Yaakov prays for Divine protection as he sets off into exile. Lavan, (a mean, contemptuous, expletive-deleted individual), is totally against helping anyone other than himself, especially if those others are family. As a result, Yaakov takes advantage of the very bad situation by allowing Lavan to put him to “good use.” For seven years Yaakov labors with the single purpose of marrying Rachel, the daughter of Lavan. At the wedding feast, Lavan, the fine gentleman and paradigm of the lousy father that he is, switches brides so that Yaakov ends up with Leah, the elder sister of Rachel. Yaakov is then forced to work another seven years in order to marry his true love, Rachel.

Both Yaakov and Rachel suffer and long for each other the entire time. In the end, Yaakov had two wives, one he loved and the other he simply tolerated, at best. Combining that situation with the fact that he accumulated two other wives along the way (Zilpah and Bilhah), this resulted in Yaakov having to watch the tragic exile of his entire nation!

After another six to seven years (no one knows precisely because nobody is alive who can remember that far back) of shepherding for his “lovely” father-in-law, Yaakov demanded payment in kind. Through a crafty series of machinations, Yaakov outsmarted Lavan and became a wealthy herdsman at Lavan’s expense proving that, sometimes, good people ARE rewarded. However, Lavan’s wrath forces Yaakov to flee. Only the hand of G-d prevented a massacre of  Yaakov’s camp by the forces of Lavan. Stay tuned for next week as we will continue reading The Book of Bereshit – the inspiration for modern daytime TV “Soap Operas”.