Weekly Sidra: Vayetze (and he left)
Torah Portion: Bereshit / Genesis 28:10-32:3
Haftorah: Hosea / Hosea 11:7-12:12

Vayetze, Vayeitzei, or Vayetzei (וַיֵּצֵא — Hebrew for “and he left,” the first word in the parshah) is the seventh weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. It constitutes Genesis 28:10–32:3. Jews in the Diaspora read it the seventh Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in November or December. The title comes from the first verse of the reading, which says, “And Jacob went out from Beersheba Bereshit – Genesis 28:10” The parshah tells of Jacob’s travels to, life in, and return from Haran. The parshah recounts Jacob’s dream of a ladder to heaven, Jacob’s meeting of Rachel at the well, Jacob’s time working for Laban and living with Rachel and Leah, the birth of Jacob’s children, and the departure of Jacob’s family from Laban. At the end of the portion, Jacob leaves Laban and returns to the land of Canaan, but not before Laban tries to stop him.

In last week’s parsha, Toldot, Yakov Avinu got the blessing from his father Yitzchak that his brother Esav was expecting, so Yakov’s parents sent Yakov away from Esav’s wrath.

Note: On the Shabbat the Torah Reading is divided into 7 sections. Each section is called an Aliya [literally: Go up] since for each Aliya, one person “goes up” to make a bracha [blessing] on the Torah Reading. Here are this week`s aliyot:

1st Aliya: Yakov experiences the famed prophecy of “Jacob’s Ladder”.

2nd Aliya: Yakov arrives in Charan, encounters Rachel, and contracts with Lavan for her hand in marriage. There, by the well, Yakov meets Rachel, Lavan’s daughter, and kisses her and cries. Yakov goes to Lavan’s house where Lavan has two daughters, Leah and Rachel. Leah’s eyes were weak, while Rachel was beautiful.

3rd Aliya: Lavan switches Leah for Rachel forcing Yakov to negotiate another 7 years of service for Rachel. Leah gives birth to Reuven, Shimon, Levi, and Yehudah. Rachel marries off Bilhah to Yakov who gives birth to Dan and Naftoli. Leah marries off Zilpah to Yakov, and she gives birth to Gad and Asher. By the end of this aliyah Yakov also marries his two wives’ handmaids for a total of four wives.

4th Aliya: Rachel contracts with Leah for Reuven’s mandrakes, after which Leah gives birth to Yisachar and Zevulen. Rachel finally gives birth to Yoseph, and Yakov approaches Lavan to negotiate a proper salary for continued service. This is a lesson to us, we prosper by having righteous people and institutions in our communities.

5th Aliya: Yakov’s uses his vast knowledge of nature and husbandry to amass a fortune in sheep and cattle. Yakov proposes that Lavan remove all the streaked and spotted sheep from his flock, and Yakov will take care of the remaining sheep. Whenever one of these remaining sheep gives birth to a streaked or spotted offspring it will be for Yakov as wages. Yakov made striped poles for the sheep to view when they were drinking, and as a result they had streaked and spotted offspring, which became Yakov’s. There are commentaries that say that when Yakov was dealing with the striped poles it was the spiritual equivalent of fulfilling the mitzvah of tefillin. After 6 years he decides with Rachel and Leah to flee from Lavan.

6th Aliya: They flee and Lavan catches them (Yakov takes his family and belongings and tries to slip away to avoid Lavan preventing him). HaShem (God) intervenes and Yakov, while confronting Lavan for his years of duplicity, unwittingly curses Rachel. Yakov said "whomever you find your idol with, shall not live". Lavan searches, but doesn’t find his idol. (But because the Tzadik Yakov uttered these words, Rachel dies at a young age and is later buried in Beit Lechem).

7th Aliya: Yakov and Lavan separate and Yakov arrives at the border of Canaan in 2205. Yakov continues on his way and sees the angels of the land of Israel who come to greet him and escort him to the land.