Vayeitzei: Opportunity

The title of the parsha is "And Jacob left." Leaving the family was a good choice for Jacob.  His brother had vowed to kill him after the death of their father Isaac; and Isaac had begun to worry about his end; He had told Esau : וַיֹּ֕אמֶר הִנֵּה־נָ֖א זָקַ֑נְתִּי לֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְתִּי י֥וֹם מוֹתִֽי׃

And he said, “I am old now, and I do not know how soon I may die. 

Getting out of town was Jacob's best option.  His escape turned into a quest.  One Hebrew translation of quest is מסע בעקבות, a journey with akeiv, the root of Yaakov ( Jacob in Hebrew).  Perhaps the phrase sets Jacob's journey as the model for travel with great purpose.  The phrase draws on the many meanings of akeiv: tenaciousness ( as in the grabbing of Esau's heel), "consequence" as in עֵ֕קֶב אֲשֶׁר־שָׁמַ֥ע אַבְרָהָ֖ם בְּקֹלִ֑י וַיִּשְׁמֹר֙ מִשְׁמַרְתִּ֔י מִצְוֺתַ֖י חֻקּוֹתַ֥י וְתוֹרֹתָֽי׃

inasmuch as Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge: My commandments, My laws, and My teachings;

 ”craftiness, like the quality that Esau identifies when Jacob claims the blessing:

 ( וַיֹּ֡אמֶר הֲכִי֩ קָרָ֨א שְׁמ֜וֹ יַעֲקֹ֗ב וַֽיַּעְקְבֵ֙נִי֙ זֶ֣ה פַעֲמַ֔יִם [Esau] said, “Was he, then, named Yaakov  that he might supplant me these two times? ).

 Since the story tales place in Aram,perhaps the Aramaic meaning of "troubles" pertains.

The first thing that happens in the parsha is the dream of the ladder, Jacob's ladder.

 Jacob's ladder was  a star of old horror movies ( Bride of Frankenstein had some great ones). Jacob's ladder is the eponym for a travelling arc, a series of electrical sparks that travel up between two conductors.  The ladder in Jacob's dream and the that in the horror movies share some qualities. [1] The visible  entity that climbs the ladder has no mass. [2] The sight of the ladder evokes awe  at the power of the producer. [3] The impact of the illusion  depends upon what the observer does with the vision. 

In our parsha,   Jacob comes to realize the sanctity of this sacred place.   He vows to return. Importantly, he keeps the promise.  In the dream, The Lrd promised Jacob protection.  Jacob could have simply said, "Thank you," but , instead  he offered a tithe, a tenth of all he had,  in return.   With the dream, Jacob turned his flight into a quest. 

Odysseys are stories of adventure.  They include episodes of improbable  ( =miraculous) and timely victories for the hero.  This is what happens to Jacob. 

Jacob, the penniless, outcast nephew of Laban ( the father of Feudalism/capitalism) meets the (inefficient) economic system at the well of Haran.  For the sake of Rachel, his future wife, he  violates the local rules and opens the well.  He removes the stone* that blocks access to the water. This generates  a story  that Rachel tells Lavan.  Lavan understands that an opportunity has come to him.  A foreigner, a descendant of  Abraham, has come to town and he has an important quality: courage. Marrying him to his daughters will serve the estate well.  He ties him to both of his daughters, Leah and Rachel, throws in Bilha and Zilpah, and gets 14 years of servitude in the deal. Who won? Maybe everyone.  That can happen sometimes. 

Jacob then agrees to a 6 year contract to build his wealth.   He will supervise Laban's sheep  in exchange for the striped, speckled, ringed,  and brown (the non-lavan [white]) sheep that will be born from that point forward. The increase in kine  goes very much in Jacob's favor.  He becomes wealthy.  Wealth brings conflict. Now Jacob's wealth induces jealousy in his brothers-in-law.   Even Lavan no longer looks at his best producer in the same way - Jacob is becoming too powerful.  

There is a confluence of forces.  Jacob has to leave ( again) ... and, conveniently,  Gd called him back home in a dream.   He runs away.  Lavan catches him.  Lavan had recognized that Yaakov  was an extraordinarily successful herder and businessman.  Yet, he makes the great Feudal/capitalist claim: 

 וַיַּ֨עַן לָבָ֜ן וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֶֽל־יַעֲקֹ֗ב הַבָּנ֨וֹת בְּנֹתַ֜י וְהַבָּנִ֤ים בָּנַי֙ וְהַצֹּ֣אן צֹאנִ֔י וְכֹ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־אַתָּ֥ה רֹאֶ֖ה לִי־ה֑וּא 

 Then Laban spoke up and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks;

In Lavan's view, everything reverts to the source of its founding capital .  Labor and enterprise are dispensable and have no rights to what they produce. Jacob is not a socialist.  Jacob's view is that Heaven distributes wealth to whom it favors.  Their positions are not  distant.  They are separated by a boundry of stones.  At the well,  Jacob had demonstrated his willingness to violate and repurpose stone barriers. 

Jacob's sojourn in Haran could have led to his integration into the society that worshiped the god of Nachor.  He stuck with the Gd of Abraham . What  are we making  of our sojourns?