7. VAYYETZE

Rabbi Phyllis Berman & Rabbi Arthur Waskow, 11/21/2004

[This story about jealousy and compassion, exile and redemption appears in our book TALES OF TIKKUN: NEW JEWISH STORIES TO HEAL THE WOUNDED WORLD (1995). It draws on Midrash Rabbah for the Book of Lamentations, known as Eicha Rabbah (XXIV, pp. 44-49 in the Soncino edition).

[It ends with a midrash on the biblical story of the sisters Rachel and Leah and their marriage to Jacob (Gen. 29: 15-30).

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, 11/18/2004

Listen to the grim humor of Jacob's weddings to Leah and Rachel. (Gen 29: 15-30) We can all but hear their father Laban muttering to himself:

"You — yes, you, Jacob!! — lied to your father about who was the first born son? Then I'll lie to you about who is the first born daughter. You won what you wanted because of your father's weak eyes? Then you'll win what you don't want — Leah, who has weak eyes.