VAYETZE

He Went Out

He Went Out

The portion commences with Jacob setting out from Bersheba to Charan, fleeing from his brother Esau. Jacob's mother Rebecca wanted Jacob to go since G-d told her that Esau wanted to kill him, and his father Isaac sent him away because he was fearful of the nationality of woman he would marry at home. Jacob went for his own reasons however, and we find an important lesson in the wording of the text. The Torah specifically uses the words "went out" as opposed to simply stating that "he went" to Charan. To "go out" means to go out of ourselves, to leave our comfort zone and rise above the selfish nature found in our physical body consciousness. Esau represents ego, anger, selfishness, fear and blame, whereas Jacob represents spirituality and soul awareness. By "going out", Jacob was able to restrict the energy of Esau and make a quantum step towards a higher level of consciousness. Similarly, once we are able to restrict the Esau consciousness in our own lives, we too can achieve a sense of unity and a direct connection to G-d, like Jacob finds in the portion. 

The Ladder and the Gate to Heaven

On the way to Charan, Jacob finds a place to rest for the night and lays down to sleep. He has an amazing dream that Angels of G-d were ascending and descending on a ladder to heaven and that G-d told him the land he was laying on was for him and his offspring - who would be numerous, blessed and protected. The Kabbalists use the vision of the ladder as a powerful meditation to attain higher states of consciousness and to climb the four ascending worlds of Kabbalah. Moving from the diaspora to the Holy Land of Israel and elevating to the spiritual realm and bringing back the secrets to the physical world are other interpretations of the dream. When Jacob awakes from his dream, he places a stone in the spot he slept, poured oil on it and declared that it would be G-d's house. The place was called the City of Luz, but he called it Bethel (His place). Luz is also the name of a bone at the top of the spinal column, located just beneath the Pineal gland in the brain. The Pineal gland is known to secrete a chemical at birth and death known as DMT or Dimethyltryrptamine. This chemical produces extremely powerful hallucinations and recreational users and others that have experienced DMT through near death experiences, claim to have seen G-d or otherwise had prophetic visions of heaven. It is interesting to note that the City where Jacob had the prophetic vision of accessing a higher realm to connect with G-d, is named the same as a part of the human body responsible for prophetic states. 

The Power of Tithing

We can connect to the energy of tithing in this portion as we see Jacob tell G-d that he will "surely give one tenth to you" for all that you give me. It is important to understand how giving away one tenth helps to create a flow of energy and allows us to remove potentially negative aspects from our lives. Giving a tithe or other amounts with the proper consciousness of sharing, without ego or personal agenda, provides blessings and protection to the giver. Giving creates continuity and allows you to act like a conduit, able to receive more as you give more. 

Maintaining Certainty

The portion tells the story of how Jacob worked for his uncle Laban for seven years in order to gain the hand of his daughter, Rachael, as a wife. At the end of the seven years he was tricked into marrying Rachael's sister Leah and then remained as a laborer for Laban for another seven years in order to finally wed Rachael. We see here how persistence and certainty towards achieving a goal, despite what appears to be an insurmountable set back, ultimately paid off. We can likewise connect to the energy of certainty through this reading and use certainty in the manifestation of business and personal matters in our lives. 

Achieving Balance

Jacob represents the central column in the Kabbalistic three column system of energy comprised of mercy (Abraham, right column), judgment (Isaac, left column) and free will or beauty (Jacob, central column). It is only when the energy of Jacob is present with mercy and judgement that we have complete balance and corresponding beauty.