The final aliyah of this week’s parsha, Parshas Vayetzei, seems like a soft and lovely path of closure to a long and tumultuous chapter of Yaakov’s life. The aliyah begins right after Yaakov has demonstrated to Lavan that his idols are not in their camp, and Lavan must let Yaakov and his family finally leave. Suddenly Lavan plays the part of a caring father, and Yaakov accepts it and agrees to a covenant. (Acceptance, of course, does not mean belief.)
There are, to my mind, some fascinating elements to the way
this seemingly agreeable covenant occurred. A quick run down of events: Lavan
declares his affiliation to his daughters and declares a need for a covenant,
Yaakov takes a large stone and erects it as a monument. Yaakov has his kinsmen
– whom many mefarshim believe to be the brothers of Lavan - gather stones to
form a mound on which they share a meal. Everything goes so well that Lavan names
the place “Mound of Testimony” (in Aramaic) and Yaakov names it Gal-Ed, which
could be interpreted as having the same meaning.
After they share a meal, Lavan announces their covenant,
invoking Hashem and then warning Yaakov against hurting his daughters or adding
another wife. He then makes a fairly odd statement:
“Here is this mound, and here is that monument that I have
erected between me and you. This mound will be a witness, and the monument will
be a witness, that I will not cross over to you beyond this mound and that you
will not cross over to me beyond this mound and this pillar, with hostile
intent” (51-52).
They agree to this covenant, and Yaakov slaughters animals “bahar,”
on the mountain, and invites Lavan and his allies to eat together.
Think about that. The covenant that they are signing is that
they shall never infringe on each other’s paths. This man spouting words of
care and protection for his daughters does not believe that his daughters’ family
will live in peace with him. This man who has made Yaakov’s life so difficult –
switching brides, indenturing him to work, playing funny games with his actual
pay (in sheep), and etc…is worried that Yaakov might come back and bother
him? And look a little closer…Lavan
states that he will not go beyond the mound but adds a tiny stringency that
Yaakov will not go beyond the mound and the pillar. Why is there a distinction?
(A question I can’t answer.)
The pillar and the mound are striking contrasts. Yaakov sets
up a singular pillar. The kinsmen gather a mound of disconnected stones and then
eat upon it. There is an unquestionable difference, and Yaakov sees it too.
Let us pause for a moment here to explore Yaakov’s choice of
name. Gal is the word used for the mound of stones that had been collected.
Rabbi Behaya, interestingly, points out that this term is an allusion to the
name used by those who worshipped the sun (asserting that Lavan and his kin
were sun-worshippers). This being said, this adds a possible layer of
interpretation to these verses. Yaakov’s pillar is a declaration of Hashem as
the singular Supreme Being. Lavan’s mound is a representation of polytheism,
which makes it philosophically fascinating that this is the place upon which
they ate a meal – taking care of their own needs above the true idea of
solemnity – while later Yaakov makes a feast on the mountain, away from the
spot of the pillar. Perhaps this section could be seen as an allusion to the
different dynamics of the man-to-God relationship of Yaakov and Lavan.
Taking it all a step further, one could see a strange
political foreshadowing in these stones and Lavan’s words that reflect even to
this day. Since the State of Israel’s creation in 1948, it has been at odds
with the neighbors in the region. As acknowledged by so very many pundits, in
the world today there is one Jewish state and 57, I believe, Muslim countries –
one pillar, multiple stones. When we think about where we are today and think
of Lavan as the forefather of the Levant, which Encyclopedia Britannica defines
as “The region along the eastern Mediterranean shores, roughly corresponding to
modern-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and certain adjacent areas,” we are
once again met with startling hindsight into the global foreshadowing of the
Torah.
May you all have a beautiful and restful Shabbas.
I know this is my own interpretation and certainly could be
argued against, but it is a fascinating thought process for me.
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