Congregation Beth Shalom Jacob's 'Trials' Are Family Matters DR. RICHARD C. HERTZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS T AUCTION \\E'711 94 • Entertainment • Dessert Buffet • Excitement • Door Prizes Jewelry • Furs • Artwork Vacations • Gift Certificates Auctioneer: FRANKLIN GREENBERG Special Guest: ELI ZARET, Channel 2 Sportscaster Doors Open and Silent Auction ....6:00 p.m. LiveAuction..... ..... ........ ..... ............. 7:30 p.m. Admission: $10.00 (At The Door) • Gift Certificates • Art Work • Electronics • Trips • And Much More... - .7t1 MasterCcircli ■ 111 Congregation Beth Shalom 14601 West Lincoln Road • Oak Park, MI • (810) 547-7970 ALL PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT SYNAGOGUE PROGRAMS 42 ITALIAN COLLECTIONS =INErnI THE D E T RO IT J EWIS H N EWS FLOOR SAMPLE SALE From our new collection I I L M O D A Now exclusively available 4716 WOODWARD • SOUTH OF 14 MILE: • (810) 549-1221 he weekly Torah reading begins the biography of Ja- cob with his encounter with God. Jacob is now in exile. Utterly alone... no longer under the overprotective mother, we find him on his way from Beer- sheba in Southern Canaan to Ha- ran in northern Mesopotannia. This sedrah will find Jacob com- pletely transformed by his trou- bles. One night he stopped at a nameless place to rest. He took a rock for a pillow and unexpect- edly during his dream he had a theothany with God who freely revealed himself to an amazed Jacob. The dream itself showed clear- ly a stairway reaching up to the sky with angels of God going up and down on it. He dreamed that God Himself was standing at the head of the stairs saying to him, "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham, and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you are lying I will-assign to you and your offspring." The next morning, Jacob memorialized the events of the dream, giving a name to that site, Beth El, and making a vow to God. The vow that Jacob made under the impact of his extraor- dinary dream experience was in the way of a contract. If God will protect me on this journey, then He shall be my God. Then Jacob took a stone to be a witness to his vow. Inspired by this experience at Beth El, the sedrah tells how Ja- cob makes his way to Haran. Jacob applied for a job with La- ban and agreed to served Laban in return for wages, being La- ban's daughter. But Laban had two daughters, the older one be- ing Leah and the beautiful Rachel the younger. The Torah says that Leah had "weak eyes. Rachel was shapely and beautiful". Jacob agreed to serve seven years in service in lieu of the usual bride price. La- ban agreed because marriages between relatives were regarded as highly desirable. But Laban deceived Jacob, substituting Leah as the bride for Rachel. Laban ex- cused himself in his deception saying that it was the local cus- tom to have the older daughter marry first. Even though Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, it was Leah, the lesser loved and the in- nocent victim of her father's du- plicity, who became the beneficiary of God's compassion. She was blessed with many chil- dren. Rachel had none. Finally, the text says that "God remem- bered Rachel and opened her womb. She conceived and bore children. " A complicated relationship be- tween Jacob and Laban now un- folds as Jacob decides to return home and slip away when the op- portunity presented itself. Jacob lost no time in taking advantage of Laban's absence. Rachel also lost no time in taking with her the household idols called "ter- afim". Those ancient idols of pa- gan gods were thought to be guardians of the household. Laban believed his household gods would protect the food sup- ply and assure the general well- being of his family When Laban found out about Jacob's flight, he set out in hot pursuit to catch up with his son-in-law. He had dis- covered his terafim were gone. Laban searches Jacob's tent for the terafim, then Leah's tent, then Rachel's tent. Shabbat Vayetze: Genesis 32:4-36:43 Hosea 11:7-12:12. He finds nothing but didn't re- alize that Rachel was sitting on her camel cushion with the ter- afim under it. Rachel could not rise because she was sitting on Laban's gods in a state of men- strual impurity. Commentators noted Rachel's actions as a con- temptuous rejection of the idea that Laban's cult objects would have any religious worth. Laban, being satisfied of Ja- cob's innocence, agreed to a pact of peace between him and Jacob. Laban bade his sons and daugh- ters and grandchildren good-bye as Jacob went on his way. Thus ended the Bible's dramatic en- counter when in-laws become out-laws. ❑ Richard C. Hertz is the rabbi emer- ilus of Temple Beth El. Forum Topic: The Mormons On Nov. 14 at 8:30 p.m., Rabbi Sherwin Wine of the Birming- ham Temple will discuss "The Mormons: From Salt Lake to the World" at the temple. A discus- sion will follow the talk. There is a charge.