Parashiyot Toldot-Vayeitzei and Jacob's Ladder
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Looking at Jacob's Ladder and Transformation
Note: Due to breaks in the school year, this sheet looks at both Parashiyot Toldot and Vayeitzei

Summary of Toldot

  • Rivkah becomes pregnant with twins, who fight with each other even before they are born. God tells her this is because there are two nations within her.
  • The firstborn, Esav, is reddish and covered with hair. The second, Yaakov, is born holding onto Esav’s heel. Yitzhak loves Esav, but Rivkah loves Yaakov.
  • Years later, Yaakov buys the birthright (special privileges or responsibilities belonging to the firstborn) from Esav and feeds him lentil stew.
  • Yitzhak goes blind. He tells Esav that he is going to give him a בְּרָכָה (berakhah, blessing). Rivkah hears this, but she wants Yaakov to receive the berakhah. She tells Yaakov to wear Esav’s clothes and puts goatskins on his arms, so that they would feel like Esav’s, which are hairy. Yaakov then goes to get the berakhah from Yitzhak.Yitzhak notices that his son sounds like Yaakov, but has the hands of Esav, and Yitzhak gives him the berakhah.
  • When Esav finds out what happened, he is very upset and says he will kill Yaakov. Rivkah hears what Esav said, and she and Yitzhak tell Yaakov to go to Rivkah’s brother, Lavan.

    • Summary of Vayeitzei

    • Yaakov runs away from Be’er Sheva and travels to the home of his uncle, Lavan.
    • Yaakov dreams of a סוּלָם (sulam, ladder) going up to the heavens.
    • God tells Yaakov that his descendants will inherit אֶרֶץ כְּנַעָן (Eretz Canaan, the Land of Canaan) and that God will protect him.
    • Yaakov continues his journey until he encounters a well, where he meets Rahel, daughter of Lavan.
    • Yaakov tells Rahel that he is her relative, and she brings him home.
    • Yaakov works as a shepherd for Lavan for seven years in exchange for marrying Rahel, but Lavan tricks Yaakov into marrying his older daughter, Leah, instead.
    • Yaakov agrees to work for an additional seven years after marrying Rahel as well.
    • Rahel and Leah, along with their servants Bilhah and Zilpah, in total give birth to 11 boys and one girl.
    • Lavan is upset at Yaakov, and Yaakov says that Lavan hasn’t treated him fairly, so Yaakov, Rahel, and Leah decide to return home to Eretz Canaan.
    • When Lavan finds out that they’ve left, he chases after them, but God tells Lavan in a dream not to harm them. Lavan then makes peace with Yaakov.

    Jacob's Ladder and Transformation

    Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, God Was in This Place and I, I Did Not Know It - finding self, spirituality, and ultimate meaning (p. 26, 1994 edition)
    The beginning of knowing about God, in other words, is simply paying attention, being fully present where you are, or as Rashi suggests, waking up. We realize, like Jacob, that we have been asleep. We do not see what is happening all around us. For most of us, most of the time, the lights are on but nobody's home.
    Right now, for instance, you are a reader. You are consuming these words and the ideas they bear. But suppose you were a typographer, then you would also notice the shapes of the letters. Suppose you were a poet. A paper manufacturer. A blind person. A composer. We find what we seek and we seek who we are.

    Discussion Questions

    • What is the transformation that happens at Jacob’s ladder?
    • How would you experience this text different if you were any of the things that Rabbi Kushner listed?

    Jacob's Ladder by Huey Lewis and the News

    Lyrics
    I met a fan dancer
    Down in Southside Birmingham
    She was running from a fat man
    Selling salvation in his hand
    Now he's trying to save me
    When I'm doing all right
    The best that I can
    Just another fallen angel
    Trying to get through the night
    Step by step, one by one
    Higher and higher
    Step by step, rung by rung
    Climbing Jacob's ladder
    Coming over the airwaves
    The man says I'm overdue
    Sing along, send some money
    Join the chosen few, hey
    Mister, I'm not in a hurry
    And I don't want to be like you
    All I want from tomorrow
    Is to get it better than today
    Step by step, one by one
    Higher and higher
    Step by step, rung by rung
    Climbing Jacob's ladder
    All I want from tomorrow
    Is to get it better than today
    Step by step, one by one
    Higher and higher
    Step by step, rung by rung
    Climbing and climbing
    Step by step, one by one
    Step by step, rung by rung
    Step by step
    And step by step
    Step by step

    Discussion Questions

    • What is the song about?
    • What do they say is the transformation of Jacob’s Ladder?
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    Rebecca Barabas