Vayetze | Yaakov’s Demands of Himself

Summarized by David Tee

"And Yaakov answered and said to Lavan... This twenty years have I been with you... Thus I was: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from my eyes..." (Bereshit 31:40)

          The gemara (Bava Metzia 93b) derives the following halakha: What is the limit to which a paid guardian (shomer sakhar) is obligated to guard?  Until he reaches the stage of "Thus I was: in the day the drought consumed me..."  There is a debate in the gemara as to the nature of the obligation itself: One side maintains that it applies to any paid guardian, while the other side insists that this applies only to the guardian of a city (shomer ha-ir), which involves a special degree of obligation.  According to the latter opinion, Yaakov was NOT obligated to maintain this degree of guardianship, but had promised Lavan that he would guard with special care, on the same level as the guardian of a city.

          This idea, that Yaakov volunteered to guard on this special, higher level, is compatible with the image that we have of him as it is depicted in the parasha.  Yaakov tells his wives about his years of labor (even before he started being paid for them!): "And you know that with all my power I have served your father..." (Bereishit 31:6).

          Thus we see that we may distinguish two areas in which Yaakov excelled: The first involves the quantitative aspect ("in the day... and... by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes"), the second involves the qualitative aspect ("with all my power I have served").

          We have already mentioned the debate with regard to the obligation to guard as Yaakov did.  With regard to a paid worker, the Rambam is quite clear in his stipulations:

He must be careful not to steal when working for the landlord by wasting a little time here and a little time there, such that the whole day of work turns out to be a sham.  Rather, he is obligated to keep precise track of his time - and [our Sages] were so strict in this regard that they instructed that the fourth blessing of Birkat Ha-mazon be omitted [for this purpose, i.e., when a worker is under time pressure].  And he is obligated to work with all his strength, as Yaakov Ha-Tzaddik declared: 'With all my strength I served your father.'  For this reason he was rewarded even in this world, as it states: "And the man increased exceedingly."

(Hilkhot Sekhirut 13:7)

          Hence we find that in the Rambam, too, there is a dual emphasis: in terms of quantity - the worker is forbidden to waste time, and must work continuously every minute that he is employed; and in terms of quality - he must work with all his strength.

          It is important to realize that this applies to every area of our lives.  No matter what it is that one is engaged in - be it studying, working or serving in the army - one is obligated as a "ben Yisrael" to behave in the same way as Yaakov Avinu: Whatever one does should be done in the quantity required of him and should also be of the quality required of him.

          Hagahot Maimoniot, at the end of Hilkhot Sekhirut, explains the Rambam as follows: The Yerushalmi (Demai 7:3) recounts the story of R. Yohanan who once saw a teacher of young children who was as weak as an invalid, and he questioned him as to the reason for this.  The teacher replied that he fasted regularly.  R. Yohanan said to him: "You are forbidden to do so.  If this would be forbidden when serving a human master, then how much more so when serving God!"  Based on this, the Ra'avia (quoted in the Hagahot Maimoniot and in Or Zarua siman 246) stipulates: "It is forbidden for a teacher to stay awake at night for longer than he usually does, for the following day he will lack the energy to teach..."  Clearly from here we may learn a 'kal va-chomer, ben beno shel kal va-chomer'.

          In the modern world we are used to thinking of 'mussar' as an area which pertains to relations between man and his fellow.  Moral behavior means behaving morally towards others - not insisting on one's honor, being lenient with one's money, and so on.

          The Jewish approach rejects this concept totally.  Anyone steeped in the ideals of Judaism knows that mussar is not necessarily an area which applies only to relations between people.  A person should speak the truth not because his fellow will be offended by falsehood, but rather because truth in and of itself is a desirable and worthy characteristic.  Mussar is defined in terms which are independent of interpersonal relations: we must cleave to truth because it is one of the thirteen attributes of God, and God's 'seal' is truth.

          Yaakov indeed demands of himself both maximum quantity and maximum quality in his interpersonal relations, but at the beginning of the parasha we find that in his relationship with God, too, he invests everything that he has: "And Yaakov went out from Beer Sheva and went toward Charan.  And he lighted on a certain place..." (28:10-11).  Chazal explain that Yaakov had already reached Charan, but turned around and went back, saying: "'Could it be that I passed a place where my fathers prayed, and I myself did not?!'  So he turned around and went back as far as Bet El..."  We should not imagine that Yaakov himself was not on a sufficient level to be able to stand up to Lavan and to say afterwards, "I lived with Lavan and nevertheless kept the 613 mitzvot."  But if he was already on such a high spiritual level, why did he return from Charan to Bet El?

          Yaakov said to himself, "Here I have the opportunity to increase my spiritual inspiration and potential - shall I not take advantage of it?  Did I pass a place where my fathers prayed without praying there myself?!"  Yaakov returned to Bet El in order that afterwards he could say, with a clear conscience, "With all my strength I served my God."

          In Berakhot (32b) we learn, "Four things require 'chizzuk' (strengthening), and they are: Torah, good deeds, prayer, and derekh eretz."  Rashi explains, "Derekh eretz - if he is an artisan, then with respect to his art.  If he is a merchant, then with respect to his merchandise.  If he is a warrior, then with respect to his war."

          We can understand this in terms of the discussion above.  Every person, no matter what he does, needs 'chizzuk' in order to perform his work in the best possible way, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

(Originally delivered at Seuda Shelishit, Shabbat Parashat Vayetze 5750.  Translated by Kaeren Fish)

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