When we think of Yaakov Avinu, what comes to mind is a man who is greater than we can ever imagine. He was blessed with a large family of tribes, abundant wealth and a high spiritual stature. We think of his struggles with his brother Esav, his father-in-law Lavan, the loss of Rachel and the saga of Yosef. When we think of Yaakov, we do not think of his loneliness. Yet, we find over and over again that Yaakov was alone.
Yaakov studied for 14 years in Yeshiva of Shem and Ever, he then ran to Charan, all alone, bereft of even his clothing. It was there that he met Rachel and her family. Finally after 2 decades with Lavan, he makes his way back to Canaan and through a strange set of circumstances finds himself once more alone and in an epic battle with the Angel of Esav.
What is the significance of being alone, by himself?
To answer that, we need to explore another question. Why is Yaakov called emes, as Micha1 says תתן אמת ליעקב, when we find that perh…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Shui’s Newsletter to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.