In Parashat Vayetze, we encounter the famous “Jacob’s Ladder” dream. Jacob wakes from his dream, and then:
“Jacob made a vow, saying: If God will be with me and guard me on this way that I am going, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and I return in peace to my father’s house, then the Eternal shall be my God. And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” (28:20–22)
Is our forefather Jacob, the righteous one, setting conditions for God?!
Let us add that in the dream itself Jacob already receives a promise: “Behold, I am with you, and I will guard you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” (Genesis 28:15)
So what more does Jacob want? Shalom Aleichem wrote: “Latkes in a dream are a dream and not latkes” (from Shayna Sheindel in The Adventures of Menahem-Mendl , Project Ben-Yehuda). Maybe Jacob also thinks that a promise in a dream is just a dream and not a real promise, and he wants to ratify the divine commitment.
Therefore Jacob engages in particularly tough negotiation—not mere bargaining, but setting a clear condition, not to say speaking with chutzpah. One can read it as a real contractual clause: “Jacob made a vow, saying: If God will be with me and guard me on the way… then the Eternal shall be my God. And this stone that I set up as a pillar shall be…”
The pillar serves as testimony to the signing of a contract between two sides.
When do you need witnesses? When signing a contract and demanding guarantees—not between acquaintances. When you don’t fully trust the other party and require an objective witness. Later in the parashah, when Jacob signs an agreement with Laban his father-in-law, whose mutual suspicion is beyond doubt, Laban says to Jacob: “This mound is a witness, and this pillar is a witness” (Gensis 31:52).
And perhaps the height of Jacob’s audacity toward God:
“And of all that You give me, I will surely give a tenth to You.”
The tax I commit to giving God is proportional—ten percent—which means: it’s in Your interest to give me a lot, because then Your portion will grow!!!
So what does Jacob have? Why is he so suspicious?
I would like to propose Jacob as someone attuned to human rights—in this case, workers’ rights.
Exploitation of workers is not foreign to Jacob: he works seven years for Rachel, but Laban deceives him and forces him to work another seven years. Laban, the employer, is indeed in favor of exploiting vulnerable workers.
Jacob was, essentially, in the position of a migrant—refugee. He leaves his home due to a real threat to his life (from Esau). Jacob is a “foreign worker” in a foreign land—Haran—a geographic, cultural, and familial space alien to him. (Another “weakness” Laban exploits is that Jacob is in love with Rachel…)
Laban feels no obligation to uphold the contract between him and Jacob. A contract that from the outset was flawed: Laban is simultaneously “the state,” “the family,” and “the employer”—a total concentration of power. The right to fair working conditions and fair wages did not particularly interest him. Jacob later testifies: “By day heat consumed me, and frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes” (Genesis 31:40).
Jacob, one of the Patriarchs of the nation, did not care only for himself. He cared for future generations. Perhaps precisely because he himself had been exploited, basic human rights stand before his eyes, and he seeks to anchor them in a sort of “contract for generations” with God.
At the moment of trying to forge this new contract with God, Jacob is in a position of strength. He negotiates with God, sets conditions. Negotiation skill is not foreign to him—this is evident in the story of how he obtained the birthright, if not by trickery, then at least by manipulation.
The important lesson to learn and remember from this story:
The weak cannot always manage alone—not the refugee in a foreign land, not the vulnerable worker facing an oppressive employer, not a battered woman, not a person living under occupation. The responsibility to support them lies with the whole society. With us!!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yossi Elmackias, a Jerusalemite, married, father of three and grandfather to a sweet grandson. After 33 years in various positions in the education system, including school principal, he returned to the student desk and is now in his final year of rabbinical studies at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. In his remaining time, Yossi is a tour guide throughout the country—especially in Jerusalem—and coordinates the tour program of Rabbis for Human Rights.
“Jacob made a vow, saying: If God will be with me and guard me on this way that I am going, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and I return in peace to my father’s house, then the Eternal shall be my God. And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” (28:20–22)
Is our forefather Jacob, the righteous one, setting conditions for God?!
Let us add that in the dream itself Jacob already receives a promise: “Behold, I am with you, and I will guard you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” (Genesis 28:15)
So what more does Jacob want? Shalom Aleichem wrote: “Latkes in a dream are a dream and not latkes” (from Shayna Sheindel in The Adventures of Menahem-Mendl , Project Ben-Yehuda). Maybe Jacob also thinks that a promise in a dream is just a dream and not a real promise, and he wants to ratify the divine commitment.
Therefore Jacob engages in particularly tough negotiation—not mere bargaining, but setting a clear condition, not to say speaking with chutzpah. One can read it as a real contractual clause: “Jacob made a vow, saying: If God will be with me and guard me on the way… then the Eternal shall be my God. And this stone that I set up as a pillar shall be…”
The pillar serves as testimony to the signing of a contract between two sides.
When do you need witnesses? When signing a contract and demanding guarantees—not between acquaintances. When you don’t fully trust the other party and require an objective witness. Later in the parashah, when Jacob signs an agreement with Laban his father-in-law, whose mutual suspicion is beyond doubt, Laban says to Jacob: “This mound is a witness, and this pillar is a witness” (Gensis 31:52).
And perhaps the height of Jacob’s audacity toward God:
“And of all that You give me, I will surely give a tenth to You.”
The tax I commit to giving God is proportional—ten percent—which means: it’s in Your interest to give me a lot, because then Your portion will grow!!!
So what does Jacob have? Why is he so suspicious?
I would like to propose Jacob as someone attuned to human rights—in this case, workers’ rights.
Exploitation of workers is not foreign to Jacob: he works seven years for Rachel, but Laban deceives him and forces him to work another seven years. Laban, the employer, is indeed in favor of exploiting vulnerable workers.
Jacob was, essentially, in the position of a migrant—refugee. He leaves his home due to a real threat to his life (from Esau). Jacob is a “foreign worker” in a foreign land—Haran—a geographic, cultural, and familial space alien to him. (Another “weakness” Laban exploits is that Jacob is in love with Rachel…)
Laban feels no obligation to uphold the contract between him and Jacob. A contract that from the outset was flawed: Laban is simultaneously “the state,” “the family,” and “the employer”—a total concentration of power. The right to fair working conditions and fair wages did not particularly interest him. Jacob later testifies: “By day heat consumed me, and frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes” (Genesis 31:40).
Jacob, one of the Patriarchs of the nation, did not care only for himself. He cared for future generations. Perhaps precisely because he himself had been exploited, basic human rights stand before his eyes, and he seeks to anchor them in a sort of “contract for generations” with God.
At the moment of trying to forge this new contract with God, Jacob is in a position of strength. He negotiates with God, sets conditions. Negotiation skill is not foreign to him—this is evident in the story of how he obtained the birthright, if not by trickery, then at least by manipulation.
The important lesson to learn and remember from this story:
The weak cannot always manage alone—not the refugee in a foreign land, not the vulnerable worker facing an oppressive employer, not a battered woman, not a person living under occupation. The responsibility to support them lies with the whole society. With us!!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yossi Elmackias, a Jerusalemite, married, father of three and grandfather to a sweet grandson. After 33 years in various positions in the education system, including school principal, he returned to the student desk and is now in his final year of rabbinical studies at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. In his remaining time, Yossi is a tour guide throughout the country—especially in Jerusalem—and coordinates the tour program of Rabbis for Human Rights.