Vayeitzei Shabbat, 9 Kislev, 5776, 21 November, 2015

Genesis Chapter 28

10And Jacob left Beer sheba, and he went to Haran.

Genesis Chapter 32

3And Jacob said when he saw them, "This is the camp of G-d," and he named the place Ma'chana'im.

What is the difference between Charan הה �ם and MaChanaim חהרהננ הני The latter is the Camp of ? מ�נחנG-d! What does this come to teach? Of the one, he Ya'acov went out from it's well, Beer Sheba to search for the daughters of Charan at a well; while the other place, Machanaim was seen full of angels (messengers) of G-d. At both places Beer sheba and Charan there is a well. At the one, Beer Sheba an oath was taken; and at the other, MaChana'im, angels were seen.Why did he go from the one? Rashi: "And Jacob left": Because, it was due to the fact that the daughters of Canaan were displeasing in the eyes of his father Isaac.

"And Jacob left" -

Rashi But this tells [us] that the departure of a righteous man from a place makes an impression, for while the righteous man is in the city, he is its beauty, he is its splendor, he is its majesty. When he departs from there, its beauty has departed, its splendor has departed, its majesty has departed.

http://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading.asp?tdate=11/21/2015&p=1&showrashi=true

Why did he return? Because he had made an oath. 28.20 What did he return with? Daughters that were pleasing in the eyes of his father. Isaac was of poor eye sight but not spiritual acumen to see that from the advice of his wife, Rebecca, the daughters of Canaanwere odious in her eyes!

The gematria for Charan is 263 while for MaChana'im it is 608. What is the difference? 354 Shin Nun Dalet Shnood a woman's head covering. The daughters of Laban wore head coverings Genesis 24.64 while the daughters of Canaan went about bear headed, lacking modesty! Another gematria reading might mean gazelle Dishan or Dishon 36.21 sons of Seir; or Devarim (Deuteronomy) 14.5. The food they ate at Mizpeh was kosher. While our reading it means Sidon (2 Sm 5:11 from the Sidonite came the materials for the Temple and for robes and the tekelet the dye used for the thread of blue) Genesis Chapter 30.3 "I, too, will be built up from her." Built up from whom? Do not read Beer Sheba, Well of Oaths, but Bath-Sheba Daughter(s) of Oaths. It was only because of the Daughter of Laban that "an Aramean sought to destroy Jacob" (Deuteronomy 26:5) because of his idols. Gen. 31.19 It was only because of the daughters that they made a covenant and took oaths. Gensis 31.53. And Rachel by Divine Inspiration spoke of being built up "from her" and the Temple fortified "from her" (Bath-Sheba). Therefore our text could read, "And (the character or soul) of Jacob('s daughters) left Bath-Sheba and went to Charan (a parched dry place). This speaks of the exile and destruction of the Temple while the latter verse speaks of the angels as a camp or host that guarded the daughter's of Laban. Why did they need to be guarded? Because Laban sought to keep them for his own house. Genesis 31:43 http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/an-aramean-destroyed-my-father/#

Gleanings:

Deriving Intention

"An Aramean wanted to destroy my father." Since Laban did not actually succeed in doing evil to our father Jacob, we must derive his intentions from his words. He himself admitted, "It is in my power to do harm to you" (Genesis 31:29), and this shows his evil intention. Laban wanted to root out the whole,to kill the mother and child when he says "The daughters are mine and their children are mine, and the flocks are mine, and all that you see is mine" (Genesis 31:43), that is, they should be mine, if God had not prevented me.–Isaac ben Judah Abarbanel (1437-1508), Portuguese philosopher and scholar, from his commentary on the Haggadah, written in 1496

Destroying Jacob’s Fatherhood

An Aramean wanted to destroy my fatherhood. When Laban said, "The daughters are mine and their children are mine, and the flocks are mine," he wanted them to still be his and be called by his name. Inthis, he wanted to destroy Jacob’s fatherhood, that is, his title of "father." In truth [Rachel and Leah] had said "Are we not as strangers to him (i.e., to our father, Laban)?" that is, Laban no longer had the title of "father" over them.–Rav Tzadok haKohen of Lublin (1823-1900), Polish Hassidic Tzaddik, Sefer Dover Tzedek

The First Exile of Israel (i.e., Jacob)

The key to the Haggadah’s midrash on arami oved avi is the covenant with Abraham cited earlier in theHaggadah, "?your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them and they shall afflict them? Afterward they shall come out with great wealth?and the fourth generation shall come here again" (Genesis15:13-16). The language of the text–"stranger (gerut)," "serve (avdut)," and "afflict (inuy)"–applies not only to Israel, but to Jacob who lived in a strange land, served Laban, and was afflicted by him. Then Jacob left Laban’s service with great wealth (and with Laban chasing after him), and his children (the fourth generation) returned to the land. Laban’s persecution of Jacob confronts us with the image that this cycle of exile, persecution, and return predated our enslavement and redemption from Egypt and reinforces the Haggadah’s message that redemption can and does recurin every generation.— Devora Steinmetz, "An Aramean in Every Generation" (unpublished paper), Assistant Professor of Talmud, Jewish Theological Seminary of America

In sum, Our verse might be read, "And Jacob's daughters left Bath-Sheba and went to Charan." I see (derives this writer Drash Zot Ketuv) They are guarded by a Camp or Host of Angels.

How so? As long as they sing Zot את�� �ירהה-ה�ז .Devarim 32.44 (Shir Moshe) ה�ש��