Lo and Behold

A Jew cannot bear to see the suffering of others and will speak out. When he or she sees injustice or lack of care for one of G-d’s creatures, the Jew cannot remain silent. A Jew cannot sit idle, period. Every moment counts, and every second of life was given to us as a resource intended for us to do something for the rest of the world.

Jacob’s Rebuke of the Shepherds and the Arrival of Rachel

In this week’s parsha the Torah relates how Jacob came to Charan for a dual purpose. First, he was fleeing the anger of his brother for having “stolen” the blessings of his father form him. Second, he went there to find himself a wife from among members of his mother’s family.

Anything that happened to the Patriarchs and Matriarchs were not private or passing events. “The deeds of the fathers are signs for the children” our sages say, suggesting that everything that occurred to them relates to and effects what happens to us. Simply put, this means that we must learn lessons from all of the events, even the ones that seem unimportant, that involved the Patriarchs and Matriarchs.

When Jacob arrives in Charan he notices how the shepherds were tarrying to feed their sheep and he says to them: “Lo, it is still the middle of the day, it is not yet time for the cattle to be gathered together; water your sheep and go and feed them.” The shepherds replied: “We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and they shall roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.” It was at that moment that Jacob first met Rachel and was the beginning of the formation of a Jewish family that became the nucleus of the Jewish people.

One could ask, what is the reason these two seemingly disparate events (Jacob’s dialogue with the shepherds, and the arrival of Rachel) are linked?

A Jew Cannot Sit Idle

On a simple (not simplistic) level, the concern Jacob had for the sheep and the distaste he had for idleness is the hallmark of the Jewish leader and, by extension, every individual Jew. A Jew cannot bear to see the suffering of other sheep (figuratively as well as literally) and will speak out, even if he or she is a recently arrived visitor. When he or she sees injustice or lack of care for one of G-d’s creatures, the Jew cannot remain silent. And a Jew cannot sit idle, period. Every moment counts, and every second of life was given to us as a resource intended for us to do something for the rest of the world.

The Secret of the Word Hein: Singularity

Another answer to the above question is based on the introductory word “hein-Lo” that Jacob uses. Commentators ask why this word was necessary. Could he not have begun his sentence with the: “It is still the middle of the day”? And while one can argue that that was simply a figure of speech, or was added by Jacob for emphasis, every word, letter and nuance of the Torah has deeper significance.

One of the answers given to the usage of the word “heinlo” is based on the fact that the two letters of the word, the Hebrew letter “hei” and the letter “nun” share an anomaly. Hebrew letters are also numbers. The letter “hei” is five and letter nun is fifty. (there is no letter corresponding to five hundred). If we take the number one and pair it with the number nine we get ten. Likewise, 2 and 8, 3 and 7, will yield the number ten, and so on. The only number that has no pair in relation to the number 10 is the number five. It cannot be matched with any other number to arrive at the same total. The same is true with the number fifty in relation to one hundred.

The heathen prophet Bilam in his prophetic words declared: “Lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.” Here too, the prophecy that establishes the loneliness of the Jewish people and their inability to truly assimilate is prefaced by the word “hein’Lo.”

Jacob beginning his dialogue that led to his marriage to Rachel and the inauguration of the Jewish people with the word “Lo” was to set the tone for the future. Even when we are scattered among the nations in exile – “it is still the middle of the day, it is not yet time for the cattle to be gathered together” – even when it was premature for the Jewish nation to be redeemed from exile, nevertheless, we must not lose our singularity.

Jewish Unity

The word “Hein-Lo” also conveys another crucial message for the future of the Jewish people and their ultimate Redemption from exile. The prophet Jeremiah declares: “seh pezurah Yisrael” — “Israel is a scattered sheep.” We have been scattered throughout the world and are awaiting the coming of Moshiach who will gather us together and end the Galus. The introductory word “Lo” hints to us that the internal strife and dissonance, places an obstacle to the gathering of the scattered sheep.

We can take the hint to the call for Jewish unity and apply it to the next verse, which contains the response of the shepherds to Jacob: “We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and they shall roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.”

In effect they were saying that the only way we can provide the sheep with their needs is when there is unity among ourselves.

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