Following in Yaakov’s Path: The Way of Truth

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

In Parashas Vayeitzei, Yaakov leaves his parents’ house to start a new life in a foreign land, Charan. During his journey, Hashem reveals Himself to Yaakov in a dream and assures him that a bright future lies ahead of him. Hashem also promises to protect Yaakov from the ordeals that await him. Yaakov awakens the next morning and builds a monument. He makes the following vow: “If Hashem will be with me and guard me on the path that I will go . . . and will be a G-d to me, this rock that I have set as a monument will be a House of G-d and I will give a tenth of everything that He gives me. . . .” (Bereishis 28:20–22)

An attentive reader will find this promise puzzling. Hashem just promised Yaakov that He would protect him. Yet, Yaakov seems to be saying that this is not a guarantee. Did he, G-d forbid, doubt in any way that Hashem would keep His word?

The Seforno clarifies that Yaakov was completely confident that Hashem would fulfill His promise. However, Yaakov was not certain that he would successfully overcome Hashem’s tests. Would he have the courage to withstand Lavan and Esav? Would he be able to remain committed to Hashem after so many years in exile? Yaakov did not doubt the fulfillment of Hashem’s promise, but he did not want Hashem to fulfill His promise if he would prove unworthy of it. Thus, Yaakov said, “If Hashem will be with me,” meaning, if he would breach his relationship with Hashem in the slightest way, Yaakov himself requested that all Divine help be withheld from him. In short, Yaakov was asking that Hashem deal with him in the manner of middas hadin (the Divine attribute of justice).

This is an awesome insight into Yaakov Avinu’s way of thinking. Yaakov was a man of truth. He desired a true relationship with Hashem. This would be a relationship only in accordance with his deeds, without any reliance on Divine mercy.

Rav Gedalia Schor explains that the desire to live a life of truth exemplified by Yaakov Avinu is middas ha’emes (the attribute of truth) itself. When someone commits to living at this level of truth and dedicates his entire self to Hashem, everything else takes on secondary importance. The value of any item or action is then assessed only by how much it helps him in his service of Hashem. This becomes the only focus of his life.

A person who resolves only to fulfill the will of Hashem will never be deterred from his mission. No fear, pleasure, distraction, loss, or pain will be able to derail him from his duty. Despite one’s instinctive urges, his desire for a truthful relationship with Hashem will empower him to choose the Torah’s vision over his own, every single time.

For Yaakov Avinu, this drive was so powerful, and the possibility of betraying it was so painful to him, that were he to fail to live up to it he preferred to lose everything Hashem had promised. Staying true to Hashem was all that mattered to him.

We are all in need of Hashem’s mercy. Without a doubt, Yaakov Avinu’s spiritual level was immeasurably beyond our own. However, we all possess the attribute of emes to some degree. We must develop this trait in order to acquire the courage to face life’s challenges. We need to create a reservoir of inspiration to enable us to maintain our commitment to truth.

How can we go about this? Rav Aryeh Finkel points out that Yaakov Avinu showed us the means: Torah study. Before making the move to Charan, Yaakov studied in the beis midrash of Eiver for fourteen years (Rashi on Bereishis 28:11). Rav Finkel asserts that these fourteen years were what solidified Yaakov’s integrity, enabling his commitment to Hashem to endure throughout the time he spent in Lavan’s home.

Those of us who are privileged to learn in yeshivah should cherish the incredible gift we have been granted. This is the time to fortify ourselves. Every day of learning is another opportunity to strengthen our commitment to truth. We are obligated to exert ourselves as much as is humanly possible for the duration of time that Hashem grants us here, surrounded by our rebbeim, friends, and the Torah itself. If Yaakov Avinu felt that he needed fourteen years of uninterrupted learning to give him the strength to triumph over his life’s trials, certainly we must put in as much time and effort as we can if we hope to succeed in our own challenges.

We can learn another valuable piece of advice about strengthening our commitment to truth. Rav Eliyahu Dessler writes that on his way to Charan, Yaakov inadvertently passed the site of the Beis HaMikdash without stopping to daven there. He only noticed his error after he was already a great distance away. Yaakov chose to spend the time and energy to return to the place where his forefathers had davened. What was so important about going back?

Rav Dessler explains that when someone davens in the same place as his ancestors, he is able to feel their spiritual presence. This presence guides him and inspires him in his own tefillah as well. Yaakov Avinu felt that this spiritual experience was so important that he was willing to go back for it. Particularly at this juncture in his life, he was looking for every spiritual boost he could find.

This message is also applicable to us. How often are we in need of encouragement, yet we put on a veneer of toughness, as if we don’t need it? We learn from Yaakov Avinu that no matter how resilient we are, we can always benefit from chizzuk. We should seek out those things that provide us with chizzuk in our service of Hashem. An example of someone who lived by this ideal in our time was HaRav Asher Zelig Rubinstein, who was famous both as a ba’al mussar and for his fiery speeches. Yet, he was a familiar sight in the lecture halls of a number of other rabbanim.

A story is told of Rav Pesach Levovitz, my son-in-law’s grandfather, who assumed the position of rav in the town of Lakewood, New Jersey when he was in his early twenties. At that time, Lakewood was far from the frum city it is today. Shortly after being appointed rav, he discovered that the local butcher shops were not meeting halachic requirements, and nine out of the ten shops in the community were selling meat without a proper shechitah. After numerous futile requests and efforts to rectify the situation, Rav Pesach realized that he had no choice but to revoke their kosher status and disclose the matter to the public. When he warned the butchers, they threatened that they would find a new use for their knives (on him) if he went ahead with his plan!

Unruffled by their ominous threats, Rav Pesach stuck to his commitment to the truth and prepared to publicize the matter. His father, concerned, asked Rav Aharon Kotler to convince him to avoid the situation, which seemed to be a matter of life and death. In the end, Rav Pesach did expose the truth about the butchers. For over a week, he and his family prepared for the worst. Baruch Hashem, the butchers backed down. Instead of using their knives as instruments of destruction, they pledged to use their talents for the good. They even requested that Rav Pesach teach them the proper laws of shechitah. Rav Pesach’s commitment to Hashem and the truth prevailed.

May we be zocheh to be people of truth!

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