וַיֵּצֵא
VaYetze / And He Went Out
Genesis 28:10-32:2
HafTorah Portion Hosea 12:13-14:9
Brit Chadasha John 1:43-51

   Is strength merely being strong? VaYetze opens with an example of strength through humility in Genesis 28:10-17.  The last two verses state: ‘When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”  Genesis 28:16-17. 
     Humility is the beginning of wisdom and strength.  After Jacob awakes, Scripture states in verse 16: ‘…I was not aware…’ We might not truly recognize the immensity of strength through humility however it is taught:
     “Hebrew verbs carry with them, in their declensions, an indication of their subject. Thus, the word yadati means "I knew," and lo yadati, "I did not know." When Jacob wakes from his sleep, however, he says, "Surely the Lord is in this place ve'anokhi lo yadati." Anokhi means "I," which in this sentence is superfluous. To translate it literally we would have to say, "And I, I knew it not." Why the double "I"?To this, Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz (Panim Yafot) gave a magnificent answer. How, he asks, do we come to know that "God is in this place"? "By ve'anokhi lo yadati - not knowing the I." We know God when we forget the self. We sense the "Thou" of the Divine Presence when we move beyond the "I" of egocentricity. Only when we stop thinking about ourselves do we become truly open to the world and the Creator.” 
      What does it mean to be strong through humility?  Jacob could have declared that ‘he knew God was in this place.’ Instead, he reveals that ‘he knew it not.’ 
     The most common use of words in the Hebrew text for humility is anah, anvah, aniy, and anavah. Humility in Hebrew is עֲנָוָה  anavah.   Aniy usually denotes a condition of circumstance. Those who are 'aniy are suffering or afflicted and as a result find themselves in a lowly condition, whether physically, materially or socially.
     Besides the obvious of physical strength, what is strength from within? Is it an individual concept or because of Adonai?  The Hebrew verb chazak,  חָזַק usually translates as ‘to be or grow firm or strong, strengthen’. Koch כוח which means power, force or might. 
      Psalm 84:5-7 ‘Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.⁷ They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.’
     Psalm 73:26  ‘My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
     Psalm 28:7 ‘The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him.’
      Jacob was born to wrestle. According to Genesis 25:22, he struggled with his twin brother Esau even in his mother’s womb and was born grasping Esau’s heel. “Yacov,” in Hebrew translates as “supplanter.”  Supplanter/ supplant means: ‘to supersede (another) especially by force or treachery, to eradicate and supply a substitute for, to take the place of and serve as a substitute for especially by reason of superior excellence or power. To uproot.’  
      We read about Jacob’s resilience and perseverance in Genesis 29 as he worked twice for 7 years for Laban. 
      We read this again in Genesis 30:25-43 when Jacob increases his flocks and in Genesis 31:36-37 when he confronts Laban. 
     But there is something else in Jacob. A cunningness, a stealthiness, a slow and deliberate way of acting. A covertness, and steadfastness.  In the next Torah parsah, VaYishlach, we will witness those character traits again in Genesis 32:2, when Jacob wrestles with God.  It is at that moment that his name is changed to Israel. The  name that the entire Hebrew people became known by as “Bnei Yisrael,” the Nation of Israel.
     This power, strength, humility and stealth is given to Jacob from God in order to carry out the covenant and promise of the inheritance.  In the first part of Vayetze, through the dream, God promises to Jacob: ‘There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. ¹⁴ Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. ¹⁵ I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
    The land belongs to Israel as the promises state: 
1. The promise of the land: "The land upon which you lie – to you I shall give it and to your descendants" (verse 13).
2.  The promise of a multitude of descendants: "Your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and they will spread westward and eastward, northward and southward, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants" (verse 14).
3.   The promise to accompany Yaakov wherever he goes, until he returns to Eretz Yisrael: "And behold, I am with you and shall guard you wherever you go, and I shall bring you back to his land, for I shall not leave you without doing that of which I have spoken to you" (verse 15). 
     Different from the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac, Jacob was fleeing from rather that going towards. His journey began with fear and he encounters God in times and places unprepared.  At points of vulnerability Jacob encounters God and finds the courage and strength to continue despite all the hazards of the journey.  It is the strength given from God to Jacob that empowers him to become a true leader. 
     2 Peter 3:17 ‘You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness…’
     1 Peter 5:10 ‘After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Messiah, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.’
     Psalm 57:7 ‘My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!’
     Hebrews 6:19 ‘This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil…’ 
     1 Corinthians 15:58 ‘Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in Adonai.’ 

Vayetze/And He Went Out
Genesis 28:10-32:2
Hosea 12:13-14:9
John 1:43-51

       In this Torah portion, Jacob, heading for Haran, stops to rest.  ‘So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. ¹² Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. ¹⁴ Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” Genesis 28:11-15.
     There are many opinions and theories regarding what the dream and ladder represents. But looking closely, we see that it is a connection between heaven and earth.  Through out Scripture, there are many examples of heaven and earth being the two witnesses.  In Deuteronomy 32:1 the Scriptures specifically speak of heaven and earth as a witness: ‘Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.’ And in Deuteronomy 30:19, heaven and earth is there to witness our choice: ‘ I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; ²⁰ that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
     What connects our fleshly earth to that of the heavenly realm? The Torah – therefore the ladder would represent Torah. The ladder alludes to Sinai, since the words Sinai and sulam both have the numerical of 130; the angels might represent Moses and Aaron; and God stood atop the ladder just as He stood atop Sinai to give the Torah. Accordingly, the Torah, given at Sinai and taught by Moshe and Yeshua, is the bridge from earth to heaven. Since Yeshua is the Living Word, the Living Torah He is the ladder, He is that bridge.  According to Maimonides the purpose of the ladder is to explain the relationship between two realities, between existence on earth and existence in the "world of heavenly spheres," both of which are set in motion by God. This interpretation connects the Messiah as the ladder as He verifies this in the book of John.  John 14:6-7 ‘Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” John 1:51 verifies this: “Truly, truly I say to you, here after you shall see heaven open, and the angels of Elohim ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
     And what about the rock that Jacob anointed with oil at the base of the ladder?      

• Ephesians 2:20 states that Yeshua is the Corner Stone    
• Matthew 21:42, 1 Peter 2:7 and Acts 4:11 say that He is the Chief Corner Stone    
• He is the Stone of Stumbling, Isaiah 8:14  
•   The Foundation Stone, Isaiah 8:16
•   The Rock in the Wilderness, 1 Corinthians 10:4    
•   He is the Rock of Salvation, Psalm 62:2    
•   The Rock of Refuge in Psalm 62:7
•   The Rock Fortress, Psalm 18:2
•   The Rock of Deliverance, 2 Samuel 22:2

      Connecting Messiah to this place, we see this verification in the very beginning of Vayetze: ‘So he came to a certain place (vayifga bamakom) and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. ¹² Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. ¹⁴ Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
     The word vayifga which means not only, “he came to, encountered, happened upon” but also “he prayed, entreated, pleaded” as in Jeremiah 7:16, “Neither lift up cry nor prayer for them nor make intercession to Me [ve-al tifga bi].” The Sages also understood the word bamakom, “the place” to mean “God” (the “place” of the universe). 
     We learn to trust that God is in this place as did Jacob.
     In Genesis 28:17 Jacob actual says, “and I did not know it.” In the Hebrew, the word is yadati which means “I knew,” and lo yadati, “I did not know.” When Jacob wakes from his sleep, however, he says, “Surely the Lord is in this place ve’anokhi lo yadati.” Anokhi means “I,” which in this sentence is redundant. To translate it literally we would have to say, “And I, I knew it not.” Why the double “I”?
     The sages teach that we know that God is in this place by ve’anokhi lo yadati – ‘not knowing the I’. We know God when we forget the self. We learn the wisdom of Divine Presence when we move beyond the “I” of egocentricity. Only when we stop thinking about ourselves do we become truly open to the Ways of Adonai.