Opinion & Comment
Yiras Shomayim -- Outside of Eretz Yisroel

"And Yaakov left Beer Sheva and he went to Choron" (Bereishis 28;10).

Yeshivas Shem ve'Eiver

The wording in the verse before us seems superfluous; the Torah could have sufficed with one of the two verbs -- leaving or going. It could have said, "And Yaakov left Beer Sheva for Choron." Or, "And Yaakov went from Beer Sheva to Choron." But the two verbs that separate the exit from Beer Sheva and the heading towards Choron teach us that it was an interrupted action. Each activity was a separate chapter in Yaakov's life which, Chazal say, had an interval of fourteen years.

During those fourteen years, Yaakov was ensconced in Yeshivas Shem ve'Eiver, before he went to Lovon's house. During those years, he studied with great diligence to such a degree that even a mortal necessity such as sleep was not fixed. Chazal explain the phrase "And he lay down at that place," which we find shortly, that "he slept at that place, but for the fourteen years of his sojourn in the House of Eiver he did not retire at night, for he was immersed in Torah" (Bereishis 28:11 and Rashi there).

Chazal do not mean to say that he did not sleep at all during this entire period, for a person cannot possibly hold out without sleeping for more than three days. But Yaakov Ovinu did not retire at night to lie down at night in a proper bed but rather, he dozed off during his study. This was his practice throughout the fourteen years of his stay in Yeshivas Shem ve'Eiver.

Did Yaakov Not Study at All Before Leaving?

Yaakov was sent by his father to Choron to take a wife from the daughters of his uncle, Lovon. He tarried in fulfilling his father's behest and only after fourteen years did he pick himself up to go to Lovon to establish his own home. Why did he tarry so long?

If he was so keen on studying Torah, had he not been doing so up until then? He was sixty-three years old when he left his parents' home, already suffused with dozens of years of Torah study. If the Torah testifies that he was a "dweller of tents," referring to the tent of Torah, verily sacrificing himself in that tent [as "when a person dies in the tent . . . "], it seems that this title was earned before the fourteen years in yeshiva, by which time he had already molded himself as a Torah scholar.

Why, then, did he have to seclude himself for such a length of time in yeshiva?

The Dangers in Leaving Home

Yaakov, on the verge of going to Choron, is afraid of living in the home of such a wicked man. He feels -- if we may take the liberty to phrase it thus -- like a yeshiva student whose circumstances force him to go out into the big wide world. Sometimes, conditions coerce one to make such a move, be it because of his mother's command, fear of Eisov's retribution, or because of his father's directive, which requires him to seek a mate from Lovon's home. Whatever the reason, Yaakov finds it necessary to leave the four cubits of halochoh and to confront his uncle face to face, much as he shuns the thought.

The very act of leaving, of going forth to new climes, new environs to which he has never been exposed, constitutes a spiritual danger. When a person is away from the safety of his home, he is exposed to various sights, different forms of speech, strange people and a hundred-and-one factors that can mold his character in undesirable styles and ways and dilute, if not strip him entirely, of the holiness and purity which he already labored to acquire.

"In Your Eyes and the Eyes of Israel"

In the Traveler's Prayer, we ask that Hashem "grant us charm and grace in Your eyes and the eyes of all our beholders." We can understand the plea to find favor in the eyes of others, for we are on the verge of meeting people we did not know heretofore. They can either hinder or help us in our journey. When we stay at home we are not dependent upon all kinds of outside factors. At home, we have neighbors, acquaintances, old friends, but when we go forth, we need to find favor in the eyes of others.

Why though, do we ask to find favor in the eyes of Hashem? We are always turning to Him in our prayers, at all times, in all places. Why must we ask for special favor in His eyes when we are on the road?

There is, apparently, a valid reason for this. Hashem is the selfsame Creator and Provider, and nothing has changed or will ever change for He is infinite and immutable. He is the same when we approach Him in our local synagogue or when we supplicate to Him in a strange city.

What is liable to change is the one who offers the prayer, the beseecher. In the course of his journey, he may meet up with unsavory elements that will have a bad influence on him. He will be far more exposed than he was in the security of his home and neighborhood. He may change to a degree that he finds less favor in the eyes of his Creator than previously.

And so, when we go forth, we ask to remain on the same spiritual level, and not to fall to a state where Hashem will not look so kindly upon us as before.

Yeshivas Shem ve'Eiver as Preparation for a Stay in Padan Arom

This is what Yaakov feared. He had grown up in a house filled with Torah and piety. He was raised by his saintly father and was even privileged to know his grandfather Avrohom. But now he was going forth into a different environment, a place where the scale of priorities and values was all different, distorted, where the very atmosphere was alien and hostile. He feared that he might turn sour, so to speak, and lose his spiritual stature while en route. His fear intensified until he found a suitable place to pray, at Har Hamoriya. He asked, "That I return in peace to my father's house." In peace, or whole -- wholesome and without sin. For where he is headed, he will be fighting a daily battle to maintain his spiritual integrity.

Yaakov feels that he must intensify his knowledge in Torah and yiras Shomayim so that he can be staunch in the face of the alien culture of Lovon, in whose shadow he will have to reside for twenty years. He will not have a mentor or teacher there to guide him. He will not have his otzar seforim, his holy books or holy guides to help him along. He will not be able to refer his halachic questions of meat- and-milk to his father, or discuss the questions of the prohibitions of interest with his great teacher, Eiver. He is going forth into a spiritual wasteland that negates everything he learned and lived by up until now.

One who ventures into such an alien environment without the proper preparation is liable to succumb. He will have no father, no teacher, no spiritual authority and guide, no one to ask, no one to consult, and also -- no one before whom to be ashamed if he falters and stumbles.

For a distant place is a threat even for a great person. He is liable to shed some of his purity, to deteriorate and degenerate. Each one according to his level -- but a moral descent can happen to anyone.

This is what Yaakov Ovinu fears. He secludes himself and works to perfect himself, and elevates himself higher and higher until he feels he has immunized himself against Lovon's evil influence.

And so it was. He later informs Eisov, "I resided with Lovon -- and still kept the 613 commandments, and I did not learn from his evil ways" (Bereishis 32:5 and Rashi).

"And I Return Safely to My Father's House

"`Safe from sin' -- that I will not have learned from Lovon's ways" (Bereishis 28:21 and Rashi). How do Chazal infer this? Perhaps Yaakov only intended the simple meaning of these words, namely, to return home physically intact?

Some commentators say that this is derived from the seeming extra words in the Torah. "If Hashem shall be with me, and watch over me in this path which I am about to follow, and He give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and I return in peace/whole to my father's house . . . " If Hashem watches over him, it goes without saying that he will return home safely. Why is this mentioned separately? It must be that his return home refers to spiritual safety, that is to wholesomeness from sin.

According to a different explanation, the same idea is derived from the words, "veshavti besholom -- And I shall return in peace," which denotes that Yaakov is requesting to return in the same condition as he left. The halocho is that one who takes leave of someone alive wishes him, "Leich lesholom," meaning that he should proceed and ascend. One who takes leave of a deceased says to him, "Lech besholom," which implies that the deceased will proceed at the same level all along, the level at which he died, without change for better or worse. If Yaakov is requesting to return besholom, this means that he wishes to remain at the same spiritual level as he was when he left, and not degenerate and lose any of his stature.

It may also be that Chazal learned this from the word "veshavti -- and I will return." This is said in the direct form, in first person with Yaakov as the subject, as opposed to the other requests stated in the third person with Yaakov as the object. "If Hashem will be with me, and [He] watch over me in this road that I am following, and He give me bread to eat and a garment to wear . . . " and it continues, "And I shall return in peace to my father's house." He should grammatically have said, "and He restore me in peace to my father's house," in the parallel construction of before, "And He give me bread to eat . . . " The verb "and I return" is in the direct, first person form.

This teaches us that Yaakov is not requesting to be physically saved from Lovon, a contingency lying purely in the power of Heaven and dependent upon Divine will, but that he return whole and pure, which is dependent upon man, himself. He is the agent; it is in his power, for, "All is in the power of Heaven, save for the fear of Heaven" (Brochos 33b). The fear of Hashem is up to man; he must strive and toil for it, therefore Yaakov makes this revolve upon himself, "And I return safely to my father's home." It depends on him!

It is apparent that Yaakov is praying for the part that depends on Hashem, that he not be disturbed and threatened by others in maintaining his level of piety. But since this is ultimately dependent upon his own moral strength, he stated it with himself as the subject, that is, directly, by himself.

He is surely afraid of Eisov who threatens to kill him, and also afraid of Lovon whom he is about to encounter. But his main fear is falling from his spiritual stature and becoming less perfect than he is now, after his fourteen-year stay in yeshiva.

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