Shabbat Shalom, y'all! As always, it’s so great to have so many people here to enjoy another amazing Shabbat dinner. We can never say thank you enough times to the Johnson family for welcoming every one of us with open arms – so thank you!
In this week’s parsha, Vayetze (which in Hebrew means “and he left”), Jacob leaves Beer Sheva and travels to Haran. Along the way, he falls into a deep sleep and dreams of a ladder connecting heaven to earth, with angels ascending and descending the ladder. In the dream, God speaks to him and says: “"Remember I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land."
What strikes me most about this parsha is Jacob’s response to this promise from God. When he woke up, Jacob made a vow to God that he will have a special commitment with God, under certain conditions. He says: IF God remains with me, IF he protects me, IF he gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear and IF I return home safely, THEN he shall be my God.
But didn’t God just promise to protect him and bring him back to the land of Israel? Can we have conditional faith in God? To understand Jacob’s response, we have to understand where he is coming from. He left his childhood home to go on a journey to a new place, unsure of where his life was headed; he was worried and scared of his future, and he was searching for stability.
What this story can teach us is that sometimes it's okay to be a little lost and confused, and sometimes we just aren’t sure. We may struggle throughout college, our young adulthood, and even for the rest of our lives to know what we believe is “true” or “right”, but the only way to grow and develop is to ask questions and look for answers. Judaism teaches us that we are not only allowed to ask questions; we are encouragedto do so.
So my hope for us all is that that we take this weekend to reflect on our potential for growth and start to tap into it by learning more about the things we are confused about – whether that means talking to a friend about something that concerns you, talking to a Rabbi about a question you have, coming to a Jewish learning class about a topic you want to learn more about, taking a class here at UT that interests you, or even by just doing your own research.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful Shabbat and a great last few weeks of the semester. Shabbat Shalom!
Marissa is pictured on the left, during the 2013 Chabad on Campus NYC Shabbaton.
