Beau Glass – Year 8

Lies and deception

This week’s Torah reading is Vayetze. In this parashah Jacob travels to his uncle Laban’s house in order to win Laban’s younger daughter Rachel’s hand in marriage. The parashah begins with Jacob dreaming of a ladder extending to heaven. During this dream God tells Jacob that he will always be protected and given strength. He is told that his children will spread across all of the lands and prosper, watched over by the strength of God.

When Jacob reaches the land of Laban he asks to marry Rachel. Laban states that in order to marry his daughter Jacob must work for him for 7 years. Jacob agrees to this and works for his uncle until he has completed the time. Laban, however, deceives Jacob and gives him his older daughter Leah, instead. Although Jacob is upset about his uncle’s trickery, he is told that he must work for another 7 years in order to marry his true love, Rachel. Jacob is determined and sure enough he works for his uncle another 7 years. Jacob is finally able to marry Rachel and he stays in the land of his uncle.

God, however, is angry with Jacob for making Leah feel hated and worthless. God ensures that Rachel remains barren and enables only Leah to bear children. Eventually, Leah has 6 sons and 1 daughter, while Leah’s servant Zilpah bears 2 sons, and Rachel’s servant Bilhah also bears 2 sons. Rachel however remains barren until God answers her prayers and she finally bears a son, Joseph.

God then tells Jacob to return to the land of his father, Canaan. Secretly Jacob leaves the house of Laban and sets off towards Canaan with his wives, children and possessions. Laban soon realises that Jacob has left and pursues him. When they meet, he and Jacob argue about why he left so suddenly. Eventually they make a pact that they shall no longer deceive one another with God as their witness.

As the School year comes to a close, how can we relate to this story? At the start of this year we all had to face new challenges, perhaps settling into Emanuel as a new student and making new friendships. Maybe you decided that you wanted to achieve certain academic or sport-related goals. No matter what our goals were we have persisted and we have been motivated by our teachers and peers to succeed just as Jacob was watched and strengthened by God on his quest to marry Rachel.

Indeed, at times you might have felt defeated, cheated, or even deceived like Jacob was, but you must understand that these issues and these bumps in the road are just another obstacle and just another task that you must overcome if you are to succeed. It is very possible that during this year you felt certain factors of a situation were beyond your control like when Rachel was unable to conceive due to God’s decision, or when Jacob had to work for another 7 years due to Laban’s dishonesty. Perhaps, the essay question was not what you had prepared for or you were injured days before the big basketball match. Remember that only you can ultimately control the outcome of the year and if you study and train you will achieve, if you are kind and selfless you will make true friendships. During the holidays review your year. Think about whether you achieved what you strived for at the beginning in Term 1. Discover your ability, and plan your goals for 2017. It’s a clean slate and a chance for everyone to succeed.

Whether you believe in the facticity of the stories of the Torah or not, what matters is that you take the messages from the story and bring them into your life. Like Jacob, if you work for what you believe in you will be able to achieve.