Torah from around the world #192

Learning from Jacob, the Weekend Warrior of Faith // Parashat Vayetzei (Genesis 28 !"#$2 $% by Rabbi Gary M. Bretton-Granatoor, Vice President, Philanthropy, World Union for Progressive J dais! "here is a pop lar e#pression$ %&n every life a little rain ! st fall.' "hat is not only tr e, b t very ! ch reflected in the philosophy and the teachings of J dais!. J dais! is an i!!inently practical and rational religio s faith (hich evinces a )een nderstanding of the h !an condition. "his is best de!onstrated, for e#a!ple, at perhaps the !ost *oyf l event anyone can e#perience in one+s life , a (edding. -nd ho( does this re!ar)able and *oyf l celebration end. &t ends (ith the brea)ing of a glass. "here are h ndreds of b bba!einses or fairy tales that are sed to describe the reason for the incl sion of the brea)ing of the glass, !ost of the! silly at best. /o(ever, a st dy of the c sto! reveals that the brea)ing of the glass is a !o!entary recognition of the fact that at this, the !ost *oyf l of !o!ents in one+s life, (e cannot ever forget that life (ill deal s blo(s, that there (ill be !o!ents of pain and sorro( and no( let+s get bac) to the celebration that is life. "he brea)ing of the glass in a sense is a prayer , a prayer that those !o!ents of pain that (e (ill, in fact, e#perience, are as short-lived as the ti!e it ta)es to s!ash the glass and the *oy and the passions that (e feel in life (ill be ! ch !ore s staining. "hat is o r prayer. "hat is o r hope. -nd often, that is the case. B t (e also )no( that there are those (ho are plag ed by dar) !o!ents (here their faith is tried and pain see!s not to abate. "hat is precisely the position that o r patriarch, Jacob, finds hi!self in this (ee)+s "orah portion. /e+s in fear for his life for his tric)ery and deceptiveness in gaining his father+s blessing over his brother, 0sa , has finally co!e to ha nt hi!. /is !other sends hi! o t of the fa!ily ho se for fear that 0sa +s anger (ill (rec) revenge not * st on Jacob b t the entire e#tended fa!ily. "he pain that Jacob e#periences is real and palpable and it (o ld have been i!possible for Jacob to sin) any lo(er in despair. "he te#t then tells s that Jacob ca!e to a place and he !ade a pillo( o t of one of the roc)s and lay do(n to sleep. 1 t of his despair, he drea!ed a drea! and in it he sa( a ladder that connected heaven and earth and angels (ere going do(n it and p it. "his drea! (as a !essage that there is a lin) bet(een heaven and earth and God (as (atching over hi!. -nd God cared. -nd (hen Jacob a(o)e he

declared, %2 rely God (as in this place and & , & did not )no( it.' Rabbi -braha! &saac 3 ), &srael+s first 4hief Rabbi, ta ght that this state!ent reveals Jacob+s sorro(, for he believes that he is so c rsed he co ldn+t possibly deserve this gift of the !essage of God+s providence, that this (as an ndeserved gift , a gift that (as not the res lt of hard (or) or labor. -nd had he tr ly )no(n, had he tr ly believed, he (o ld have done so!ething !ore (ith his life in his (a)ing ho rs to deserve the blessings of God. "his scene is f rther echoed in the Psal!s in (hich the psal!ist says, %1 t of the depths & call to yo , 1 God.' 5Psal! 6789 /o( often do (e, in o r dar)est !o!ents, all of a s dden find a faith that see!s to diffic lt to e#press (hen life see!s good for s. /o( often in !o!ents of pain do (e find prayer easy b t in ti!es of *oy (e find prayer silly. Jacob finds God in the dar)est ti!es of his life. -nd even then he is so ! ch li)e all of s beca se despite this revelation, this re!inder that God is loo)ing over s, he does not yet have !at re faith. -fter his dar)ness is lifted and after he has erected a !ar)er to sanctify the place (here this revelation occ rs, he says, %&f God re!ains (ith !e, if God protects !e on this *o rney that & a! !a)ing and gives !e food to eat and clothing to (ear and if & ret rn safe to !y ancestral ho!e, then -donai shall be !y God.' 5Genesis :;$:89 /is grip on faith is ten o s and conditional at best once this dar) clo d is lifted. Jacob is so ! ch li)e all of s. When (e cli!b o t of the depths, faith see!s less i!portant. B t (e sho ld se the story of Jacob as an ob*ect lesson, as an e#a!ple of (hat (e ! st overco!e$ (e ! st overco!e o r conditional faith (ith (hich so !any of s live. /o( !any of s have stopped to say a blessing (hen so!ething (onderf l happens in o r lives. /o( often do (e pat o rselves on the bac) for o r l c) or c nning or brilliance or strength of (ill (hen (e s cceed. &n o r !o!ents of greatest *oy (e are !ost alone beca se (e are !ost pridef l of o r acco!plish!ents. -nd yet it is in o r !o!ents of fail re that (e see! capable of reaching o t and finding God or at least beginning the < est for God. -s & gro( older, & can+t help b t !arvel at (hat so!e of s do to grab hold of o r fleeting !o!ents of yo th. "here are people & )no( (ho! (e call %(ee)end (arriors.' -ll (ee) long they sit behind a des), sedentary. -nd then, for an ho r or t(o on the (ee)end, they try to recapt re the glories of their yo th in a br tal ga!e of bas)etball, football or soccer, only to h rt their bodies and br ise their egos. 1n the other hand, there are people & )no( (ho go o t every day, )eeping their bodies in shape, r nning or (or)ing o t, ta)ing care of the!selves. -nd (hen the opport nity co!es to e#ert the!selves, the effort is easy, for they have already conditioned their

bodies. Prayer is li)e that. "hose of s (ho don+t practice it, find it diffic lt to do. -nd o r sporadic atte!pts see! fr itless and nnat ral. =et those (ho (or) at it$ !a)e prayer and the recognition of God+s presence in o r lives a reg lar habit, see! better able to do it both in !o!ents of pain and in !o!ents of great *oy. Jacob (as the (ee)end (arrior of the faithf l. /e (as not adept, and his !o!ents of transcendent recognition see! forced and conditional. &t ta)es Jacob a lifeti!e to learn the lessons that (e sho ld all learn no(, that (e can at any !o!ent in o r life say %God is in this place and & )no( it>' "his (e do in co!! nity as (e gather together in (orship and prayer. "his (e do in the !o!ents of o r *oy, (hen instead of feeling l c)y, (e teach o rselves to feel blessed. -nd this (e do in o r dar) !o!ents (hen (e need the strength to go on, and the ability to battle the loneliness that (e all feel at o r lo( points (ith the affir!ation that (e are not alone and (e are loved. We are B+nai =a+a)ov. We are the children of Jacob, (ho in his better !o!ents beco!es &srael, as he str ggles to brea) o t of the habits that drag hi! do(n. -nd (e aspire to be li)e Jacob in his better !o!ents (hen he is &srael, (hich is (hy (e say that (e are B+nai =israel. J dais! is e!inently practical and is a faith very ! ch based pon the h !an condition , a condition that finds each of s, thro gho t o r lives, faced (ith *oys and sorro(s, and a faith that enco rages s and teaches s to recogni?e that in every !o!ent, both good and bad, God is in this place and it o r responsibility, and o r privilege, to )no( it.