More on Jacob-Rachel- Meeting and symbols

19 May 2012 (Howard's notes)

• Naomi Rosenblatt [Wrestling with Angels, pages 267-268] writes about the kiss (29:11), comparing Jacob’s arrival alone with that of Eliezer and his entourage. Jacob comes as a fugitive with nothing to offer; Eliezer has camels laden with gifts of Abraham’s riches.

Rosenblatt further writes [caution, NC-17 rated], ”In the previous episode, the ladder was a phallic image of Jacob’s emerging manhood. The well represents Rachel’s virgin sexuality, which Jacob unseals by removing the stone, the portal of her body and soul. Psychologically, the well is symbolic of Jacob’s unconscious. When he pushes the stone aside, he exposes the dark undercurrent of his wounded psyche. Perhaps it is the power of love that banishes his fear. Or perhaps it is a blind mating urge. But once Jacob draws from this subterranean pool, he is destined to taste its bittersweet waters, with unforeseen consequences.” [Steamy!]

• Love at first sight is discussed in The Social Animal by David Brooks. Much of human experience transcends human reason. Rationalization comes later. Women show no obvious signs of ovulation, as do other female animals. Consequently, men are attracted to women from observing aspects of female physical beauty, including facial gestures and body curves (hourglass figure); these criteria are remarkably similar throughout the world. Women have similar standards of physicality but have additional concerns about child rearing, companionship, and trust. Review is at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/books/review/book-review-the-social-animal-by-david-brooks.html?pagewanted=all. Rabbi Marder read excerpts from this book amidst much laughter by the class members. Evidently, Brooks’ ideas could explain Jacob’s and Rachel’s behavior at the well. Can you imagine Mel Brooks with material like this?
• 29:11, more on the kiss and why Jacob wept
• Rashi
• Jacob foresees that Rachel will die young in childbirth on the road to Bethlehem.
• He feels bad because he has no house gifts (as did Eliezer).
• Eliphaz (Esau’s son) cannot kill him as directed by Esau, so Jacob tells him to take all his possessions, for in Talmud Nedarim 64b, a poor person is thought of as dead; he cannot give to anyone; he can only take from others.
• Rashi text [from http://www.chabad.org/library/bible ]: Since he [Jacob] foresaw with the holy spirit that she (Rachel) would not enter the grave with him. Another explanation: Since he came empty-handed, he said, “Eliezer, my grandfather’s servant, had nose rings, and bracelets and sweet fruits in his possession, and I am coming with nothing in my hands. [He had nothing] because Eliphaz the son of Esau had pursued him to kill him at his father’s orders; he (Eliphaz) overtook him, but since he had grown up in Isaac’s lap, he held back his hand. He said to him (Jacob), ”What shall I do about my father’s orders?“ Jacob replied,”Take what I have, for a poor man is counted as dead." - [from Bereishit Rabbathi by Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan]
• Jacob may also have seen all those sheep as a substantial dowry.
• Jacob makes restitution ...
• Sforno – Jacob regretted not marrying Rachel in his youth, to have that many more years together.
• 29:12 – his father’s brother, not “kinsman.”
• Rashi pshat (plain meaning) - אָבִיהָ אִחִי can also mean kinsman, like Abraham and Lot.
• Rashi midrash [sort of reading between or beneath the lines – a deeper interpretation]– If he (Laban) comes to deceive me, I, too, am his brother in deception, and if he is an honest man, I, too, am the son of his honest sister Rebecca [from Genesis Rabbah 70:13].
• Talmud Megillah 13b – Jacob proposes but Rachel warns him that Lavan will try to deceive him. But Jacob counters that he is just as deceitful and shrewd (reference: The Torah Revealed: Talmudic Masters Unveil The Secrets of the Bible by Avraham Yaakov Finkel. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, c2004. BS 1225.52.F56 2004)
• 29:12, Rachel runs to tell her father, similar to what Rebecca did in 24:28, except that Rebecca ran to her mother.
• However, in this case, we don’t know how Rachel feels (Women’s Commentary, page 162).
• Rashi – Rachel’s mother had died; she had no one else to tell (citing Genesis Rabbah 70:13)
• Ramban – Rachel’s father should go and welcome his relatives since Rachel’s mother has no relationship to Jacob’s family; also, Rebecca ran to her Mother to show the jewelry.

Ramban writes that in 24:28, Rebecca ran to her mother under the same circumstance, just what would be expected. However, in this case, Rachel ran to her father. Ramban cites Rashi about the death of her mother and then offers another explanation. She “ran to her father to give him the news about his relative’s arrival, and to inform him that he should go out and show him the appropriate honor. But as for her mother, what was it to her that Jacob, who not her relative, came, and what could she do for him? Rebecca, however, showed her mother the jewelry that was given to her by Abraham’s servant, as is customary for girls,” even though Rebecca’s mother was not a blood relative of Abraham. There was no need for Rachel to run to her mother because there was no jewelry to show.

• 29:13 – Lavan seems to warmly greet Jacob; he ran to meet Jacob.
• Rashi – Lavan frisks him to look for money based on experience with Eliezer, further confirming the mercenary nature of Lavan

Rashi text, citing Genesis Rabbah 70:13 [Is Rashi cynical or what?]

• He [Lavan] thought that he (Jacob) was laden with money, for the servant of the household (Eliezer) had come here with ten laden camels.
• When he (Laban) did not see anything with him (Jacob), he said, “Perhaps he has brought golden coins, and they are in his bosom.”
• He [Lavan] said, “Perhaps he has brought pearls, and they are in his mouth.”
• The basis for Rashi’s interpretation is the Hebrew word לו, which means “for him”, i.e., there is no direct object marker (את) to “kissing him,” suggesting that Lavan was “kissing” Jacob for selfish reasons.
• Moral growth lesson from a book, Growth through Torah by Zelig Pliskin, which unearths what’s beneath the text: Don’t allow yourself to be misled by an evil person; guard yourself against being masked from the evil in a person. Wisdom is the ability to know who is good and who is evil (Proverbs 14:15).
• 29:13, Sarna – did Jacob really tell Lavan everything?
• Nahum Sarna [JPS Torah Commentary Genesis, page 203) writes. “It is hardly credible that that Jacob reported that he had cheated his own brother and father. More likely, he told how his parents had sent him to find a wife from among his kinfolk and that his misadventures on the journey had brought him empty-handed.”
• The Midrash comments that Jacob told Lavan that his wealth had been stolen by Eliphaz, Esau’s son (29:11).
• 29:14, “bone and flesh”
• Nahum Sarna, a recognition of kinship; Lavan has a formal obligation to take him in.
• However, Rashi translates אַךְ as “nevertheless,” i.e., despite your lack of possessions, I’ll take you in. “In view of this, I have no reason to take you into the house, because you have nothing. Because of kinship, however, I will put up with you for a month’s time.” And so he did, but this too was not gratis, for he (Jacob) pastured his sheep.” — [from Genesis Rabbah 70:14]
• Kli Yakar [Ephraim Solomon of Lunshitz, died 1619; lived in Lvov and Prague]– Jacob does really tell him everything; Lavan recognizes him as a fellow deceiver and welcomes him.
• Malbim [Rav Meir Yehuda Leibish Malbim, 1809-79; lived and worked throughout eastern Europe] – from http://www.aish.com/tp/ss/ssw/48879432.html (accessed 21 May 2012)
• Jacob loved Rachel so much that he thought that she was worth working for many more than seven years. Therefore, to work only seven years for such a wonderful person was really a bargain.
• Jacob's love for Rachel was not simple passion. When a person feels deep passion, a day can seem like a year. Jacob loved her because of her good qualities that would make her worthy of being the mother of the future Jewish people. A person whose love is based on passion really loves himself and not the object of his love. When a person loves the good in another, he truly loves the other person and not himself. (The Torah tells us Jacob's focus was "in his love for her.") Therefore, the time seemed short because it was not a selfish love.
• Naomi Rosenblatt on Lavan’s motives vs Jacob’s perspectives (pages 270-72). Jacob doesn’t realize Lavan’s potential treachery. He sees a loving father surrogate, in contrast to Isaac, who never showed much affection.
• “Jacob’s emotional blindness on his wedding night mirrors Isaac’s physical blindness when bestowing his blessing on his son.” In both men are “cloaked in darkness” and rely on their physical senses, which are less reliable than emotional senses. Isaac smells stew and nothing else matters. Jacob is intoxicated by Rachel and nothing else matters.
• Lavan’s less attractive older daughter Leah is a financial liability; he wants her out of the house. He dupes Jacob into a marriage at a “price” of fourteen years of shepherding labor.
• Jacob feels guilty enough about his deception of his father and brother that he is in no position to object to these terms. Jacob’s physiological wounds as a child are affecting his behavior and self-image. His feels unworthy and his self-esteem is in the toilet.
• Jacob is also an immigrant to this land. He is a total stranger living in unfamiliar surroundings. Compared to others who are settled with families, his feelings of vulnerability and melancholia should be no surprise.