Vayetzei

📜 The Story

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran, where his uncle Laban lived. When the sun went down, he stopped for the night at a special place, Mount Moriah. He put some stones around his head and lay down to sleep.

That night Jacob had an amazing dream. He saw a ladder standing on the ground, with its top reaching the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it. God appeared to him and promised to protect him and bring him back to the Land of Israel. God said his children would be as many as the dust of the earth. When Jacob woke up he said, 'God is in this place, and I did not know it!' He named the place Bethel.

Jacob kept going until he reached a well near Haran, where shepherds watered their sheep. There he met Rachel, Laban's daughter, and he was overjoyed. Jacob worked for Laban for seven years so he could marry Rachel. But Laban tricked him and gave him Leah, Rachel's older sister, instead. Jacob married Rachel too, and worked seven more years for her.

Most of the twelve tribes of Israel began in Jacob's home in Haran. Eleven sons were born there: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun and Joseph, and one daughter, Dinah. Each mother chose a name that said thank you to God or asked Him for something.

After twenty years with Laban, Jacob decided to go home with his wives, his children, and all his flocks. Laban chased after him, but in the end they made a peace treaty and piled up stones as a sign of it. As Jacob went on his way, angels of God came to meet him, and he called the place Mahanaim, which means 'two camps.'