Vayetzeh: Rules and Customs

Vayetzeh is about making a living.  The common understanding of that phrase is making enough money for food, clothing and shelter. My parents would use the Yiddish equivalent, machen a leben, to mean earning enough to live decently ( plain meaning) or to be rich ( ironic meaning). In this parsha, Yaakov makes a living both economically (described in greater than expected detail) and in terms of legacy - he marries, fathers children and shows his commitment to Promised Land.

Trust is a theme that runs through this parsha. When Yaakov awakes, after dreaming of angels and Gd's promise of security, legacy and return to the land, he promises to tithe his income .  Jacob trusts that Gd will fulfill the dream that he was granted.  Gd presumably trust JAcob ( and his descendants) to fulfill their commitment. 

Jacob comes to the well.  It is covered with a stone  ( one of several significant stones in the parsha).  A group of shepherds are waiting with their sheep.  Jacob appears to criticize their laziness.  They explain that the stone cannot be removed until all the shepherds are present.  It is the local custom. This is a place of laws and regulations, presumably for the common good.

 I do not know what happens when the stone is removed from the well. Perhaps  the water is  apportioned according to the great socialist principle: from each according to her ability, to each according to his need. Or perhaps, once the well is opened, each takes according to her strength. Or perhaps, the priniciple is stated and the grab ensues. We are not told.  Based upon history, I can guess. Yaakov ignored the local custom and removed the covering stone  to water beautiful Rachel's sheep.

Yaakov has come to Lavan to marry his daughter.  He makes a deal for for Rachel: seven years of labor.  Leah, her less appealing sister,  is delivered instead.  Lavan says that it would be violation of local custom to marry off the younger daughter before the older. Those local customs! Yaakov had misunderstood the agreement

The problem of definition in contracts should have been familiar to Jacob.  When he bought the birthright from Esau, we saw that Esau did not mean for Jacob to get the blessing associated with it.  It seems that local custom can melt the iron that clads a contract.

When Jacob continues to work for Lavan for a share of the sheep, Lavan tries to take advantage of every possible ambiguity in the agreement. He removes the ringed, speckled, spotted and brown sheep that were to be Jacob's and gives them to his sons.  He, conveniently, understands the agreement to apply only to sheep born after the signing.  He then changes the specifications: only ringed sheep, only spotted sheep.... will go to Jacob.  The sons complain that it should all be theirs since Lavan supplied the means of production ( extreme capitalism)  and so they want to impose a wealth tax ( extreme socialism).  In the end, Lavan declares that it is all his, but he is gifting that which Jacob earned to his daughters and grandchildren.

Clearly, the economic model is at the service of the victor. Politics and the customs it generates serve to redistribute wealth, often to those in charge.  

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