Parashat VaYetze, Gen. 28:10-32:3

This week's parasha has been sponsored in loving memory of Lisa Posluns, daughter and sister of Margie Posluns, Jeff and Helen Posluns-Kerbal.

Kolel appreciates its weekly sponsors. To sponsor a parasha, click here.

 

Burying Our Idols.

Study with Baruch Sienna

 

The parasha of VaYetze covers the entire 20 years of Jacob's self imposed exile in Aram. The portion begins with his flight to Aram, and concludes with his return to Canaan. In this week's portion we read of his marriage (and Laban's deception) to Rachel and Leah, the birth of Jacob's children, and the growing conflict between Jacob and his father-in-law, Laban. When things come to a head, Jacob decides 'enough is enough' and hoping to avoid another confrontation, without saying good-bye, furtively leaves with his family. Laban pursues him and after one last verbal dispute, the two make a pact. They erect a stone pillar, or cairn, (matzevah in Hebrew) at Gilad. Jacob calls it 'Gal Ed' (the hill of witness), and true to character, Laban (the Aramean) calls it the Aramaic equivalent 'Yegar Sahaduta,' the only Aramaic words in the Torah. (Aramaic was spoken by the Jews later -- the Kaddish, for example is in Aramaic-- and there are other Aramaic words in the Bible; the book of Daniel is largely in Aramaic.)

The stone pillar is recalled in another story recorded in the book of Joshua (chapter 24):

Thereupon Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have by your own act chosen to serve Adonai.” “Yes, we are!” they responded. “Then put away the alien gods that you have among you and direct your hearts to the Adonai, the God of Israel.” And the people declared to Joshua, “We will serve none but Adonai our God, and we will obey none but God.” On that day at Shechem, Joshua made a covenant for the people and he made a fixed rule for them. Joshua recorded all this in a book of divine instruction. He took a great stone and set it up at the foot of the oak/terebinth in the sacred precinct of the LORD; and Joshua said to all the people, “See, this very stone shall be a witness against us, for it heard all the words that Adonai spoke to us; it shall be a witness against you, lest you break faith with your God.”

In the book of Joshua, the stone pillar is a witness that the people of Israel agreed to forsake any alien gods and pledge their undivided loyalty to Adonai. The Genesis narrative parallels the Joshua account; in Gen. 35 Jacob disposes of the alien gods. "They gave to Jacob all the alien gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the terebinth that was near Shechem. " (Gen. 35:4) Note the parallels: (terebinth-- a large tree in the pistachio family, Shechem, stone pillars).


Where did these 'alien gods' come from? Before Jacob's family leaves, Rachel steals the family's household idols, the teraphim. The word is translated as 'household gods' or idols, or simply transliterated. The Hebrew word is obscure, but probably refers to small figurines that were thought to represent the deities that protected the house similar to the Penates in Roman mythology. The word only appears in the 'majestic' plural form, even when referring to only one (like the word Elohim). Although the word teraphim sounds like 'treifah' which coincidentally also appears in the narrative in verse 39, the two words are not related, (like the words Torah and Haftarah), the former is spelled with a 'tuf' and the latter with a 'tet.' Teraphim are mentioned in Judges (18) and First Samuel (19) and several times described in the prophets as some kind of oracle ('For the king of Babylon has stood at the fork of the road, where two roads branch off, to perform divination: He has shaken arrows, consulted teraphim, and inspected the liver' Ezek. 21:26). From the various descriptions, we learn that they were in the shape of a man, but obviously small enough to be concealed in a camel cushion. Michal laid one on a bed covered in a cloth to fool Saul's men that David was there. The teraphim were outlawed in the religious reforms of Josiah (II Kings 23:24). The midrash gruesomely describes them as pickled 'shrunken heads' that were hung on the wall.

We do not know why Rachel stole the teraphim. It would not be inconceivable that Rachel still loved these objects as a reminder of home and her childhood. Did Rachel take them for protection on their journey? Josephus (first century CE) reports that it was the custom "among all the people of that country to have objects of worship in their house and to take them along when going abroad." This would explain Laban's anger at being left without protection. Others understand her actions to indicate that Jacob now had full ownership of his possessions. The teraphim might have reflected legal status of family and property rights just as 'getting the keys' from the real estate agent means that the house is now officially yours.

Whatever the reason, it seems clear that for Rachel these objects had some meaning or power, and she wished to bring them with her to the new land. But she would not succeed. Laban makes the serious accusation that Jacob has stolen his 'gods' and Jacob, not aware of Rachel's subterfuge, rashly vows, 'anyone who finds your idols shall not remain alive.' Even though Laban does not in fact find the teraphim, and the Torah does not criticize Rachel's actions, Jacob's vow sadly comes true. Ironically, just a dozen verses after Jacob disposes of the idols and buries them under the terebinth of Shechem, Rachel dies. Like in a Greek tragedy, Rachel, disloyal to her father, dies in childbirth, and is buried en route to Ephrat. She is the only matriarch not buried in the Cave of Machpelah.

Laban's frantic search through Jacob's possessions foreshadows the suspenseful scene with Joseph's cup and Benjamin (the two children of Rachel), and a similar vow "whichever of your servants it is found with shall die..." (Gen. 44:9). The midrash makes this connection explicit. When the goblet is found in Benjamin's sack, according to the Midrash, "the brothers pummeled Benjamin, saying, 'O thief, son of a she-thief! You have disgraced us. Your are a true son of your mother-- even so did your mother disgrace our father.' "

Whether out of love for these objects, or to hurt her father, in either case, Rachel would be acting because she believed that these idols had some significance. The Rabbis, however, turn this on its head, and suggest that in fact she stole the idols to prevent Laban from worshipping them. Indeed, defiling them by sitting on them (especially if she had her period as she suggests) is ridiculing the pagan gods. This last idea is pursued by the Hatam Sofer, who re-interprets Jacob's vow: "anyone who finds your idols [will realize that they, the idols]  will not live (ie. are not alive)." Rachel knew that her future lay with her husband, but she still hoped to carry her past with her. Moving forward sometimes requires the radical act of burying the idols of our childhood.

 

Shabbat Shalom.

BDS