When life keeps throwing things at you
This week’s parsha, Vayishlach, is one of my favorites because it highlights something I talk about all the time.
Treating our things with care.
Knowing what we own.
Not wasting what we have.
Yaakov goes back for a few simple clay pots because he valued what he had and he kept his inventory clear.
That lesson always speaks to me.
But this year something else in the parsha really stand out to me.
Last week Yaakov ran from conflict.
This week he runs straight into it.
He has three major confrontations in a row.
First Lavan.
Then Esav.
Then the angel.
Layer after layer of stress and fear.
If I were him this is what I’d be thinking:
God, I’m trying…
I listened to my mother and my brother got angry.
I tried to build a peaceful home and my father in law made it miserable.
I followed the plan and now I have to face my brother.
I tried not to lose a few pots and you send an angel to fight with me.
Then my daughter is assaulted.
Then my wife dies.
Can there please be a break??? Please???
Most of us would drop the entire load and say enough.
And later, after Yosef disappears, Yaakov really does fall apart.
But not here.
Not in this section.
With everything happening almost on top of each other, he does not lose himself.
He keeps going.
He keeps believing there is a purpose to his life even when it is painful.
He keeps moving forward. (Kadima… if you know you know)
The people who shape our lives do that.
They persevere when it would be easier to give up.
And this is where something else struck me.
The women in this parsha are barely centered.
Devorah dies and the Torah does not even clarify who she is.
Rivka’s actual death is not stated outright.
Dina is assaulted and the only reactions we get are from her brothers. Her own voice is not recorded.
The women are there.
They endure.
They influence everything.
But the text often moves right past them.
That is part of why I wrote Women Who Lit the Way.
Jewish women have been doing the work, carrying the emotional load, navigating fear, supporting families, and lighting the path for generations.
Many of their stories are overlooked or half told.
I wanted to bring them forward. Not as decoration. As guidance. As strength. As inspiration for habit change and growth one day at a time.
If you need a little light, or a reset during these dark weeks, this book was made for you.
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