When Yaakov settled in Chevron and reached old age, he hoped to “dwell in tranquility,” that he had already endured the full consequences of his scheme. But this was not to be.
Earlier this week, we cited Rashi’s famous but puzzling comments regarding the opening verse of Parashat Vayeshev, taken from the Midrash (Bereishit Rabba 84:3):
Yaakov sought to dwell in tranquility, but then the anguish of Yosef immediately pounced on him. The righteous seek to dwell in tranquility, but the Almighty says: “Is it not enough for the righteous that which is prepared for them in the next world, that they seek to live in tranquility even in this world?”
Many writers have addressed the question of why it is improper to seek to live in “tranquility,” and why Yaakov was denied this right.
Rav Yehuda Amital zt”l suggested a novel interpretation of the Midrash’s comments. Yaakov endured many hardships throughout his life, and they began when he deceived his father by disguising as Esav to receive his blessing, whereupon Esav threatened to kill him and he was forced to flee. Moreover, virtually all his subsequent troubles bear a clear parallel or resemblance to this act of deception. Lavan brought him his older daughter, Leah, when he expected to marry the younger sister, Rachel, and Lavan explained that it is improper for a younger sister to marry before the older sister (29:26). This certainly brings to mind Yaakov’s efforts to seize that which was intended for his older brother. Later, Lavan repeatedly deceived Yaakov when he worked as his shepherd (31:7-8,41), just as he deceived Yitzchak. And Yaakov’s sons’ surreptitious plot against Shekhem, circumventing his authority, brings to mind his scheme to subvert his blind, aged father’s plan to bless Esav.
When Yaakov settled in Chevron and reached old age, he hoped to “dwell in tranquility,” that he had already endured the full consequences of his scheme. But this was not to be. He was once again deceived – this time, by his sons – and continued to suffer the effects of his complicated marriage, as the sons of Leah resented the preferred status accorded to their younger brother, Yosef, the older son of Rachel. The consequences of the Leah/Rachel substitution were still unfolding, and Yaakov would still be punished for his own “substitution” for his brother.
Needless to say, it is not for us to understand why Yaakov was punished so severely for a scheme that was forced upon him by his mother, and which could easily be justified on several levels, as we find in many Midrashim and commentaries. (Most notably, Yitzchak overlooked Esav’s unworthiness for the blessing, and Rivka had received a prophecy that the younger son was destined for supremacy.) But the Midrash’s comment, as understood by Rav Amital, teaches that we must be prepared to accept the consequences of our mistakes. As human beings, we will make many mistakes – some more severe than others – over the course of our lives, and we cannot expect to always be able to simply erase them from our record. Understandably so, we all want to “dwell in tranquility,” to live at ease without having to worry about the mistakes we make. But the Midrash teaches that such hopes are unrealistic. We must be prepared to own up to our mistakes and work to correct them, and should never delude ourselves into believing that we can simply escape the consequences.