tents” would willingly become a slave for twenty years, until there would grow of him a dependable and conscious man.

“Ya’aqov” was a mean person who cheated and schemed (aqav, related to Ya’aqov – the one who would scheme), as evidenced by the ignominious acts in his youth; or – in a different meaning of his name – a simple man with no personal initiative, who followed (aqav) because of (eqev) whatever happened around him. But it was Ya’aqov whom the Bible credits with seeking – for the first time in the history of the House of Abraham – to build the House of God. His ambitions were celestial, but in his conduct, he was earthly, and quite a few times quite mean.

The simple boy became a tough adult. This is the story of the personal Tikkun of Ya’aqov, which is completed when he contended with the angel, held his own heroically, and gained a new name “Yisra’el”. Becoming Yisra’el entails personal valor, but also a universal vocation, which would be realized only through his sons. Ya’aqov is a private person. Yisra’el is the Father of the Twelve Tribes, who realizes the divine plan of founding “a Chosen People” made of twelve tribes, an idea already inherent in the primordial scheme of Bereshit.

Ya’aqov had an earthly family, Yisra’el – a divine family, which had to carry on its shoulders the mission of the Universal Man.

The saying va’Yetse (in the inverted future tense, as explained in the introduction) has to do with this future Israel-Yisra’el, through which the archetypal idea of Yisra’el would come out – yetse – from potential to actual, and eventually will issue – yets’u – twelve sons to the family of Yitzhaq.

In summary: the whole course of Creation-Beri’ah is an exiting (the word Bri’ah has to do with exiting to the bar – to the outside). Parashat va’Yetse deals with the exit from the hidden Olam haBa (“The World to Come”, corresponding to the Worlds of Atsilut and of Beri’ah, see chapter 1), and into Olam haZe (“This World”, corresponding to the Worlds of Yetsirah and of Assiyah-Action), which is an observable and sensed, and even demonstrates this exit through an authentic and emotional human story.

Part 1 – Jacob’s exit from Kena’an, and the 1^st Stone: Bet-El.

“And Ya’aqov exited from Be’er Sheva”

Ya’aqov exited for Haran with the blessing of his father and mother, and especially with the harsh encouragement of his brother Esav.

In his commentary (for 29:11), Rashi supplies a reason that Ya’aqov arrived to Haran with no provisions: Esav sent his son Eliphaz to kill Ya’aqov, and the son robbed Ya’aqov and left him in the state of “a poor man is as good as dead”. This Midrash is in the spirit of the story that we shall still read about Joseph-Yoseph and his brothers. Esav took measures, whether intentionally or not, that his younger brother would have to fight over his image and his status, to exile from his land in poverty and to succeed in the land of exile even more that Esav would.

“And he went toward Haran”

The ARI’zl (Rabbi Yitzhaq Luria, the most important master of Kabbalah) compares in this context Haran to Garon (throat), a narrow place where the voice gets cramped (“and the voice is Ya’aqov’s voice”). In the following, we shall see clearly that Ya’aqov was indeed pushed there and was subjected there to hard labor. The direction of Ya’aqov’s journey was Northward, to the side connected in the Kabbalah with the quality of Din – harsh Judgment. We may note that the Hebrew word Tsafon (North) is connected with the concept of Matspun – conscience (probably because the North, or polar, star gives a constant and safe direction for the journey, and conscience allows navigation in the fuzzy world of social values). Ya’aqov who exited Kena’an still lacked conscience, whereas the mature Ya’aqov returned from Haran with a developed conscience within him.

“va’Yifga ba’Maqom – and he lighted upon a certain Place

The term Maqom for “Place” was mentioned already before, in the story of the Aqedah: “and he went to the Maqom” (22:3), “and he saw the Maqom far away” (22:4). According to Rashi, the Blessed Holy One “is the Maqom-place of the World, and the World is not His Maqom-place” (his commentary to Exodus 33:21). The blessed and mind-expanding influence of the Infinite, which is normally enveloping but not sensed, appears as a Maqom, as a distinct locus, and receives through it a form. HaMaqom is any location where the divine power appears upon earth and manifests in remarkable forms. This is the Power, because of which Ya’aqov, who was awakening from his sleep, said, “how dreadful is this place” (28:17). Ya’aqov went to sleep with certain doubts about himself and was very worried about what may befall him. The epiphany of the Lord in his dream gave him trust in his future, but filled him with awe and dread, from his observation how immense is the divine world.

So, what was this Maqom-place in geographic terms? Could it have been the same Maqom toward which had Abraham been sent? According to the traditional commentators – definitely yes. The commentators were ready even to bend the earth for this purpose: “I say that Mount Moriah was pulled out and came here, and this is “the Land Jump” (Ramban’s commentary for parashat va’Yetse ch. 28). According to Rashi, who brings the version of Rabbi Eliezer who quoted Rabbi Yossei ben Zimra: “that ladder stands at Be’er Sheva (from whence Ya’aqov departed), and its incline reaches till the Temple”, or – in another version – “there is a ladder with its feet at Be’er Sheva and its top at Bet-El and its incline reaches towards Jerusalem” (Rashi for 28:17). The problem of the commentators was to connect between the location of Bet-El - which we know as a town in the domain of Benjamin, where the main road from Be’er Sheva to Haran indeed passed through – and the Maqom-place at Mount Moriah, the place of the Aqedah, and eventually the site of the Temple. We shall treat the ladder of Ya’aqov’s dream as a multi-dimensional axis, which connects different worlds, not all of them material. The two-dimensional projection of the ladder upon the surface of the earth forms a kind of meta-physical geography.

What is found at the top of the ladder is actually “The Heavenly Temple” (Bet haMikdash shel Ma’alah), which connects with all those locations with a sacred potential (including Be’er Sheva, Hebron, Bet-Lehem, Mount Moriah, Beit-El and Dan). From this perspective, Bet El and Mount Moriah are similar – in the dimension of the sacred, and the building of the Temple establishes their mutual connections. If we regard it this way – “and he saw the Maqom”, “and he lighted on the Maqom”, and even “and he took the stones of that Maqom”, do not refer just to the physical location, but to the creator of all space – for the word Maqom is also used as a synonym to the Blessed Holy One.

“And he took of the stones of that place-Maqom, and put them under his head”

Ya’aqov’s connection with that cosmic axis was effected through the stone that he put under his head. It is thus for a reason that the commentators had dwelled much upon that stone. The best known of these midrashim is the one about the stones that quarreled between them, which of them would serve as a pillow for that virtuous man, until a miracle happened, and they all became one stone. Another, less known, midrash, given by the Ramban, that Ya’aqov picked up, unknowingly, the twelve stones of the altar that Abraham built for the Aqedah. In any case, the stone is regarded in the Kabbalah as a feminine element, and the ARI’zl sees in it the Yesod (the Foundation, and symbol for the genitals) of Le’ah (his future wife), symbol for the Heavenly Binah-Understanding. This understanding of the stone gives a hint about following events on Ya’aqov’s journey: in the morning the stone receives a masculine element, when Ya’aqov erects it as a standing stone monument turning to heaven, and when he arrived at Haran, he rolled the stone (feminine again) from over the well, and opened a venue for his relationship to his future wives.

The (Book of the) Zohar characteristically, goes further in its midrash, as follows:

“And he took from the stones of the Maqom-place: it is not written avne haMaqom (stones of the place) but “me’avne haMaqom” (from the stones of the Maqom), these are precious stones, which are Twelve Superior Stones, as it is written shteym esre Avanim (“Twelve Stones” – Joshu’a 4:3). And under them are twelve thousand hewn ones, and all of them are called “stones” (avanim). Therefore it was said “from the stones of the Maqom-place”, and not “the stones of the Maqom-place”, this is the very Maqom we referred to.

“And he put under his head”: whose head? But the head of whom who is called Maqom, (so) what does it mean ‘mra’ashotav’? If you say (this means) like someone who puts something under his head, this is not so, but ‘mra’ashotav’ (literally, “His Headings”) (mean) the four cardinal directions of the world, three stones to the Northern side, three to the Western side, three to the South side, and three to the East side, and that Maqom stands over them to be dressed-decorated (or restored) by them”.

What is implied by this is that Ya’aqov built a whole stylized setting of a circle of twelve stones and another stone at the center. In his Sulam (“ladder”) commentary to the Zohar, Rabbi Y.L. Ashlag recalls in the context of these twelve stones the ‘Sea of Brass’ that stood at the Temple of Solomon-Shlomoh, carried over twelve brazen bulls. In our days, the antiquities researcher John Michell has re-discovered “The New Jerusalem Diagram”, which was apparently used for delineating ancient temples around the world, including the Great Pyramid and the megalith temple of the stone circles at Stonehenge, England (see appendix at parashat Lekh-Lekha). In this pattern, the circle is divided into 28 equal sections, in which are marked places for 12 circles arranged in four triplets.

In any case, it is in parashat va’Yetse that the expression Bet Elohim – “the House of God” – is first mentioned. This is the preparation for the main subject of the Book of Exodus-Shemot – the building of the Tebernacle-Mishkan (whose aim is “and let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell – veshakhanti – among them” Exodus 25:8). There is a primary condition about building the tabernacle – it being surrounded by the twelve tribes. This becomes evident from the detailing of the Tabernacle in the Book of Exodus, and elaborated in the prophet Ezekiel’s vision about the future Temple (Ezekiel 48), where the Temple precinct is connected with the rest of the country via twelve gates, a gate for each one of the tribes of Israel.

After the delineation of the pattern, including marking the twelve camps in the circle around him, Ya’aqov went out – yatsa – to Haran to realize, still in his own lifetime, the principle of the Twelve.

“And he dreamed”

Twice in the course of this parashah, Ya’aqov dreamt a significant dream. The better-known “Jacob’s Dream”, which many painters and artists treated – a ladder with angels ascending and descending – is indeed one of the most picturesque and better-known passages in the scriptures. But to the extent that the theory we posited here is true, and the earthly Ya’aqov, the schemer, progresses through his years in Haran and his life journey towards transforming himself into the model “Yisra’el”, then this dream perhaps should have come at a later stage, whereas the second dream – about how to increase the herd of the spotted sheep – ostensibly belongs to the old, earthly scheming Ya’aqov.

We shall still deal with this paradox and its solution.

In any case, the significance of the first dream is in locating the place. “And he lighted upon haMaqom and slept there” is written with intention.

“And behold a ladder set up on earth, and the top of it reached to heaven”

The ladder connects heaven and earth, which were separated through the utterances of Bereshit: “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it divide water from water” (1:6), as well as “Let the water under the heaven be gathered together to one place-Maqom, and let the land appear” (1:9); as it connects between the different events of Genesis – from the Creation (Beri’ah-Exit) to these exits of Ya’aqov, to the Exodus from Egypt and the building of the Tabernacle.

Ya’aqov’s ladder is supported by two pillars, right and left (which parallel his fathers, Abraham and Yitzhaq, as well as to the Yakhin and Bo’az pillars in Solomon’s Temple, which apparently symbolize the pillars of the cosmic ladder), and the risers between the pillars form “The Middle Pillar” of “The Tree of Life” of the divine Sefirot, which is the pattern for forming the soul. From this Middle Pillar, which is also “The Middle Bar” (Bari’ah haTikhon) – which may “reach from end to end”, as described about the building of the Tabernacle (Exodus 26:28) – Ya’aqov could watch up and up, beyond all the heavens, as well as downwards – beyond the deepest She’ol (hell), and even (as we shall see in the following) to primordial worlds that had disappeared long ago and left no apparent trace.

Over the generations, the image of the ladder served to build various philosophical and religious systems for describing the cosmos and the relationship of the divine and the human within that cosmos. We may recall the ecstatic contemplation methods of the Church Fathers, such as Johan Calimacos (namely “the Ladder Man”) of Sinai, who gave inspiration for Sören Kirkegård to build a system of Existentialist Philosophy. Another philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, likened his system in “The Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus” to a six rung ladder[1]. Whoever reaches up, to the seventh level, may leave the ladder and enter the abode of Sophia.

Also in the systems of the Kabbalah there are drawn many Jacob’s ladders, level upon level, stage upon stage, in systems of Sefirot and of Partsufim (configurations), that are arrayed upon the primordial matrix (a visual image of it may be found within the Dome of the Rock at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem), in order to generate the redemptive acts of restoration-Tikkun and healing of man – the practical (Assiyah), emotional (Yetsirah) and the intellectual (Beri’ah) – as of five main levels denoted by the four letters of the tetragramaton of YHWH together with the tip of (Kutso shel) the letter Yod.

“and behold the angel of God-Elohim ascending and descending on it”

The descriptions of angels in the Bible have led to the development of whole “Angelologies”, Jewish and Christian, and which are important motif in religious art. Ya’aqov’s ladder is perhaps the most fertile of them.

What did Ya’aqov see in his dream? E saw himself in the Divine world, which is full of angels. Of all the patriarchs, Ya’aqov is the beloved of the angels. Yishma’el was saved by an angel, and so was Yitzhaq, but they needed the angels at a critical moment in a dangerous situation. Ya’aqov is gong to be accompanied by angels often, along his various journeys, and they would even become his own messengers.

The angels of that dream vision did not fly with their wings, as angels appear in the collective artistic images, but they needed a ladder. Moreover: the angels – at least according to the concept of the Kabbalah – have no freedom of movement. The prophet Isaiah (6:2) described the angels as “Seraphim standing above him”, and Zekhariah (Zechariah) promised Yehoshu’a the High Priest “I will give you movements (mahalakhim) among these who stand by” (3:7). That is, the angels stand, as they have no ability t change. Only man has movements-mahalakhim among them, only man can change, to experience both the higher and the lower worlds. That is, the ladder is actually man. It is man who connects between the divine and the mundane worlds. Ya’aqov, dreaming about the ladder, was actually seeing himself as the Cosmic Man. For each one of the angels in the ladder there is a given place and definite task. The Seraphim described by Isaiah have – in spite of their being standing – “each one had six wings”. The wings are steering-wings, for navigating in the spaces of spiritual worlds, in which there operate the six spiritual measures: Hesed-Love; Din-Judgment; Rahamim-Compassion; Netsah-winning; Hod-yielding; and Yesod-thoroughness.

“and behold a ladder… And behold, the Lord-YHWH stood above it”

The simple image is of a kind of ladder, something like a household ladder, above which there is something that represents the divine in Being (HaWaYaH), such as the letters Y.H.W.H. in their being and pronunciation. But the gist of it is that the name of YHWH also fashions the steps of the enchanted ladder from its own Being. This is a ladder of letters, that each of its risers is built from a Name of Being, and surely contains a fractal structure, where the name of YHWH is bubbling throughout it, at any scale.

Not only angels ascended and descended the ladder, claims the Kabbalah, but also the virtuous persons (Tsadiqim) may climb it, as is written “The name of the Lord-YHWH is a strong tower; the righteous runs in it” (Proverbs 18:10). Supported by this verse, the Mekubalimof all generations often tried to utilize the names of YHWH in order to reach the needed merit to ascend and descend Ya’aqov’s ladder.

Since the flowering of the Kabbalah in Safed, it is customary to characterize the different manifestations of the Name of YHWH by gematrica values that derive from the “fillings” (Miluy): One stage (the higher one) of the ladder was probably that of 72 (AV) with the Miluy of Yod Hy Wyw Hy – another is of 63 (SaG) with Miluy of Yod Hy Waw Hy – of 52 (BeN) with Miluy of Yod Hh Ww Hh – and of 45 (MaH) with Miluy of Yod He Waw He.

“And said, I Am the Lord-YHWH God of Avraham thy father, and the God of Yitzhaq; the Eretz-earth on which thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed, and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth…”

These words of the Lord describe the spiritual structure of the ladder. The ladder is Man, whom the Lord stands over. The saying “God of Avraham thy father” and not “God of Yitzhaq thy father” (as would be genealogically correct), shows the status f Ya’aqov himself within this ladder, as a derivation of Abraham – the side of Hesed-Mercy – and as equal (or superior) to his biological father Yitzhaq – the side of Din-Judgment. YHWH is above him, because He is the God of his both his fathers, Abraham and Yitzhaq. There very different grasp of the Lord are situated at his two sides, right and left, as the pillars of the ladder, and allow him to build the risers between them, for the righteous to run by, as was shown above “The name of the Lord YHWH is a strong tower; the righteous runs in it” (Proverbs 18:10).

Yet, what makes this assembly into a ladder (and not just a flying “Chariot”) is its connection with “the earth on which thou liest”.

What makes the event so real and a meaningful memory is that Ya’aqov is connected to the earth and joined to her[2]. The erotic rendering of Ya’aqov’s connection to the earth at that place-Maqom testifies to his psychological attitude. The event happened when he was about to exit and leave the land, perhaps for ever, and his relationship to her must have been accompanied with much nostalgia. This connection was amplified by the ritualized preparation of the place for sleep and for dreaming, by placing the stones in the special order.

The divine epiphany continued with the same thematic association of earth rituals, Ya’aqov was lying on (with) the earth, and immediately his seed was mentioned, and this seed was immediately equated with the dust of the earth.

Preparation for building the Temple in Parashat “va’Yetse”

Upon his exiting the land, Ya’aqov observed in his vision “the house of God and.. the gate of heaven” (28:17). Why did Ya’aqov receive this vision and not his fathers? Had Ya’aqov stayed in the land, it would have been difficult for him to live his daily life in a land that belonged to the peoples of Kena’an-Canaan, and act to realize the Temple in his life. He would have either yielded and turn himself into a “Canaanite”, or would have become a suicidal zealot, of the type that Shim’on and Levi eventually turned out. Ya’aqov adopted the typical Jewish solution, which would return many times since. His journey to Haran is a means to procure the means to realize the vision of building the House of God. On the other hand, the luxuries of the exile might certainly banish the old dream from his mind, and the role of Laban was to make him remember.

In the Book of Exodus we shall encounter the basic pattern of the Tabernacle. The planning principle is to provide a sacred center, common for twelve brothers-tribes who are likely to be feuding among them, a place for conferring (hitva’adut) and for confessing (hitvadut) for the expiation of their sins. The fact that the dream about the House of God at the Land of Israel was the dream of their father Ya’aqov, would enable the Temple to be common to all “The Children of Israel”.

In the same parashah in which we read about the vision of Ya’aqov’s ladder, we also read about abundant fertility: four wives, eleven sons and one daughter, and thousands of sheep and goats, and this is not yet all. The great fertility in the exile, which is the beginning of the Bok of Exodus, is already found at Ya’aqov’s exile at parashat va’Yetse.

“And thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south”

The ritual actions noted above, the placing of the stones around the locus of the epiphany ritual according to the four cardinal directions, result in that the blessing would spread from the Maqom to the four “ends of the earth”.

“And Ya’aqov rose up early in the morning” (28:18)

We have already found this mode of getting up with Abraham, when he sent Hagar and Ishmael away from his house, and on his exit towards the Aqedah. Also Bil’am rose up early in the morning in order to curse Israel (Numbers 22:21). Abraham rose up early to attend to controversial matters, Ya’aqov rose up to perform cultic-magical ritual building of erecting a standing stone.

“and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it”

Such an erection of a megalith is well known from archeological research. A tall megalith, placed erect, against the earth’s gravity, the top of which was libated with oil, or blood of sacrifice, is recognized as a primordial form of building a temple. These were temples that indicate great potencies of hidden terrestrial energies, which may arouse the imaginative faculties of people. The stone thus became a mark for the Maqom, but Ya’aqov was not satisfied with the spontaneous primary temple. He made a vow and stipulated conditions to the Lord “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat… so I come back to my father’s house in peace, then” he promised “the Lord-YHWH shall be my God; and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth to thee” (28:20-22).

The Promise to Build the House of God

The possibility of building “the House of God” – BeT Elohim, is already cded into the first words of Genesis “Be(reshi)T (bara) Elohim. This is the very object of the Acts of Creation: “from the first day that the Holy One created the world he craved… to dwell with his creatures in the lower worlds” (Bamidbar Raba, parashah 13). The hidden motif of the Book of Genesis is the building of the Temple, and the stone that Ya’aqov erected at Luz, is itself a Luz, the upper vertebra of the spin, to which the Midrashim assign a major function: “From whence will the Holy One erect Man at the Time to Come? From the Luz of the spin” (Bereshit Raba 28). This is the small bone that never gets lost and serves as the seed for the rebuilding of the body at the resurrection of the dead, and from there Ya’aqov promised to build the House of God, by his hands, or the hands of his twelve sons.

The scripture goes three times to remind that that Maqom-place was called by Ya’aqov Bet-El, “but the name of the city was called Luz at first” (Gen. 28:19; 35:6; Judges 1:23), which clearly indicates the importance of this information. According to the legends of the sages, Luz was the city of the immortals. In many traditions, the city of the immortals is adjacent to the cosmic axis that connects heaven and earth. Thus, for example, in central Asia are traditions about the hidden city of the enlightened ones, Shambhalla or Agharta, close to Mount Meru, which is the mountain that connects heaven and earth. Luz is thus a city of eternity, but then also “The Eternity-Netsah is Jerusalem, and the Hod is the Temple (Bavly, Berakhot 58a).

Abraham and Yitzhaq, in their encounters with God, built ad-hoc altars. Ya’aqov made new terms, more durable: a stone pillar that will stand as a sign, and more than that: a “House of God”.

“And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house”

When ya’aqov went to sleep, the stone was lying upon the earth under his head, and thus allowed his head to turn upwards, as he was dreaming about a ladder connecting heaven and earth. After he got up, deeply moved, he erected the stone vertically, which is not natural for stones and for most animals, but is in the image of the erect Adam (“Homo Erectus”), where the name for Adam is also from Adame le’Elyon (I shall resemble the High One”), and Adam-human is also “a small Temple”.

In the dedication of the stone to mark the future Temple there is also a sign for our times: the relocation of the Temple Axis, and of the Temple pattern that is in the Image of Man, from a horizontal to a vertical axis. It points that the future temple will be erect as a ladder and would connect the earthly Jerusalem with the Heavenly Temple.

This ritual action, in fact the founding of the Temple, should have been performed in pride and joy, But Ya’aqov did it in fear and trembling: “And he was afraid, and said, How awesome is this place! This is no other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven" (28:17). Also the words of the vow that Ya’aqov vowed there disclose his state at that moment. He was still full of fears and worries, and did not trust himself to be able to overcome the practical difficulties: “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and garment to put on, so that I come back to my father's house in peace”. For up to then he was a spoilt child who dwells in his mother’s tent.

Yet soon enough he had the opportunity for the first proof that he was capable of taking care of himself and for others, through a miracle that was connected with another stone.

The Dream Ladder and the Stone

Ya’aqov arrived at Luz already charged with the dream of “Yisrael”, which was authored by his grandmother, Sara the Matriarch. The dream was destined to become realized specifically at the Land of Israel. The dream that Ya’aqov himself dreamt, at his last touch with the soil of his motherland, was the dream of the ladder that rises to heaven through the Land of Israel, which is the navel of the earth.

Why was it specifically “Ya’aqov” who merited the dream of the ladder, and why did he merit to have it called after him? Because the ladder was the self-portrait, personal and general-human, of Ya’aqov. Above is situated his higher-self – who is called Yisra’el-Israel – situated in the midst of the ladder is the concept of “Yeshurun”, whom we still do not know at this stage, and the base of the ladder, which is placed upon the earth like a heal (Aqev), is "Ya’aqov”.

The stone symbolizes the actualization of the ladder through a physical facility – the future Temple. The erection of the standing stone is an obligation of Ya’aqov and his seed to build it. Therefore, Ya’aqov said “this is no other than the House of God, and this is the gate of heaven”, and then erected with his own hands the monument stone as a witness to it.

Ya’aqov, Yishma’el and Mohammed

Before we examine Ya’aqov’s sojourn in Haran, we should perhaps pay attention to the parallels between the exit of Ya’aqov from the land to Haran, to the sending away of Yishma’el on one hand, and the Hejira – the migration of the prophet of the Children of Yisma’el from Mecca – on the other hand.

Yishma’el was sent from Abraham’s house at the command of Sara, who worried that he may endanger her son Yitzhaq, whereas Ya’aqov was sent from the house of Yitzhaq to Haran at the behest of his mother Rivqah, who was afraid that his older brother would kill him. There is thus much similarity between the stories, but also difference, and this difference is accompanied by differences in their life stories in the following. Yishmael had to fend for himself completely, whereas Ya’aqov enjoyed the family hospitality of Laban (see below) that did cost him dearly, but brought him eventually a big family and much property. Yishmael returned to Canaan a few decades later, but only for a visit, to participate in the burial of Abraham, when he was already well established, and father of twelve sons that were destined for greatness, whereas Ya’aqov would return after twenty years, also well established, with much property and twelve sons, but in order to settle in the land. It is written, “And Ya’aqov dwelt in the land in which his father had sojourned” (37:1). As we already noted, and will also see in the following, this sojourn of Ya’aqov was important for his maturation.

Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, apparently attained prophecy through an experience of a heavenly ascent (via Jerusalem) through steps (Al-Mi’araj) that recall somewhat the ladder vision of Ya’aqov. Also Mohammed had to ‘get out of his country, and from his kindred, and from his father’s house’, in order to fulfil his mission. As long as he stayed in his hometown, Mecca, surrounded by the people of his tribe, there was not that much impression by his revelations, as is said “there is no prophet in his own town”. Only after he migrated (like Abraham) from Mecca to Medinah (where he also apparently first heard about Abraham), his mission and religion became established. Only after an exile of eight years arrived Mohammad’s hour to return triumphantly to Mecca and to establish there the sacred center of Islam, in conjunction with a special and long-sanctified stone – the black stone that is embedded in the wall of the shrine of the Ka’aba in Mecca. And thus, the black stone was added to the story of Ya’aqov’s stones.

According to the Moslem tradition and exegesis, Yishma’el-Ishmael lived at Mecca, whereas Mohammad arrived in “The Night Journey” (Al-Isra’) to Jerusalem. This way, there was opened an additional axis that leads to Jerusalem. Ya’aqov erected his stone pillars at Bet-El and the Gile’ad on the line that leads from Jerusalem to the house of Nahor at Haran, whereas Mohammad opened the Mecca-Jerusalem axis, which is of immense importance for our times. The Biblical narrative that leads to the setting and renewal of the Temple cannot be realized without including in the consideration the Mecca-Jerusalem axis, as marking the essence of the relationship between Judaism and Islam.

The first Temple was destroyed by enemies from Babel in the East, who arrived by the northern route that was marked by Ya’aqov (Out of the North the evil shall break forth” Jeremiah 1:14). The armies of Rome, who also arrived via Syria in the north, destroyed the Second Temple. It is possible to show that the turns over the generations of the relations of Ya’aqov and Esav opened the East (Jerusalem) – West (Rome) axis as the main axis for the relationship of Judaism and Christianity. Any plan for a “Third Temple” will have to express these axes, in order to give meaning to the symbolic relationship between Israel and Judaism to Christianity and to Islam, and the amelioration and perfection of these relationships in the new Temple.

Part II – Ya’aqov in Haran, and the Moving of the Stone off the Well

The Stone upon the Well

At Bet-El did Ya’aqov set up a stone, and at Haran Ya’aqov pulled out and removed the stone that was placed upon the well’s mouth. It is hard to know which stone was larger: the monolith, which must have been at least as high as a man’s stature, or the stone upon the well’s mouth at Haran. This stone is mentioned three-four times: “and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth”, “and there were all the flocks gathered, and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth… and put the stone back upon the well’s mouth in its place” (29:2-3), “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth” (29:8).

Ya’aqov arrived, charged with immense energies that were gathered within him since that pillar that he had placed at Bet-El, and he discharged them by rolling the stone upon the well’s mouth at Haran. The name “Haran” is an expression of dryness (like “Garon nihar” – dried throat), but Ya’aqov, as a token of what is to come, opened the apertures of her land. Compared with the pillar at Bet-El, which symbolized the ladder between earth and heaven; the stone at Haran blocked the passage between what is going on the ground and the depths and the water stored in the earth.

The meeting with Rahel by the Mouth of the Well.

“And it came to pass, when Ya’aqov saw Rahel the daughter of Lavan his mother’s brother” (29:10), the Bible doubles the words that show the affinity that was between them beforehand, in a manner that recalls the doubling in the mention of “take now thy son, thy only son Yitzhaq, whom thou lovest” (22:2). “And the sheep of Lavan his mother’s brother” (29:10) – also the sheep have an important part in the plot, which will increase along with the development of the story. The act of valor was done to impress Rahel, but it was done also for the sake of the sheep, to water them.

“That Ya’aqov went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth”

It used to require the combined strength of all the shepherds of Haran to roll the stone off the well’s mouth. But on the moment that Ya’aqov beheld Rahel, he turned into a strongman like Samson, and alone rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the sheep, in order to impress her. The sages say that he did it easily, “like one who removes the cork from the bottle” (Midrash Raba for Ecclesiastes, section 9).

But this show of valor was destined to lead him to a prolonged carrying of a yoke, for the course of the next twenty years. The voluntary slavery in herding the sheep, for the sake of Rahel, was the appropriate thing, as the name “Rahel” literally means “an ewe”. Rivqah - the meaning of whose name is a heiffer – was chosen because of her caring for Eliezer’s animals; Rahel would cause Ya’aqov a long and important connection with sheep.

“And (he) watered – vayashq – the flock of Lavan his mother’s brother. And Ya’aqov kissed – vayishaq – Rahel, and raised his voice, and wept”.

Ya’aqov is the one who introduced kisses into the world of the Patriarchs. The first kiss - Neshiqah - mentione din the Bible is the kiss of Ya’aqov to his father, to Yitzhaq – but that was a kiss stolen by cheating. Only after he watered – hishqah – the sheep of Lavan, his mother’s brother, he could legitimately continue “and he kissed – vayishaq – Rahel (his mother’s brother)”. To the sheep he gave water, to the woman he drew up the flow of his heart. This kiss made him an adult for the first time. Eventually, he would kiss his brother Esav, after the crossing of Yaboq, and this would complete his process of maturing and overcoming.

But soon enough it was found that Rahel was entailed with Lavan, that according to his mouth all will be decided – yishaq Davar.

Unlike Eli’ezer, who arrived at the house of Laban with camels loaded with expensive presents, Ya’aqov was the poor and needy nephew, who would become an exploited serf at his father in law’s house. How would he avoid becoming the most despised minor among Laban’s children? The answer was in his love to Rahel. In the mighty contention with Laban for twenty years, his weakness and his strength derive from this love.

The meeting by the well, which is the means of watering and vivifying the sheep, symbolized much of course: the well – which gives life – is the womb of the earth and is also Rahel herself, the desired woman. Ya’aqov exited from “Be’er-Sheva” – namely, “the Well of Seven”. According to the ARI’zl (sha’ar hapsuqim for “vayetse”), Ya’aqov is “Yesod (the 2^nd Sefirah from bottom, corresponding to the human genitals) of Abba (Father archetype/Partsuf) that is put into the Yesodof Imma (Mother archetype/Partsuf)”. This is explained in the sequel: “the Yesod of Imma is feminine, it is upturned to become a well, carved and hollow, nside which enters the said member, and therefore the female Yesod is always called ‘Well’”. His meeting with Rahel is by the mouth of the well at Haran.

The amazing earthly falling in love is, thus, the reflection of a cosmic event of erotic nature.

“And it came to pass, when Lavan heard the tidings of Ya’aqov his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him”

Who was Lavan? We have already met Lavan at Eli’ezer’s visit, where he ran to the well after he saw the presents that his sister received from the anonymous visitor.

On the face of it, Lavan is the punishment due for Ya’aqov, a measure for measure. Ya’aqov, who cheated (aqav) his brother, found a still greater cheater to contend with. It is easy to hate Lavan, but it seems as if the correction-Tikkun of the scheming Ya’aqov was precisely through the arch-villain Lavan. The Mekubalim found a clue that Lavan (meaning “White” in Hebrew) represents the highest influence, “The Superior Whiteness” (Loven ha’Elyon), which is too sublime for Ya’aqov’s mind, and which brings him to perform much beyond just what his heart would have desired.

The white color carries many meanings, which might be different in different cultures, but are always significant and primary. In general, white and red are regarded as signifying basic emotional conflict, and many national conflicts found their expression in the contention of the white color and red color[3]. The book of the Zohar starts with “the stanza of the Rose”, which compares the Spirit of Israel (Knesset Yisra’el) to a rose: just as the rose has both white and red, so Knesset Yisra’el has both the white of Mercy (Hesed) and the red of rigor (Gevurah).

The rose that is Knesset Yisra’el has thirteen petal, these are the tribes of Israel. Thre is a balancing of the qualities of the white and the red and their derivatives. In the former parashah, we saw the contention of Ya’aqov with Esav, the one who was characterized by the red color and was named after it. In this parashah, we learn of the rectification of Ya’aqov through contention with Lavan (namely “White”). In the late Kabbalah, the White is symbol for the figure of Abba-Father ans the Red a symbol for the figure of Imma-Mother.

The psychological meaning of this is that through his contention with Lavan, Ya’aqov strives with the Father Figure within himself. While that was Abraham who had bound Yitzhaq, here it was Lavan who bound Ya’aqov and tied him to the Merkavah – the “Chariot”/assembly of the Patriarchs.

Also the original flock of Lavan was apparently almost all white, and the seed for change was in just a few sheep with diverse patterns – streaked, speckled, spotted, or grizzled.

At first it seems that the meeting of Ya’aqov with his uncle was hearty, almost like his meeting with Rahel his daughter: Lavan ran towards him, hugged and kissed him, called him “my bone and my flesh” and “my brother” and seemed to be concerned for his welfare, asking him to name his wages.

But may note another thing about Lavan – he is referred by the Hebrew Bible as ha’Arami – “the Aramite” – which gives a hint, associating him, through word game, with Rama’i – a swindler.

“And Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rahel” (29:16).

Le’ah was the firstborn (bekhirah), but Rahel was the choice (behirah) of Ya’aqov. Le’ah inherited the invisible “Supernal Whiteness” of her father. She became the representative of Lavan in the house of Ya’aqov; whereas Rahel was the Red, the emotional. Ya’aqov – who could not get along with his brother Esav who was called “Edom” and characterized by the color Red (adom) – sought his complement and restitution (Tikkun) in his wife, that immediately at meeting her she filled him with intense feelings, symbolize3d by Red.

“And Jacob loved Rahel; and said, I will serve you seven years for Rahel your younger daughter”

At this stage, there were no negotiations yet. Ya’aqov enamoured and destitute Ya’aqov was ready to offer anything. The crafty Lavan must have understood that he could draw the deal more and more by cheating. After seven years he changed his wages and stealthily brought him Le’ah. After this change was discovered, Lavan made Ya’aqov work for additional seven years for Rahel.

Ya’aqov received his punishment from Lavan, a measure for measure: he posed as his brother and came to his blind father – who lived in darkness – to take the coveted blessing for himself, whereas Le’ah came to him in the darkness, posing as her sister. The initiative for Ya’aqov’s masquerading was his mother, Rivqah, the initiator of Leah’s masquerading was her father, Lavan, Ya’aqov’s mother’s brother.

But like Esav, who nevertheless was also blessed, so was Ya’aqov who was detained from his desire by cheating, destined to marry also the younger sister and also the maids of both sisters. What was formed through this mighty contention of sisters was the pattern of the Twelve Tribes, which the House of Yitzhaq has not yet succeeded to realize.

“And he went in also to Rahel, and he loved also Rahel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years. And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb; but Rahel was barren”.

Apparently, Ya’aqov would have been content with one son from his beloved wife. He might have done nothing even if his beloved wife had stayed barren. It was the circumstances, the cunning of providence, which brought him to engage so much in the first command given to Adam and his wife “be fruitful and multiply”. Le’ah, the elder sister, knew that she was not loved by her husband, but knew how to become “the mother of the sons”.

It was in fact Lavan’s cunning, together with the sisters’ contention among them, that brought to the realization of the divine plan about the pattern of Twelve.

The Contention of Le’ah and Rahel

In telling the story of Ya’aqov, the Bible leaves its usual and reserved style, in order to tell a passionate love story. The real heavy emotional drama, which is just hinted at, but is easy to understand, is about what passed between the sisters from the moment that Ya’aqov fell in love with Rahel. While Ya’aqov was struggling with Lavan, whom he was serving, the sisters struggled over Ya’aqov’s bed and the right to beget, and spurned no means to succeed where the matriarchs that preceded them failed. More precisely, they learnt to make the mental sacrifices necessary for the founding of Israel, the sacrifice in giving the maid to their husbands in their place, a sacrifice that was also made by Sarah, but she never really reconciled with it. The two sisters did it wholeheartedly. “The Original Sin” of envy among brothers connected with sacrificing property was first restituted among the matriarchs-sisters, that while they did envy each other they made a mutual creation.

The birth of the twelve happened in three stages, or “waves”, four sons in each stage. First, Le’ah bore four sons, and at that stage the beloved Rahel recognized her failure and complained before Ya’aqov.

“And when Rahel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rahel envied her sister; and said to Ya’aqov, Give me children, or else I die. And Ya’aqov’s anger was kindled against Rahel; and he said, Am I in God's place, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb? And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in to her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.” (30:1-3).

Through te open competition that broke between the two sisters, both of them did as Sarah had done, and gave their maids to their husband. In this protracted struggle among the ladies, the boundaries between lady and maid got severed, and what was not possible at Abraham’s with Sarah and Hagar, became possible at Ya’aqov’s. As each one of the sisters went on and gave her maid to her husband, she regarded the sons of the maid as an additio 8 When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he set apart the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the people of Israel.n to her power. They accepted the sons of the maids as their own sons. The contending sisters did in fact reconcile with each other, complemented each other in building together the vessel that could contain the Twelve Tribe of Israel as a model for redemptive agency.

Rahel was the first. Through despairing of giving birth she agreed to be built from Bil’hah: “Behold my maid Bilhah, go in to her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.” This way were born Dan and Naphtali, who have to do with Din-Judgement and Naftulim-wrestlings.

When Le’ah realized that the race is on, but that she stopped conceiving, she too overcame her natural urge and gave to Ya’aqov her own maid, Zilpah. From this union came Gad and Asher, both signs of blessing and abundance.

At that stage, the four tribes have already turned into eight. What has been gained can be appreciated by geometrical analysis: with four rods[4] it is possible to form a square assembly, a form that describes a surface, but it lacks volume and cannot contain “depth”. The minimal 3 dimensional structure (or “vessel”-Kli) that can be built of rods is of six rods (a Tetrahedron). With eight rods, it is possible to build a square pyramid, and with twelve rods, it is possible to build a cube (or an octahedron), which is a structure (namely a vessel) that can contain much more blessing.

In order to attain the perfection of the twelve and the cube, there came “the Mandrake affair” and gave the last addition that included another four tribes, and especially added – hoseph – the House of Yoseph.

The Case of the Mandrakes in the field

“And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rahel said to Leah, Give me, I beg you, of your son's mandrakes. And she said to her, Is it a small matter that you have taken my husband? and would you take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rahel said, Therefore he shall lie with you to night for your son's mandrakes. And Ya’aqov came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, You must come in to me; for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night. And God listened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Ya’aqov the fifth son.

The hectic story of fertility at the tents of Ya’aqov tarries for a moment on the scene of the mandrakes, in which the sisters repeat – in reverse – the scene of the brothers Ya’aqov and Esav, who held negotiations concerning a potage and senior birthrights. Esav sold the firstborn right, which is a long term proposition, for the price of a momentary desire for a potage; Rahel sold one night of pleasure with her husband, for the price of the mandrakes – a possible remedy for her bareness and the continuation of her bloodline. The outcome of these selling and buying is the birth of three additional children to Le’ah, and a first son for Rahel.

The finding of the mandrakes in the field opened anew the struggle that only came to a halt when Le’ah, “the mother of the children”, gave birth to six, but also the barren Rahel gained two sons. The finding of the mandrakes in the field aroused in Rahel a renewed hope for a child from her own womb, and reopened for Le’ah an entrance to the tent of Ya’aqov. What was there in those mandrakes, that they returned the pungent smell of desire to the arid tents? In the Bible, the mandrakes appear only once more – in the Song of Songs (7:14) – where it says: “The mandrakes give a fragrance, and at our gates are all manner of fruits, new and old”. The mandrakes have both fruit and a large root, shaped like a human body, and the belief is that the roots of the mandrake and its fruit raise desire for fertility.

It was Re’uven who found the mandrakes, and it is likely that this was apposite. The soul of Re’uven has a quality related to the mandrake fruit, the arouser of passion. This was the same Re’uven about whom it was said: “thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then thou didst defile it: he went up to my couch” (49:4), and in that same blessing-curse Ya’aqov regarded him as “unstable as water”. In the system of the Kabbalah, Reuven is associated with “The Water Element”. His natural course of ascent is that of passion => Love (Ahavah)=> Will (Yahav) => Being (YHWH as “Name of HaWaYaH, in the combination of H-W-H- Y[5]

The finding of the mandrakes is the first event that marks leadership among the brothers. The fruit of passion that her son gave her, granted Le’ah a renewed access to Ya’aqov’s bed, and a double fruit: the permission granted by Rahel was apparently for one time. But the birth of two additional sons and of a daughter shows that this could not have been a unique occasion. Re’uven brought here to himself a leadership position which is associated with lovemaking, with love and grace. Eventually, “the Flag of the Camp of Re’uven” will be associated with southern sector of the camping of the twelve tribes around the tabernacle (the South side is associated in the Kabbalah with Hesed-Grace and Love).

Le’ah, from her side, made a sacrifice. Yielding the mandrakes to her sister was in fact her own symbolic redemption from infertility. It was precisely when she yielded the symbol of fertility to her sister, she regained fertility for herself, mated with Ya’aqov and immediately conceived and bore him another son.

The fertility attribute of these mandrakes had thus its effect with both the sisters, and at last, the womb of the barren Rahel opened and she gave birth to Yoseph. The meaning here of this name “Yoseph” is expressly a double meaning – both the taking away – Asifah – of her reproach (30:23), as well as the prayer for the future addition – yosiph – by the Lord of another son (30:24). In this sense, also the birth of Binyamin, years later, was connected with the birth of Yoseph and the case of the mandrakes that Rahel received from her elder sister.

The Birth of Yoseph

The miracle of the opening of Rahel’s womb was preceded, as we noted, by three births by Le’ah. “And God hearkened to Le’ah, and she conceived, and bore Ya’aqov a fifth son” (30:17), “And Le’ah conceived again, and bore Ya’aqov a sixth son” (30:19).

And afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah. And God remembered Rahel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived and bore a son,; and said, God has taken away my reproach. And she called his name Yoseph; and said, The Lord shall add to me another son” (30:21-24).

It was specifically the birth of the one daughter, Dinah, which opened what was closed and barred among the sisters. The birth of Dinah was a sign for the birth of Yoseph, to God’s remembrance of Rahel and for opening her womb.

At that stage, Yoseph was Rahel’s only son, and the other sons, the sons of Le’ah and of the maids, were distanced from Yoseph by various degrees. In the next parashah we shall see how the original contention and envy among the sisters passed to the next generation and were translated to the scenes of contention and envy pf Yoseph’s brothers to him.

Motherhood-Games and Leadership-Struggles in Israel.

The name of this parashah is “vaYetse”, and its subject matter is the realization (hotsa’ah lapo’al) of the plan to prepare the pioneering-nation for a new humankind. The essential quality of this nation is its being formed in the pattern of the twelve brother-tribes, to the mellowing (Mituk, literally “sweetening) the envy and severe competition among brothers since the times of Kayin-Cain and Hevel-Abel. But as we have already observed in the struggles between brothers of this lineage, between Yishma’el and Yitzhaq and especially between the twin brothers Ya’aqov and Esav, the actual emergence of the twelve is taking place through – and from – struggle.

The struggle took place first between the sisters Rahel and Le’ah, and they boty enlisted for their aid also the maids that they received from their father Lavan. They were fighting over the inheritance and material possessions for their sons, but were also fighting over the seniority in the future Nation of Israel, the leadership in, and the kingdom over, it.

The parashah tells of the strivings of the sisters, that bring to the establishment of the camping of four wives that surround the father of the tribes and to bringing to the world the twelve inheritors (the twelfth, Binyamin, would be born later). In the following become clarified the three figures of candidates for leadership among the twelve: Re’uven, Yehudah-Judah and Yoseph, and there is also hinted the possibility for seniority of Dan from among the sons of the maids (though the explanation of this seniority would come only later, in the story of Shimshon-Samson in the Book of Judges).

In the striving between Le’ah and Rahel, the weapons were beauty and fertility. The style of the struggle was dictated by the customs of that period, but the emotions and their intensity are still meaningful today. With every son she bore, the mother gained a credit point. The struggle against the sister - the feminine version of the Biblical brothers-conflicts that were already examined – was so strong, that it could overcome the potential struggle with the maid who bears an inheritor. The mothers’ envy that poisoned the relations of Yitzhaq and Yishma’el already does not flare up in the new vessel that was formed.

The parallel for our times would be if each one of the parties that would fight over the leadership of Israel (say, as example, “the Right” and “the Left”), would enlist assisting tribes from among parties currently regarded as being outside of the Israeli identity – possibly foreign workers from one hand and Palestinians on the other hand. In this context, there would be a great significance for the possibility of organizing the contemporary Israel as a confederation of twelve tribes, which allows flexibility in apportioning resources and civic rights to their members. (We shall discuss these issues more in the “Conclusions” chapter).

The Names of the Tribes and the Structure of their Covenant

Parashat va’Yetse gives an account of the order of the emergence – yetsi’ah la’Olam - of the tribes, and this order hints at an order for the components of a larger whole. The emergence of the tribes is, as noted, in three stages of four each.

In naming her first four sons, Le’ah related them to the divine by basic attributes: Re’uben, namely Re’u-Ben – “see a son” – through sight; Shim’on through Shmi’ah – hearing; Levi through accompaniment Livuy; and Yehudah through thanking-confessing – hodayah-hoda’ah. The appropriate leadership of Israel should be selected from these qualities – a Vision, as the Children of Israel might have aquied at Sinai but did not; Hearing Shmi’ah, which connotes discipline-Mishma’at; the work of the Levites in clinging to God-Hitla’vut; or admssion-confession-Hoda’yah which has to do with humility.

The first four are the sons of Le’ah. An immediate and flowing divine grace brought about a typical and whole Merkavah-assembly. The order of Reuven-Shim’on-Levi-Yehudah is parallel to the structure of the Merkavah of the patriarchs – Abraham-Yitzhaq-Ya’aqov-David – and they occupy in this assembly the same relative positions of Right-Left-Back-Leading. They are placed at the top part of the ladder that is being formed, building in fact from heaven downwards. But the position of Yehudah would be determined through descent, “And… Yehudah went down from his brothers, and turned in…” (Gen. 38:1), and he therefore also rules on the earthly plain and leads it with a heavenly intelligence, which is transferred through the structure of this “Israeli Merkavah”.

The Twelve Tribes as ordered in Ya’aqov’s Ladder and the Circle

In the interpretation of the Zohar to parashat va’Yetse, and especially from Saba deMishpatim (“Grand-daddy of Judgements” – see Appendix B), the twelve tribes are arrayed in the pattern of a human figure as follows: Re’uven corresponding with the Sefira of Hesed, Shim’on with Din-Judgement – as two hands: right and left. Levi with the Lev-heart and connects (accompanies-melave) between them, and Yehudah as corresponding with the Sefirah of Malkhut, which corresponds with the soles of the feet. Yisaskhar and Zevulun are regarded as corresponding to the Sefirot of Netsah and of Hod, whose symbol in the human figure is the two thighs: right and left – all these are the sons of Le’ah. Yoseph and Binyamin, the sons of Rahel, both correspond to the Sefirah of Yesod, and to the genitals, one in the exterior, and one in the interior. The four sons of the maids Bilhah and Zilpah are regarded as the joints of the two legs, upon which stands the human stature[6] and his ability to walk and to make an exit from the bloody mire that we are all sinking into in this land.

But all these (representing a somewhat hierarchical arrangement), apply to the first stage, of the exit and of Parashat va’Yetse. In the next stage (that starts with Parashat va’Yeshev – “sitting” or settling), the twelve tribes aught to be arrayed according to their equitable settlement pattern in their land, a situation that is represented ideally by the order of the camping of the tribes around the Tabernacle[7], and is the pattern of the New Jerusalem (as we have shown in several places above).

This new stage starts by an action of contraction – Tsimtsum – in which each side yields a sacred precinct that becomes the common domain for all the tribes and is maintained only by the Levites, those who accompany – mitlavim – to serve in it. In practice, the domains of the tribes are shaped by the geographic constraints of the Land of Israel, but even that arrangement echoes the order of the tribes around the Tabernacle. From the vision of the prophet Ezekiel we see that when the future Temple is considered, each tribe has its exclusive gate to enter into the sacred domain of the multi-national New Israel entity and a sufficient space to come to in order to celebrate its holidays in Jerusalem.

The Tribes and their Meaning for the Future

The complex relationships between Ya’aqov-Yisra’el and the four mothers of the tribes that are described in Parashat va’Yetse mark for us nowadays possible and reasonable ways for the formation of the future Tribes of Israel from the “mixed multitudes” of the residents of the contemporary land of Israel (and Palestine) and of those who come to the land with feelings of holiness. We shall discuss this more in the Summary and Conclusions chapter, but following are a few outline possibilities.

In our time, there is in the land a majority that is build of Judah and his brothers, who see themselves as “Jews” – even though only a minority among them agrees to the definitions of Rabbinical Judaism. It is possible to differentiate from these Jews and those who may want to convert to Judaism some half a dozen tribes. Then there is the large Arab minority, which is in practice in the status of “Sons f the Maids”, who regard themselves as “sons of Hagar” Yishmaelites, but who are different from the rest of the Arabs in their connection to the Holy Land and to Jerusalem. In addition to these two major groups, there are many potential-Israelites, “sons of Yoseph” who want to be added – yaseph – to Yisra’el-Israel. These may come from various kinds of “Christian Zionists” (people with affinity to Jesus-Yeshu’a ben Yoseph). The additional “mixed multitudes”, made mainly of foreign workers, would be able to form a tribe by their identification, or join existing tribes.

It is possible to find stories and lineage accounts that show that the new joiners to Israel derive from “The Ten Lost Tribes” that were exiles, or even from among former people of Judah-Judea who did not want to leave the land at any costs (this is the true historic story of the majority of the currently so-called “Palestinians”). Such lineage accounts are useful for raising the argument, but the essential thing is the feeling of belonging and heartfelt identification with Zion and Jerusalem, and the willingness to come into the covenant of the New Israel.

What the inner narrative of Genesis grants us is clues about the whole (holist-holy) structure, which integrates all these tribes, and the processes by which they are given birth – and rebirth.

The Spiritual Moves of Ya’aqov between Le’ah and Rahel

“Jacob’s Ladder” (Sulam Ya’qov) symbolizes and represents, as noted, the cosmic process of the interactions “between heaven and earth”, a space that contains many worlds. “Jacob’s Ladder”, we also noted, is the full human stature, that represents Ya’aqov and in fact each one of us. In the system of symbols of the Kabbalah, Ya’aqov represents the Sefirah of Tif’eret (also called Rahamim-Compassion), Rahel (the earthly one, symbolized by the moon) represents the Sefirah of Malkhut, that pertains to materializing and entering This World (manifest and sensate), and Le’ah represents the Sefirah of Binah[8] that belongs to Olam haNistar – the Hidden World. This symbolism, which was introduced in the Zohar, was developed in the Lurianic Kabbalah into the chief cosmic drama and detailed into very precise procedures.

Very tersely, the relationships of Ya’aqov with the two sisters can be represented through the ladder pattern of the human soul as consisting of three layers: Nefesh (mundane Soul), Ru’ah (Spirit) and Neshamah (Divine, Eternal Soul). Ya’aqov-Yisra’el is the level of Ru’ah, which takes pains between preferring relating with the Nefesh or relating with the Neshamah. Such simplified model can be translated to many of the personality theories prevalent in psychology; for example the TA model of Eric Berne of the trinity of “Parent, Adult, Child” (which derives from the Trinitarian model of Freud of “Id, Ego, Super-Ego”). From this model it can be seen that Ya’aqov’s spiritual movements between Rahel and Le’ah are a representation of the spiritual maturation of Ya’aqov – as of any person. In the terms of the Kabbalah, the ascent of the ladder from the bottom up, which is the Ascent of Man, is called “The Raising of Ma’N” (acronym for Mayim Nuqbin – “Feminine Waters”), whereas the drawing down of the Divine Vitality (Hayut), such as seen by the angels descending from heaven, is the divinization of Man.

The relationships of Ya’aqov with his two wives are represented in the Lurianic Kabbalah as movements in the spiritual ladder of the Sefirot and the Partsufim. Positioned upon the main ladder of the Sefirot, Ya’aqov hangs behind the Sefirah of Tif’eret that is differentiated into the configuration of Partsuf Ze’er Anpim (“The Small Face of God”), where Le’ah faces him on the level that corresponds to from his chest up, whereas Rahel faces him on the level that corresponds to from his chest down.

The Negotiations of Ya’aqov and Lavan.

After the birth of Yoseph, the son of the beloved wife Rahel, Ya’aqov’s affinity to the earth strengthened, and he decided to return to his land and his father’s house. At this stage, he was already able to negotiate with Lavan. Both of them were suspicious and did not trust each other, and therefore Ya’aqov suggested a method of proving that he would not steal sheep from Lavan. He would select the sheep that have varius marks on their fur, “So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when thou shalt come to see my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me” (30:33).

In this manner starts a long and twisted story, which is repeated and recounted in many details, and recalls the long conversation of Abraham’s slave about the camels. The contention of Ya’aqov and Lavan takes place over the cattle, and we – who have hardly learnt about the characteristics of Ya’aqov’s wives – come to repeat and learn in minute details all about the shapes of the spots of the beasts. Only at the last round we learn the secret, that Ya’aqov had dreamt a prophetic dream from “I Am the God of Bet-El, where thou didst anoint a pillar, and where thou didst vow a vow to me” (31:13), a dream that was dedicated, of all things, to the breeding of the cattle (and to the exit from Haran to his homeland). This apparently-marginal mention hints at something that upturns all the order of the worlds that we have learnt up to now.

In the course of the narrative, there are given many and various descriptions to the spots on the animals’ furs, but in the recounting of the dream there is given the formula “streaked, speckled and grizzled” (Aqudim, Nekudim u’Berudim). In the course of the generations, the Jewish Biblical exegesis came to attribute to this detail most profound secrets concerning the worlds that preceded This World of ours. In the Lurianic Kabbalah we learn that this was the order of cosmological development: “The World-Olam of the Aqudim, Olam ha’Nekudim and Olam ha’Berudim. The first two worlds were “worlds of Chaos” (Olamot Tohu), whereas the last is “The World of Rectification” – Olam ha’Tikkun[9].

One may wonder why should these cosmological secrets be hinted at in this very earthly context of acquiring cattle. But it seems that the two dreams of Ya’aqov are in some respects the same dream. In many cases that a contemporary person is taken by the urge to prophecy (or “channel”), he (or more likely, she) is likely to have visions about ancient, antediluvian, continents, such as “Atlantis” and “Lemuria”, that disappeared under the waves in prehistoric times. We have already seen that Ya’aqov was given a dream where he saw heavenly worlds. It seems as if now, when his head was full of concerns of property and cattle, it was not the heavens that opened to him, but the hidden strata below the earth and the energies in them. The powers of fertility in the earth are connected, it seems, to primordial and ancient powers, which are called in the Kabbalah Orot ha’Tohu (“Lights of Chaos”) and they are connected in the divinity to the emergence of “The Name of Be’N” (“Son”, of the gematric value (52) of the Miluy-“Filling” of the Name of YHWH in the letters of Y’od H’eh W’aw H’eh) which is also called Behema Raba (“The Great Beast” – as the word “Beast”-BeHeMaH has the same gematria value of 52 as the word “Son”-BeN).

Within this complex world model, Ya’aqov-Yisra’el is the Universal Man who builds the World of Rectification, and he is found in mutual affinities both with “Le’ah”, who is the Sefirah of Binah and Partsuf Imma (“The Mother Archetype” as Le’ah is “The Mother of the Children – Em ha’Banim) that is the hidden and covert world, as well as with “Rahel” who is the Shekhinah, the Sefirah of Malkhut and Partsuf haNukba (The Feminine Face of God) which