2. In the beginning of the parsha, Jacob ran away
from his brother, Eisav, and left for Charan in
hopes of finding family. On his way, he
stopped for a rest and used a rock as a pillow.
He dreamed of angels ascending and
descending a ladder to heaven. When he woke
up, he anointed a memorial stone with oil and
named the place Beit-el, house of G-d.
3. Jacob continued on his journey. He stopped at
a well and saw a maiden approaching. He
discovered that she was his cousin, Rachel. He
caused the rock to roll from the top of the well,
and watered Rachel’s sheep. He kissed her,
cried, and told her that they were related. She
ran to tell her father, Lavan.
4. Jacob agreed to work for Lavan for seven years in
exchange for marrying Rachel. At the wedding,
though, Lavan tricked him into marrying his
older daughter, Leah. Lavan told him that the
local custom was to marry off the older daughter
first, but he could still marry Rachel in exchange
for another seven years of work. Jacob agreed.
5. G-d saw that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, and
caused Leah to have more children. She gave birth to
Reuben, Shimon, Levi, and Judah. Rachel couldn’t have
children, so she gave Jacob her maid-servant, Bilhah,
who gave birth to Dan and Naphtali. Leah was no longer
having children, so she gave Jacob her maid-servant,
Zilpah, who gave birth to Gad and Asher. Then, Leah
gave birth to Yissachar and Zebulun. Leah also had a
daughter, Dinah. Finally, G-d remembered Rachel, and
she had a son, Joseph.
6. Jacob told Lavan that it was time for him to return to his
homeland. Lavan told Jacob that he believed G-d had
blessed him because of Jacob’s stay, so he decided to give
Jacob a gift. They agreed that they would split Lavan’s
animals, although later Lavan would try and deceitfully take
more than his fair share.
Jacob
7. While Lavan was out of the house, Rachel took all of his
idols. Jacob left without saying goodbye to Lavan. When
Lavan found out, he went after them. He found them and
asked Jacob why he fled in secret and why he stole his
idols. Jacob answered that he fled because he was afraid
Lavan would take his daughters by force, and that he
didn’t steal the idols, but whoever did should die. He
didn’t know that Rachel had stolen them.
Lavan Rachel