While the Torah is filled with stories of rivalrous siblings and family dysfunction, this week's portion, Vayetze, takes the cake. Jacob is fleeing from his brother Esau after having swindled him of his inheritance as first-born son. The conditions of this contract prove long in their fulfillment, as Jacob is swindled by his uncle Laban into giving fourteen years of labor to gain two wives, Leah and Rachel. Surely, he regards us as outsiders . . .
Traditional commentators indicate, however, that more is at stake here than material wealth.
Even on his deathbed, Jacob will use blessings and curses to sow seeds of rivalry among his sons. Similar issues are confronting the American Jewish community as we today endure an enormous generational transfer of wealth. The new style tends to be values-based, but in an individualistic way. There is a hunger for Jewish philanthropy to be rooted in contemporary interpretations of Jewish religious and historical values. Parshat Vayetze affirms that generational differences in Jewish life are inevitable, as each generation encounters God and apprehends its covenantal task at its own time and place.