From:          "Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash"
To:            yhe-parsha@vbm-torah.org
Subject:       PARSHA61 -07: Parashat Vayeitze


                   YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
      ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
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                  PARASHAT VAYEITZE
                           
               The Covenant of Separation
                    By Rav Ezra Bick
                           
                           
                           A.

      Parashat Vayeitze, as has been pointed out in  this
forum  in  the  past, forms a carefully delineated  unit,
framed  by parallel scenes at the beginning and end.  The
parasha  begins with a vision of angels as Yaacov  leaves
the Land of Israel, and concludes with a vision of angels
as he returns. After the first, Yaacov erects a monument,
and  before  the latter he does the same. In between,  he
has two contests with Lavan, the first over marriage with
Lavan's daughters, and the second in order to keep  those
daughters.  The  middle section of the parasha  describes
how Yaacov produced his family and wealth.

      To a great extent, the first monument (28,18-22) is
a  sign  of  God's  protection of Yaacov  in  his   coming
journey - "If God shall be with me, and protect me on the
path  that  I am going, and give me bread to  eat  and  a
garment  to  wear;  and I shall return  in  peace  to   my
father's  house...."  (20-21). In other  words,  Yaacov's
sojourn  in  Lavan's house is "covered" by this  monument
and  what  it symbolizes. Although Lavan is not mentioned
by  name in the first case, it turns out that he  is  the
center  of what God's protection will be needed for.  The
monument  at the end of the parasha is the conclusion  of
Yaacov's  confrontation with Lavan. As one  prepared  him
for Lavan, the second seals his relationship with him.

      However, while the content and meaning of the first
monument  is clearly spelled out both by the  content  of
God's revelation to Yaacov in the dream of the ladder and
Yaacov's   declaration  when he raised  it  (20-22),  the
meaning  of  the second is unclear, obscured by  multiple
statements  by  Lavan,  Yaacov's  relative  silence,  the
accompanying  "pile of rocks," and a confusing  order  of
events.  It  is  to  this  issue  that  we  will   address
ourselves in this week's shiur.

                           B.

      After  Lavan has caught up with Yaacov and searched
all  his  tents  looking  for the "terafim,"  Yaacov,   in
"anger"  (31,36), rebukes Lavan, not only  for  for  this
latest  incident,  but for his crooked dealings  all  the
previous twenty years. Lavan answers,

     Lavan answered and said to Yaacov: The daughters are
     my  daughters and the sons are my sons and the sheep
     are  my  sheep,  and all you see is mine;   and  what
     shall  I do for these, my daughters, today,  or   for
     their children that they bore?
     Therefore, let us seal a covenant, you and  me,  and
     it shall be a witness between me and you (31,43-44).
    
      In  apparent response to this, Yaacov raises  up   a
stone as a monument (matzeiva).

      The basic question we wish to answer is what is the
significance of this entire episode, what is the  meaning
of  the  covenant and the monument? On the way to  answer
this  thematic question, we have to consider  a  slew  of
difficulties in the telling of the story.

1.  Lavan suggests a covenant, but defines no content for
 it.  Yaacov  is already busy constructing the  means  of
 enacting  the  covenant, by raising the  stone,  without
 knowing what the content is to be.

2.  Yaacov  raises the stone, but also has his "brothers"
 gather  a  pile  of rocks. Why? What is  the  difference
 between the monument and the rocks?

3.  Yaacov  raises  the  monument himself,  but  has   his
 "brothers" gather the pile of rocks. Why?

4. They then eat "on the pile." Eating after COMPLETING a
 covenant  is  normal - compare Yitzchak's covenant  with
 Avimelech  (26,30). In fact, at the end of  this  story,
 we  also  find  that they eat "on the  mountain"   (verse
 54).  What  then  is the purpose of this earlier  eating
 "on the pile?"

5.  Lavan  calls the pile of rocks "yigar sahaduta,"  and
 Yaacov calls it "galeid" (47). Both terms are the  same,
 and  mean "pile of witness." Why do we need to know  how
 to  say  galeid  in Aramaic? Either Lavan always  speaks
 Aramaic,  his  language, to Yaacov, and  the  Torah  has
 conveniently  translated it into Hebrew for  us,  as  is
 always  the case when someone speaks a foreign  language
 (for instance, Par'o) - and then the question is why  do
 we  need to know, in this one case, the original Aramaic
 of  "galeid;" or in fact Lavan speaks Hebrew to  Yaacov,
 and  only  this phrase was uttered in Aramaic, in  which
 case the question is both why did he do it and also  why
 the  Torah  thinks  it important to  inform  us  of   it.
 Either  way,  the entire verse 47 seems extraneous.  Why
 do we need to know the name of a pile of rocks?

6.  Lavan, after naming the rocks and the "mitzpe" (which
 many  commentators think is the monument),  proceeds  to
 spell  out the terms of the covenant (50). Since he  had
 previously  (verse 43) declared that his motivation  for
 the  covenant is his concern for his daughters and their
 children, we are not surprised to learn that he  abjures
 Yaacov  not  to  marry other women  or  mistreat  his   -
 Lavan's  - daughters. On the other hand, this is  not  a
 covenant  - it is one sided, and there is no mention  of
 what Lavan is promising. Where is the other side?

7.  In  the next verse (51), we finally find what  sounds
 like  a  covenant. The Torah introduces this verse  with
 "And  Lavan  said  to  Yaacov," even  though   Lavan  was
 speaking  in the previous verse as well. This  indicates
 that this is a new speech and not a continuation of  the
 previous  one.  But  at least, finally,  in  this   third
 speech  of  Lavan, we get to what we have  been  waiting
 for  since  the  beginning. He demands that  neither  of
 them cross the line formed by the pile of rocks and  the
 monument  with malicious intent against the other  (52).
 This  demand  is  accompanied by  an  oath,  and   Yaacov
 swears   as   well.  One  small  question   here.   Lavan
 introduces  his  covenant by refering  to  the  monument
 that  he  has "thrown between myself and you."  We   know
 that  Yaacov  erected the monument, not  Lavan,  and  in
 fact  erected it by himself. Why does Lavan take  credit
 for it?

8.  One final observation - not quite a difficulty, but a
 point  to consider. The Torah repeatedly refers to  this
 entire  story  as taking place on "the mountain."  Lavan
 catches  up  with Yaacov "at Mt. Gilad" (31,23);  Yaacov
 has  pitched his tent "on the mountain" (25)  and  Lavan
 pitches his fellows "on Mt. Gilad" (ibid); and,  at  the
 conclusion,  the Torah tells us that Yaacov  slaughtered
 animals  for  food "on the mountain" and  they  ate   and
 slept "on the mountain" (54). Everything Yaacov does  is
 "on  the  mountain." What is the meaning of this  phrase
 and what is the significance of the mountain?

                           C.

      Lavan  begins the suggested covenant  by   reminding
Yaacov that his wives are Lavan's daughters, his children
Lavan's grandchildren, and all his wealth a spin-off from
the  flocks of Lavan. In other words, he affirms the fact
that Yaacov is a dependent member of his family. In fact,
his  language  not only suggests that he and  Yaacov  are
kinsmen,  but  that Yaacov is a member of  Lavan's  clan,
where  Lavan himself is at the head of it. "All that  you
see  belongs to me." This is the basis of his  suggestion
that he ought to do something for his daughters and their
children.

      This sort of a covenant is not that between equals,
but  between a lord and his subjects. Naturally, this  is
two-sided, for the lord grants favors to the subject just
as  the  subject owes allegiance to the  lord.  It  is  a
covenant  between  two  parties,  but  one  that    grants
benefits  to  the  subject only to  the  extent  that   he
accepts the overlordship of the lord, that is, Lavan.  In
a  less-blatant  fashion,  this  was  the  covenant   that
existed  between Avraham and his friends, Mamre,  Eshkol,
and Aneir (14,13). Avraham is living as a stranger amidst
the  Emori, and he must be included in some sort of  clan
to have protection locally. Living in the grove of Mamre,
he   enters   a  covenant  with  him  and   his  brothers.
Similarly, Avimelech offers a covenant to Yitzchak (26,28-
29),  which gives Yitzchak residency rights in Gerar,  of
which  Avimelech  is  ruler. In the tribal  situation  of
Canaan,  a  stranger who did not belong to some  grouping
would be helpless. Lavan is offering Yaacov the same sort
otribal identity before he returns to Canaan.

     There is no need to spell out the contents of such a
covenant,  just  as  we  are  never  told  the   terms  of
Avraham's  covenant with the Emorite brothers.  To  be  a
"ben-brit"  means first and foremost to  belong,  thereby
gaining  all the benefits of membership in the family  or
tribe.  And  so, Lavan says, "Therefore  let  us  seal   a
covenant,  you and me, and it shall be a witness  between
me and you (44)." This is Lavan's first offer.

      Yaacov gives no verbal reply, neither accepting nor
rejecting,  but  he  does set up  two  stone  symbols,   a
monument (matzeiva) and a pile of rocks. A matzeiva is  a
symbol  of  a covenant, used by Yaacov before  and  found
elsewhere  in  Tanakh. But a pile  of  rocks  is  a   very
strange  and  unique  symbol. "Gal avanim"  most   readily
conjures up a vision of destruction, of what is left when
a house is destroyed. There is another difference between
a  matzeiva and a gal. The first is a single stone, while
the  latter is a collection of many stones. I believe the
meaning  of Yaacov's actions is the following. He,  alone
and  by  himself, outside the tribal framework, raises  a
matzeiva. This stands for him as an individual -  or,  as
we know from reading the first part of the parasha, as an
individual  with  a  covenant  with  God,  based  on   the
previous  monument which he raised in Beit  El.  Yaacov's
protection throughout the previous years has not been his
membership  in Lavan's household, but God,  even  as  God
saved him the night before from Lavan (42). Yaacov  is  a
dependent  of God, who is his Lord, and not a  member  of
any clan at all.

      The  rocks symbolize the fellowship of many grouped
together which Lavan is offering him.  Here, Yaacov  asks
his  "brothers" to construct it. We all know that  Yaacov
did  not  have any brothers present, and Rashi  therefore
interprets  the  phrase  to refer  to  his  sons.   Ramban
asserts  that it refers to the kinsmen of Lavan who  rode
with  him  in pursuit of Yaacov. I think that  in  either
case,  the  use of the term indicates the nature  of  the
construction  -  these  people  are  "brothers,"   meaning
kinsmen,  members  of the same tribe  or  group.  Yaacov,
without  participating himself, has them build a pile  of
rocks.  The "tribe" to which he could belong is  no  more
than  a heap of rocks, a remnant of a building, the rocks
themselves  not joined or molded together. This  then  is
his   response  to  Lavan's  claim  and  Lavan's    offer.
Immediately, they eat "on the pile," meaning that  Yaacov
is  willing  to eat together with Lavan if Lavan  accepts
the significance of the pile of rocks.

      Lavan  does  not  give  up,  and   offers  a  second
suggestion. He understands that Yaacov is truly leaving -
"when we hide each from each other" (49). He calls God to
witness  that Yaacov shall not abuse his daughters.  This
consideration is truly touching, though we have to wonder
if  he  was  really afraid of Yaacov's treatment  of  his
wives  (this  twenty years after the  marriage!).  But  I
think   the  main  point  was  to  assert  a   degree   of
overlordship - Lavan is the guarantee of the  welfare  of
Yaacov's wives. If this be accepted, then they, at least,
are  still members of Lavan's clan. Yaacov, who is  going
to  behave  honorably in any event, will not be  seen  as
behaving  properly  because he is honorable,  but  rather
because  he  respects  Lavan  and  therefore  treats   his
daughters  accordingly. If this works, Yaacov will  still
be, to some extent, a dependent member of Lavan's family.

      This  offer  is  apparently  met   with  silence  on
Yaacov's part, a silence that is correctly interpreted by
Lavan as rejection. And so, he makes one more suggestion,
and this one is accepted by Yaacov - "Yaacov swore by the
Fear of Yitzchak his father" (53).
    
     This  pile  is witness, and the monument a   witness,
     that  I  shall not cross this pile over to you,   and
     that  you shall not cross this pile over to me,  nor
     this monument, for evil.

      This  covenant is fundamentally different than   the
previous  two  suggestions. Here there  is  no  offer  of
mutual  aid  or of protection, but only of disengagement.
It  would have been normal, in the context of a covenant,
to  suggest  that each one WOULD cross over  to  aid  the
other. Lavan does not suggest that - on the contrary,  he
swears, and has Yaacov swear, that he will NOT cross over
the line marked by the stones. This is truly the covenant
that  Yaacov is hoping for, for it does not create a bond
between  them  but  dissolves the bond between  them  and
finalizes their separation. Yaacov is being divorced from
the  clan  of  Lavan, not adopted by it. As a  going-away
present, he is promised that they will not attack him.

      The formulation of the covenant which I just quoted
is  rather convoluted. Although it is clear that what  is
being  forsworn  is  the  crossing  of  the  border   with
malicious intent, this is indicated only at the end of  a
long  sentence, at the very last word. Until that  point,
one  might  have thought that Lavan was simply forbidding
the  crossing  of  the  border for any  reason.  I   would
suggest  that  that  is indeed the  true  import  of   the
covenant.  Lavan is setting up the stones as a border,  a
separation, a gulf between the two of them. From now  on,
he  says,  you go your way and I stay on my side,  and  I
suspect  we  will  never see each other  again.  This  is
precisely  the  point  that finally  elicits  a  positive
response  from Yaacov. Yaacov is FLEEING Lavan,  and  his
purpose  is  to  eliminate  the  ties  between  them.    A
"covenant" of this kind is acceptable and even desirable.

      By  taking credit for raising the monument  in   his
introduction  to this offer (51), Lavan is accepting  the
significance  of  the  monument as  Yaacov  intended  it.
Yaacov  is a single individual, and not a member  of  the
group,  not  one stone within a pile. Lavan says,  I  too
recognize that. In formulating the terms, Lavan says that
he will not cross the pile, and Yaacov will not cross the
pile  or  the monument. The Radak (52) explains that  the
pile  of  stones  belongs  to both,  while  the   monument
belongs only to Yaacov, and therefore Lavan holds it  out
exclusively as the border for Yaacov but not for himself.
This accords with what I have claimed is the significance
of the two structures.

      In  other words, according to the final version   of
the covenant, the pile of stones has become a border, one
which basically should not be crossed. It represents  the
division  of  Yaacov's house from the family  of  Nachor,
Betuel,  and  Lavan.  We  must  remember  that  the   avot
continued to view their family in Aram as family. This is
true  not  only as a source of brides - Avraham  stresses
that  Eliezer should go to "my BIRTHPLACE AND MY  FAMILY"
for  a  bride  for Yitzchak - but as an extended  support
system  as  well. Rivka sends Yaacov to Lavan because  he
will be safe there. "Yitzchak sent Yaacov and he went  to
Padan  Aram, to Lavan ben Betuel the Aramite, the brother
of  Rivka, the mother of Eisav and Yaacov" (28,5).  Rashi
comments  on the family description of this verse  "I  do
not  know  what  it  teaches us." Ever since  asking   the
question  which Rashi does not answer of  my  teacher  in
third  grade,  I have been fascinated by this  perplexing
formulation.  I  now think that it is to stress  that  at
this   point,  there  still  exists  an  extended   family
relationship,  whereby Rivka, Yaacov, and Eisav  are  all
members  of the same clan as Lavan. It is not  just  that
Rivka remembers her brother; it is that Yaacov, her  son,
is  also related to Lavan and can therefore, according to
the  laws of clanship, be protected there. This now comes
to an end. We will never hear again of Nachor's family or
of Lavan - and of course, the brides of Yaacov's children
will not be drawn from Aram.

      This  is  an important stage. The original   command
which  commenced the story of the avot was  to  go  "from
your  country,  your birthplace, and the  house  of  your
father." Although Avraham has traveled from those places,
he  is  still connected to them, and so is Yitzchak.  The
complete  fulfillment of that command  takes  place  only
now,  and  is  sealed by the covenant between  Lavan  and
Yaacov.  From now on, they are not related, and the  pile
of  stones  stands  as a testimony  to  that  divorce.   A
physical  border stands between them. Lavan  is  the  old
world, the "alte heim." From now on, it no longer exsits.
Israeis cut off from that origin.

      That  is  the  reason, I think,  for   the  repeated
reference to "the mountain." By not calling the place Mt.
Gilad, but only "the mountain," it is clear that not  the
geographic   location   is  important   here,    but   the
typography. The two are on a mountain, and will  descend,
each  in  his own separate direction. In other  words,  a
mountain separates them from now on. On this last  night,
they  will  eat and sleep together on the mountain;  then
each will go in opposite directions and the mountain will
remain between them.

      Since  the  pile  of rocks is a border,   the  Torah
wishes  to stress that its meaning is different dependent
on  which  side you are standing. This is the meaning  of
"yigar  sahaduta." The point is not that  the  two  names
mean   the   same  thing,  but  that  they   are  actually
different, despite having the same meaning. On  one  side
of  the  pile is Aram, where the language is Aramaic;  on
the  other  side, Israel, where the language  is  Hebrew.
Because  it  is  a border, and not merely an  interesting
location  within the life of Yaacov, it has two different
names, one from the one side, one from the other.  If  it
were  a  site of a real covenant, binding the two into  a
single clan, it would have one name; because it marks the
dissolution of the clan and the beginning of  two  clans,
it has two different names.

     The separation from Lavan, of course, symbolizes and
finalizes  the  separation  from  the  "families  of   the
lands." Yaacov, unlike his fathers, will not have  allies
either  in or outside the Land of Israel. The cutting  of
all   family  ties  to  the  non-Jewish  world  is    here
accomplished, and this initializes Yaacov's  creation  of
the House of Yaacov and of Israel.

     This is stressed by the next two verses.

     Lavan arose early in the morning and kissed his sons
     and  daughters and blessed them; and Lavan went  and
     returned to his place.

     And  Yaacov went on his way, and angels of  God   met
     him.

      Lavan returns to his place, and Yaacov goes on  his
way.  Lavan returns to where he came from, but Yaacov  is
beginning a journey, without Lavan. Yaacov's clan, if  we
can  call it that, from now on is the camp of the  angels
of God.


YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433

Copyright (c) 1999 Yeshivat Har Etzion
All Rights Reserved

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