Yaakov's Seal of Truth
Yaakov's Seal of Truth
As stated, opposite the hands of Eisav stands the voice of Yaakov. When one reflects on the life of Yaakov Avinu, he discovers that his entire life bore an inner seal:
When we examine the first one hundred and thirty years of Yaakov Avinu’s life, we find years saturated with suffering, pain, and anguish. It began with the terrible distress caused by the persecution of his brother Eisav, who sought to kill him. Later came the hardship of the exhausting labor he endured in the house of Lavan the Aramean, his mother’s brother, for many long years — while Lavan deceived him again and again.
After that came the pain of what happened with his daughter Dinah, who was taken captive and terribly wronged. This was followed by the anguish caused when his sons Shimon and Levi acted on their own and struck the inhabitants of Shechem, bringing many enemies upon Yaakov Avinu. Then came the passing of Rachel, followed by the pain caused by the episode in which Reuven disturbed his father’s bed.
After all this, the greatest pain of all came upon him when his beloved son Yosef was taken from him, and he was told, “A wild beast has devoured him” (Bereishit 37:33). Yaakov mourned him for twenty-two years. He did not sleep on a bed, did not eat meat, did not drink wine, and in general, no smile appeared on his face. Even his spiritual levels departed from him.
Therefore, when Pharaoh asked Yaakov Avinu, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” (ibid. 47:8) — in other words, “How old are you?” — Yaakov Avinu could not contain himself and simply answer, “I am one hundred and thirty years old.” Instead, he answered with pain and grief: “The days of the years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty years; few and difficult have been the days of the years of my life” (ibid., v. 9). All his pain rose and overflowed until he could no longer keep it locked within his wounded heart.
And yet, despite all these hardships, every day of Yaakov Avinu’s life bore one seal: truth. As the verse states, “Give truth to Yaakov” (Michah 7:20).
This truth caused him to walk all his life, constantly and consistently, in the path of Torah and mitzvot. And it is this truth — this consistency and steadfastness — that we must imprint and engrave within the hearts of our children.
