This week’s parsha ends the three-week/three-parsha cycle of Jacob’s story. The three occur, to me, as a unit, if for the only reason that their names are indicative of how action-packed Jacob’s life and story are: Va-yetzei (and he set out), Va-yishlach (and he sent), and now, Va-yeshev (he was settled). Jacob’s story is one of motion, of reaching for, seeking, attaining. The Torah even tells us that he came out of the womb holding on to his twin brother’s heel. And so it is a comfort, a relief, to finally land at Va-yeshev, a parsha that opens with the knowledge that sof-sof, at long last, Jacob is settled.
But because our text survived in part due to its economy of language, and in part because life doesn’t take a break, neither does the story of our ancestors. Just as Jacob sets down his roots, we are introduced to his son, Joseph – who will experience even more movement and displacement than his father. Whereas his father did the betraying, Joseph will be betrayed by his brothers. Whereas Jacob sent messengers to make amends with his brother Esau, Joseph will be confronted by his brothers coming to him, many years down the line. And whereas Jacob settled his family in Canaan, Joseph will be the one who brings them all down into Egypt, the place from which our People’s story really begins.
There is movement to these parshiot, there is dynamism and tension and, starting this week, what some even refer to as an “operetta,” as the drama rises and the story of Joseph steps out of synch with the patriarchs who came before, creating something wholly new. In this season of seeking the light, this season of hibernation and, comparatively, of inaction, the very name of our parsha, and he dwelt, invites us to reflect upon the actions that have carried us through the fall, and where they have caused us to arrive and dwell this winter.
– Rabbi Callie Schulman
