RABBI DAVID ETENGOFF: PARASHAT HASHAVUAH
  • Blog: Rabbi David Etengoff: Parashat HaShavuah
  • Sefer Bereishit 5784&5785
  • Sefer Shemot 5784&5785
  • Sefer Vayikra 5784&5785
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5784 &5785
  • Sefer Devarim 5784&5785
  • Sefer Bereishit 5782&5783
  • Sefer Shemot 5782&5783
  • Sefer Vayikra 5782&5783
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5782&5783
  • Sefer Devarim 5782&5783
  • Sefer Bereishit 5780& 5781
  • Sefer Shemot 5780&5781
  • Sefer Vayikra 5780&5781
  • Sefer Bamidbar 578&5781
  • Sefer Devarim 578&5781
  • Sefer Bereishit 5778&5779
  • Sefer Shemot 5778&5779
  • Sefer Vayikra 5778&5779
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5778&5779
  • Sefer Devarim 5778&5779
  • Sefer Bereishit 5776&5777
  • Sefer Bereishit 5774&5775
  • Sefer Bereishit 5772&5773
  • Sefer Bereishit 5771&5770
  • Sefer Shemot 5776&5777
  • Sefer Shemot 5774&5775
  • Sefer Shemot 5772&5773
  • Sefer Shemot 5771&5770
  • Sefer Vayikra 5776&5777
  • Sefer Vayikra 5774&5775
  • Sefer Vayikra 5772&5773
  • Sefer Vayikra 5771&5770
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5776&5777
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5774&5775
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5772&5773
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5771&5770
  • Sefer Devarim 5776&5777
  • Sefer Devarim 5774&5775
  • Sefer Devarim 5772&5773
  • Sefer Devarim 5771&5770

12/1/2019

​Parashat Vayatze, 5780, 2019: "And Ya’akov Encountered Hashem"

0 Comments

Read Now
 
Picture
​
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra bat Yechiel, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Chana bat Shmuel, Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, Shoshana Elka bat Avraham, Tikvah bat Rivka Perel, Peretz ben Chaim, Chaya Sarah bat Reb Yechezkel Shraga, the Kedoshim of Har Nof and Pittsburgh, and the refuah shlaimah of Mordechai HaLevi ben Miriam Tovah, Moshe ben Itta Golda, Yocheved Dafneh bat Dinah Zehavah, Reuven Shmuel ben Leah and the safety of our brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world.
 
The beginning of our parasha describes the first steps that Ya’akov took on his journey to Haran in order to escape the wrath of his brother, Eisav, and find a fitting wife from his mother’s family: “And Jacob left Beer Sheba, and he went to Haran. Vayifga ba’makom (And he arrived at the place) and lodged there because the sun had set…” (Sefer Bereishit 28:10-11, this and all Bible and Rashi translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach) The expression, “vayifga ba’makom,” is difficult to understand at face value, since there is as of yet no referent for “the place” in the Torah’s text. We are fortunate that Rashi’s Commentary on the Torah summarizes various Talmudic and Midrashic statements that discuss both words in our phrase, and thereby advance our understanding of these terms. Rashi begins by suggesting the following interpretation of “vayifga:”

Our Rabbis interpreted it as an expression of prayer, as in, “And you, pray not on behalf of this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer, and v’al tifga bi — do not entreat Me for I will not hear you.” (Sefer Yirmiyahu 7:16)
 
Herein, Rashi explains that the terms vayifga and tefilah are functionally equivalent. Therefore, he would read this section of our phrase as, “And he prayed in the place.” In addition to his interpretation of vayifga as prayer, Rashi focuses upon the meaning of makom in our verse and suggests, “The Torah does not mention which place; however, [it refers to] the place mentioned elsewhere, namely, Mount Moriah, concerning which it is said, ‘And he saw the place from afar.’” (See Talmud Bavli, Pesachim 88a)  In sum, Rashi’s reading of this part of our pasuk would look like this: “And Jacob left Beer Sheba, and he went to Haran. And he prayed on Mount Moriah and lodged there because the sun had set…”
 
In contrast to Rashi’s approach suggesting makom as scriptural code for Mount Moriah, a number of midrashic sources interpret our term as an alternative name for Hashem, rather than a physical place. By way of illustration:

Rav Huna said in the name of Rabbi Ami: “Why did the Torah use a nickname for the Holy One blessed be He [in our verse] and call Him “makom” [instead of one of His more usual proper names]? The reason is, He is the place (makom) of the world, whereas His world is not His place. (Midrash Bereishit Rabbah, Parashat Vayatze 68:9, translation and brackets my own)
 
This midrash identifies the word, “makom,” as an appellation of Hashem, based upon the statement, “He is the place (makom) of the world, whereas His world is not His place.” As this rationale may be difficult to comprehend, Rabbi Yossi bar Halafta focuses upon its explanation in the continuation of the midrash:

Rabbi Yossi bar Halafta said: “We do not know from here [Rav Huna’s statement] why exactly the Holy One blessed be He is the place of His world instead of thinking His world is His place. Yet we have a clear answer from another verse: ‘… Behold, there is a makom — place — with Me, and you shall stand on the rock.’ (Sefer Shemot 33:21)  This teaches us that the Holy One blessed be He is the makom olamo — the ‘place’ wherein His world exists —  rather than olamo m’komo — the place wherein He exists.”
 
Based upon our midrash, we have an entirely different way to read our phrase, namely, “And Jacob left Beer Sheba, and he went to Haran. And there he met the Holy One blessed be He and lodged there because the sun had set…” In addition, this interpretation sheds new light upon Ya’akov’s famous declaration, “Mah nora hamakom hazeh” — “How awesome is this place” — that can now be understood as his proclamation that he had encountered HaMakom in all His manifest glory.
 
We can further extend our midrash’s insight to a well-known verse from Sefer Yeshiyahu that we recite during every Kedushah: “Kadosh kadosh kadosh Hashem tzivakot m’lo kol ha’aretz k’vodo” — “Holy, holy, holy is the L-rd of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” (6:3)  A cursory reading suggests that Hashem’s glory is in and of this world; yet, with the midrash’s guidance, we now realize that everything including His glory, exists and can only exist within Hamakom. I believe this is one reason we joyfully sing, “baruch Hamakom baruch hu” — “blessed be Hamakom blessed be He” — during the recitation of the Haggadah, for it is at this exalted moment, perhaps more than any other, that we come closest to apprehending the omnipresence of our Creator and Redeemer.
 
With the Holy One’s help, and our fervent desire, may our new-found understanding of Hamakom lead us to appreciate the magnificent wonders and beauty of our world, as we ever recognize hakol bo — everything is within Him. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
They may also be found on http://www.yutorah.org using the search criteria Etengoff and the parasha’s name.

The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email mailto:[email protected].

*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd
​

*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.
 


Share

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

Details

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    Author

    Talmid of Rabbi Soloveitchik zatzal

    Categories

    All
    Parashat Hashavuah

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog: Rabbi David Etengoff: Parashat HaShavuah
  • Sefer Bereishit 5784&5785
  • Sefer Shemot 5784&5785
  • Sefer Vayikra 5784&5785
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5784 &5785
  • Sefer Devarim 5784&5785
  • Sefer Bereishit 5782&5783
  • Sefer Shemot 5782&5783
  • Sefer Vayikra 5782&5783
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5782&5783
  • Sefer Devarim 5782&5783
  • Sefer Bereishit 5780& 5781
  • Sefer Shemot 5780&5781
  • Sefer Vayikra 5780&5781
  • Sefer Bamidbar 578&5781
  • Sefer Devarim 578&5781
  • Sefer Bereishit 5778&5779
  • Sefer Shemot 5778&5779
  • Sefer Vayikra 5778&5779
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5778&5779
  • Sefer Devarim 5778&5779
  • Sefer Bereishit 5776&5777
  • Sefer Bereishit 5774&5775
  • Sefer Bereishit 5772&5773
  • Sefer Bereishit 5771&5770
  • Sefer Shemot 5776&5777
  • Sefer Shemot 5774&5775
  • Sefer Shemot 5772&5773
  • Sefer Shemot 5771&5770
  • Sefer Vayikra 5776&5777
  • Sefer Vayikra 5774&5775
  • Sefer Vayikra 5772&5773
  • Sefer Vayikra 5771&5770
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5776&5777
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5774&5775
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5772&5773
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5771&5770
  • Sefer Devarim 5776&5777
  • Sefer Devarim 5774&5775
  • Sefer Devarim 5772&5773
  • Sefer Devarim 5771&5770