Ilustration Credit: Rebecca Kerzner
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
When Yaakov meets Rahel for the first time, he cries (Bereishit 29:11). Why does he cry? Rashi offers an answer based on different midrashim.
שֶׁבָּא בְּיָדַיִם רֵיקָנִיּוֹת. אָמַר: אֱלִיעֶזֶר עֶבֶד אַבָּא הָיוּ בְּיָדוֹ נְזָמִים וּצְמִידִים, וַאֲנִי אֵין בְּיָדִי כְלוּם.
Because he came empty-handed. He said, “Eliezer, my father’s servant, had jewelry [when he came to this land to find Rivkah], but I have nothing with me!”
- Can you imagine ever wanting so badly to give something to someone you love? What do you think it might feel like to really want to give to someone, but not be able to?
- What does this interpretation tell us about Yaakov’s feelings for Rahel?
You might think that Yaakov was empty-handed because he left his home in a hurry. But Rashi suggests there’s more to this story!
לְפִי שֶׁרָדַף אֶלִיפַז בֶּן עֵשָׂו בְּמִצְוַת אָבִיו אַחֲרָיו לְהָרְגוֹ, וְהִשִּׂיגוֹ, וּלְפִי שֶׁגָּדַל אֶלִיפַז בְּחֵיקוֹ שֶׁל יִצְחָק מָשַׁךְ יָדוֹ.
אָמַר לוֹ: מֶה אֶעֱשֶׂה לְצִוּוּיוֹ שֶׁל אַבָּא,
אָמַר לוֹ יַעֲקֹב: טֹל מָה שֶׁבְּיָדִי, וְהֶעָנִי חָשׁוּב כְּמֵת.
Elifaz, Esav’s son, chased after Yaakov, because Elifaz’s father Esav commanded him to kill Yaakov. But when Elifaz caught up with Yaakov, he hesitated, because he had been raised in Yitzhak’s care.
Elifaz said to Yaakov, “What should I do about my father’s command?!”
Yaakov said to him, “Take everything I have, because someone who has nothing is considered like someone who is dead.”
By taking all of Yaakov’s things, Elifaz could leave Yaakov alive but still sort of fulfill Esav’s command to him and claim that Yaakov is “like someone who is dead.”
- Elifaz is torn between trying to do what his father told him and not wanting to hurt his uncle. Can you think of a time that you felt torn between different obligations? How can you work out what to do in those moments?
- Why might the midrash suggest that “someone who has nothing is considered like someone who is dead”? What do you think this is supposed to teach us?
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