Vayeze: leaving the comfort zone

Vayeze: leaving the comfort zone

When Jacob leaves ( runs away from) his home, he has already lost his comfort zone.  He may never have had a place in this world.  He was born the second son.  The land Promised to Abraham was going to Esau... until Jacob made his deal and carried out its consequence. After that, Jacob  had no place at all.  Esau was going to kill him. 

He runs to Haran, to Leben, Whitey, the All White.  He has returned to the place that Abraham, by the instruction of Gd, had left.  He went to marry, to make his fortune, to do the immigrant thing, to become richer than the entitled natives.

He deals with Lavan, the capitalist. To Lavan labor is worthless,  He appreciates only the capital it produces.  When Jacob tries to leave with his earnings, Lavan says: the daughters ( Jacob's wives) are Lavan's and Jacob's children also belong to Lavan and Jacob's sheep belong to Lavan.  Jacob came with his labor as the only  thing he had to sell.  To Lavan, a laborer is a slave; and the children of a slave are the possessions of the master; the possessions of a slave are the possessions of the master.  No capital, no wealth;  and no way to acquire wealth.  It is only Gd, who appeared to Lavan in a dream, that allows Jacob to claim his wage,  The worker has no comfort zone.

Ezra Schwartz, the gap year student murdered in Gush Etzion today, had left his comfort zone  He went to a disputed land in the Biblical Promised Land, and he was killed for being a Jew in that place.  He was killed to discourage Jews from coming to that place or staying in  that place; to remove that place further  from the comfort zone.

When Jacob leaves Charan  he names the new place in Canaan, Machanaim: camps, resting places, place of multiple rests, a place where more than one people can rest. The comfort zone