Vayetze - ויצא : "And he went out"
Torah : Genesis 28:10-32:3
Haftarah : Hosea 12:12-14:10
Gospel : Matthew 3:13-4:11

Thought for the Week:

The revelation at Sinai was a wedding. It is written, "His mother crowned him on the day of his wedding." (Song of Songs 3:11) This is the revelation at Sinai. Mount Sinai is also a ladder. Take the Hebrew letters of the word 'Sinai' and turn them into numbers and it is the same number as the Hebrew word for 'ladder.' Sinai is the ladder in Jacob's dream. It is written, "...and behold! A ladder...the angels of God were ascending and descending on it." The dancers at a wedding go up and down, ascending and descending... They dance on the ladder of Sinai -- the day of the wedding. (Rabbi Nachman of Breslov)

Commentary:

"Jacob came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set." (Genesis 28:11)

Jacob's descent from the land of promise is a descent into darkness. Thus as the Torah tells us the story of his exit from the land, it tells us "the sun had set." Ordinarily details of this sort are not noted in the narrative. The story could have just as easily read, "When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night," without mentioning that the sun had set. The darkness associated with Jacob's exile is meant to symbolize a spiritual darkness. In the same...