Vayetzei: Sunset to Sunrise (by NEESH NOOSH)

This post originally appeared on Neesh Noosh: A Jewish Woman's Year Long Journey to Find Faith in Food. In Vayetzei, we read that Jacob leaves Beer-sheva at sunset to travel to Laban's house. Jacob is at Laban's house for 20 years, during which time he faces many challenges and uncertainties that shroud his life in darkness. After the 20 years there, he leaves Laban's house at sunrise. The Etz Hayim commentary describes "the 20 years at Laban's house as a 'dark night for the soul,' years spent struggling with the dark forces represented by Laban's treachery and Jacob's confronting his own attracting to deceit" (p. 166). However, despite the ...