Vayetze
Genesis 28:10 – 32:2
Jacob flees to Haran and on the way dreams of a ladder reaching to heaven with angels ascending and descending — God confirms the Abrahamic covenant with him. He arrives at Laban's household, falls in love with Rachel, and works seven years for her hand, only to be deceived into marrying Leah first. Through both wives and their handmaids, eleven sons and one daughter are born. After twenty years Jacob grows wealthy, and God tells him to return home; he departs secretly, and Laban pursues but they part with a covenant at Gilead.
Key figures
- Jacob — Dreams of the ladder, works for Laban, fathers eleven sons
- Rachel — Jacob's beloved, initially barren, mother of Joseph
- Leah — Jacob's first wife through Laban's deception, mother of six sons and Dinah
- Laban — Jacob's uncle and father-in-law, repeatedly deceives Jacob
- Bilhah — Rachel's handmaid, mother of Dan and Naphtali
- Zilpah — Leah's handmaid, mother of Gad and Asher
Famous verses
- 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
- 28:16-17 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said: "Surely Hashem is in this place; and I knew it not."
- 29:20 And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had to her.
Haftarah: {'ref': 'Hosea 12:13-14:10', 'connection': "Hosea recalls that 'Jacob fled to the field of Aram; Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he guarded sheep,' directly referencing Jacob's sojourn with Laban."}
Total gematria: 482,606.