There are portions in God’s Word that speak to us year after year, and then there are portions that speak straight into the moment we are living; this week is one of them. I wrote on this Parashah a few years ago. Coming back to it now, after everything our nation has walked through, it felt right to revisit it and share it again with a fresh look.

Jacob begins this part of his life alone and afraid. He is running for his life, unsure of what waits for him on the other side. And it is exactly there, in the uncertainty, that God meets him:

“Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it…How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
Genesis 28:16-17

Jacob realizes something many of us forget. God is present even when we do not feel it,
even when life is shaken; even when fear makes everything look dark.
This same truth appears throughout God’s Word.

“In returning and rest you will be saved. In quietness and trust will be your strength.
Isaiah 30:15

After this encounter, Jacob makes a vow. It is simple and honest:

“If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. And this stone, which I have set as a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.
Genesis 28:20–22

Jacob’s vow is not a perfect declaration of faith. It is almost a negotiation — if God will guard, provide, and bring him back in peace, then the LORD will be his God. Yet even this conditional, imperfect response is met with God’s steady grace throughout the rest of his journey.

We see it when Jacob arrives at the well at the exact moment Rachel comes.
We see it in the strength he suddenly has to roll the stone from the well (Genesis 29:10).
We see it in the way seven years feel like a few days because of the love God placed in his heart (Genesis 29:20).

We see it in his determination to keep going after Laban deceives him.
And we see it again when Jacob, who arrived with nothing, leaves Paddan-Aram with a family, flocks, and blessing (Genesis 31:17–18). God’s grace follows him step by step in a consistent way.

And when danger comes, God steps in:

“But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night and said to him,
‘Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’
Genesis 31:24

The same grace that carried Jacob is the grace that carries the people of Israel.
And Hosea reminds us of that. In the Haftarah, God speaks to a nation that has turned away from Him, yet He still calls them back with compassion:

“How can I give you up, Ephraim. How can I surrender you, Israel. My heart is turned within Me. My compassion is kindled. I will not execute My fierce anger. For I am God and not a man.
Hosea 11:8–9

Even in rebuke, God’s heart for Israel is filled with mercy and grace. Hosea also points back to Jacob (Hosea 12:12). It is a reminder that God stayed with Jacob through fear, hardship, deception, and uncertainty. And that same grace remains with Israel. It has not changed.

This portion feels different today.

After witnessing the satanic cruelty of Hamas, the horror they unleashed on our people, and the deep wounds still felt in every community in Israel, I find myself returning to Jacob’s story. Not because it removes the pain, but because it reminds me of something essential: God is present even in the darkest valley.

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted.
Psalm 34:18

“Even though I walk through the valley that reflects the shadow of death, You are standing with me.
Psalm 23:4

Our hope is not in pretending everything is fine. Our hope is in God walking with us through everything that is not fine.

My prayer is that Israel, even in grief and uncertainty, will return to the grace God extends…a grace that confronts, restores, strengthens, and heals.

“Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us.
Hosea 6:1

“Return, Israel, to the LORD your God. Take words with you. Receive us graciously.
Hosea 14:1–2

Vayeitzei is not only Jacob’s story; it is our story. The God who walked with him in fear and uncertainty is the same God who walks with Israel today.

Shabbat Shalom,
Moran