Thursday, November 27, 2014
Parshas Vayeitze: Be careful what you say
10:17 PM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
"Then Yaakov became angered and he took up his grievance with Lavan. Yaakov spoke up and said to Lavan, 'What is my transgression? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me?'" (Genesis 31:31)
Imagine how hard Yaakov worked for Lavan. He toiled 7 years for Rachel, had Lavan switch her with Leah and then another 7 years for Rachel. He took care of Lavan's flocks diligently, never losing one and being an expert keeper of his flocks. How could Lavan have deceived him so many times without Yaakov getting angry?
Here we see the greatness of our Yaakov. Although he had every right to get upset hundreds of times before, here we finally see the anger come out. He was justified in what he felt and said and finally could not take it anymore.
What transpired, though, was something that he could not foresee. Lavan's tirade about his missing idols were the straw that broke the camel's back. Yaakov fired back and told him that all the years he worked for him nothing was missing and everything was in order. All of sudden Lavan has claims against Yaakov because of his idols.
We understand who Lavan was and what he represented. He was an evil trickster who would drive anyone mad. At this point though, Yaakov couldn't take it anymore and lashed out, deservedly so.
He was so sure that he or anyone else didn't take his idols that he said that whoever took them should die. Little did he know that his wife Rachel took them and it caused her to die prematurely.
When we look back at this, it is quite hard to understand why she should die early. After all, isn't it praiseworthy that her father is no longer worshiping idols? Isn't that against the 7 Noahide laws?
Even so, we learn a valuable lesson. Yaakov was justified in what he said to Lavan. Wouldn't we have lashed out at him many times before? Our patriarchs are held to a higher standard and Yaakov should have been more careful in what he said. Had he known that Rachel took the idols he never would have said that.
This is a lesson for us as well. When we speak, we have to be careful what we say and how we say it. Our words have repercussions and can cause great damage. May we merit to always be careful what we say!
Shabbat Shalom
Imagine how hard Yaakov worked for Lavan. He toiled 7 years for Rachel, had Lavan switch her with Leah and then another 7 years for Rachel. He took care of Lavan's flocks diligently, never losing one and being an expert keeper of his flocks. How could Lavan have deceived him so many times without Yaakov getting angry?
Here we see the greatness of our Yaakov. Although he had every right to get upset hundreds of times before, here we finally see the anger come out. He was justified in what he felt and said and finally could not take it anymore.
What transpired, though, was something that he could not foresee. Lavan's tirade about his missing idols were the straw that broke the camel's back. Yaakov fired back and told him that all the years he worked for him nothing was missing and everything was in order. All of sudden Lavan has claims against Yaakov because of his idols.
We understand who Lavan was and what he represented. He was an evil trickster who would drive anyone mad. At this point though, Yaakov couldn't take it anymore and lashed out, deservedly so.
He was so sure that he or anyone else didn't take his idols that he said that whoever took them should die. Little did he know that his wife Rachel took them and it caused her to die prematurely.
When we look back at this, it is quite hard to understand why she should die early. After all, isn't it praiseworthy that her father is no longer worshiping idols? Isn't that against the 7 Noahide laws?
Even so, we learn a valuable lesson. Yaakov was justified in what he said to Lavan. Wouldn't we have lashed out at him many times before? Our patriarchs are held to a higher standard and Yaakov should have been more careful in what he said. Had he known that Rachel took the idols he never would have said that.
This is a lesson for us as well. When we speak, we have to be careful what we say and how we say it. Our words have repercussions and can cause great damage. May we merit to always be careful what we say!
Shabbat Shalom
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