Have you ever read the best-seller about Bill Gates called, “Dropping Out: Advice on How to Drop Out of College?” Or the new documentary on Albert Einstein, “Starting Out: My Story of How I Failed to Reach My Dreams?”
Of course you haven’t. These are fake titles and deceptively conceal the fact that both these individuals were highly successful.
When talking about Steve Jobs, usually we refer to his incredible success and wealth. When the conversation is about Martin Luther King, the advances in civil rights usually come to mind. When it’s Babe Ruth, prowess on the baseball field is high on the radar.
In each of these cases, the individuals were not given their accomplishments on a silver platter. They had to go out and earn them. What makes them remarkable is the degree of success they achieved in their respective fields.
In this week’s parsha, Vayetze, however, we find something curious. Yaakov leaves home and – throughout the course of many decades – becomes a very successful man. In material terms, he is now the father of 12 children and an extremely wealthy businessman. In spiritual terms, he has founded the twelve tribes of Israel and survived the chaos, challenges and debauchery of Charan, imparting true holiness to his family.
In short, it’s the parsha in which Yaakov becomes the third Patriarch and the namesake of the Jewish people. His status as a founding leader and spiritual giant is cemented.
Yet, the name of the parsha is, “Vayetze,” meaning, “And he went out.” Why is the name of the parsha that highlights Yaakov’s accomplishments a reference to him leaving his home?
***
Yaakov’s departure is not only symbolic. By leaving home he was entering a new world. A world of challenges and difficulty. A world of obstacles and impediments. It is this that defines his success. His accomplishments are not defined by the wealth he amasses, by the children he bore, or by the Torah he studied. They are defined by the adversity that he faced in creating these achievements. Overcoming hardship itself is a fundamental key to the accomplishment.
In order for Yaakov to begin his own chapter in the saga of Genesis, he had to "go out," to leave the material and spiritual comforts of home (not to mention the easy path of simply imitating his father and grandfather) and face the challenges of a hostile world. Only by putting his commitment to the test and awakening his latent prowess could he mature into the father capable of raising the chosen family as well as into the patriarch capable of setting the chosen people on its course through history.
As it was with our patriarchal ancestor, so is it with each of us. Once we have imbibed the cultural heritage of our past, we must accept the challenge of maturity, setting out to follow our destiny and making our unique contribution toward bringing the world to its ultimate fulfillment of G-d's plan. Only in this way can we awaken our latent skills and utilize our G-d-given talents and potentials to their fullest advantage. Furthermore, only by surmounting hurdles can we ensure that the power G-d gave us to sanctify all facets of mundane reality manifest itself to its fullest, enabling every corner of life – even those that seem to object – to become His true home.