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62

November 26.2009

s a Jewish community, we
Rachel, but instead was tricked and
understand Torah in a vari- married her sister Leah.
ety of ways. For some, it is
But there is another passage at the
the word of God. It is the law present- beginning of this week's portion that
ed to Moses at Mt. Sinai, passed on to is especially meaningful to us today.
us. For others, an entirely human cre- In a time when many are in search
ation. And still for others, something
of spirituality, we read this portion,
in between.
helping us better understand our
The beauty is that no matter how
own personal journeys.
we understand the gift of Torah,
While on his journey to Haran,
when it comes to reading it, the dis-
Jacob lay down and had a dream.
cerning see it as a guide. It is filled
Jacob dreamed of a stairwell reaching
with stories and commandments that up to the sky with angels ascending
teach us how to follow the right path
and descending. Jacob also dreamed
in life. We glean laws, cus-
that God spoke to him.
toms and practices from
When Jacob woke up, he
these stories that remain
said, "Surely, God is in this
part of our tradition to
place and I did not know
this day.
it" (Genesis 28:16).
This week's portion is
This is the case for many
no exception. The parshah,
of us, too. God is in this
called Vayetze, mean-
place and we do not know
ing "then he went out,"
it. We go about our daily
begins when Jacob runs
lives, expecting a great
away from his enraged
miracle to occur so that
twin-brother Esau after
Rabbi Daniel
we can recognize God. We
hoodwinking their father
A. Sch wartz
expect a personal revela-
and stealing the bless-
Special to the
tion so that we can say that
ing meant for Esau. We
Jewish News
we believe. But if we stop
read that Jacob escapes to
for a moment and think
Haran (modern day Iraq) where he
about the thousands of miracles
finds his wife.
that happen daily, then we're able to
The remainder of the Torah por-
recognize God and God's work in our
tion appears to be the ancient version lives.
of a modern-day television drama.
Every time we use one of our
There's love, romance, deception
senses — each time we taste some-
and theft. We read of infertility, a
thing, we see something beautiful or
death threat and reconciliation. And
we hear a loved one on the phone, an
because of these stories, precedents
incredible miracle occurs. And every
were set that help us answer modern
time we pause for a moment to thank
questions. Traditions were created,
God for that miracle, we allow our-
bringing more joy into our lives or
selves to be like Jacob and say, "God
saving us from making similar mis-
is in this place ..."
takes.
For example, the bedeken ceremony, Daniel A. Schwartz is a rabbi at Temple
in modern Jewish weddings. The
Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield.
bedeken, literally "checking," is the
process during which a groom and
bride, or just the groom depend-
ing on the setting, literally "check"
Conversations
to make sure that the person whom
Nowadays, do people ever wind
they are about to marry is indeed the
up with a spouse other than
person whom they intend to marry.
the one they thought they were
The ceremony ends with the veiling
marrying? How well do engaged
of the bride.
couples get to know each other?
Why do we do this? So that we
Have you ever strongly felt the
do not become a victim of decep-
presence of God in a particular
tion, like Jacob, when he worked for
place?
seven years to pay the bride-price for