From B’er Sheva to Charan

Charan was a place that aroused anger; where the wily and devious Laban lived and idolatry was rampant. There was no respect for G-d or for others. No wonder our Sages state that Charan was a place where G-d’s wrath was aroused. And yet it was in Charan that Jacob married Rachel and Leah; and it was there that he fathered eleven of the twelve tribes, the nucleus of the Jewish nation. It was there that Jacob flourished and accomplished so much.

Contrast B’er Sheva with Charan

“And Jacob left B’er Sheva and went to Charan.” These are the opening words of this week’s parsha that describe Jacob leaving a city in the Land of Israel, where his father and mother Isaac and Rebecca resided, to go to a distant place called Charan.

Contrast the two names: B’er Sheva and Charan. The former literally means the “Well of the Oath,” or the “Well of Seven.”

The latter means “anger.” Jacob is journeying from a place that was a fountain from which life emerges. An oath is a medium that invokes G-d’s name and prestige. This was a city that expressed G-d’s affirmation that the wells Isaac dug were his. The reference to seven alludes to the seven Divine Attributes that were concentrated in that city where the Patriarchs resided. In short, B’er Sheva was a source of holiness and positive energy.

Charan, on the other hand, was a place that aroused anger. It was the place where the wily and devious Laban lived. It was a place where idolatry was rampant. There was no respect for G-d or for others. No wonder our Sages state that Charan was a place where G-d’s wrath was aroused. It was a tough place, one fraught with danger.

And yet it was in Charan that Jacob married Rachel and Leah; and it was there that he fathered eleven of the twelve tribes, the nucleus of the Jewish nation. It was there that Jacob flourished and accomplished so much.

Martyred!

Our own Rabbi Gabi and Rebetzin Rivky Holtzberg, the martyrs from Mumbai, May G-d avenge their blood, went from the modern day B’er Sheva, the spiritual center of Chabad in Crown Heights to a remote corner of the world to spread the message of the Rebbe—goodness, kindness, Jewish knowledge and most importantly the knowledge that Moshiach is on his way and that we must prepare ourselves and the entire world for this age. How ironic and painful that this was the place where the hatred and anger of the evil elements of this world struck them down in the midst of their holy work.

But, there is no question that what they did was not in vain. Their self-sacrificing efforts will yet yield the intended results. The light that they generated was so intense that it will ultimately blind the agents of evil and bring about the realization of their goal-our goal of bringing Moshiach.

May we no longer know of sorrow and may the families of all the martyrs and victims of the senseless and brutal massacre be comforted and may we see the coming of Moshiach, now!

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Vayeitzei by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.