"I'm the G-d of Avraham your father." Parshat Vayetze (go out) sees Yitzhak run away from his brother Esav…wait a minute, Yaakov is the one who leaves home this week. But he's not the son of Avraham! What's going on? Well, it seems that in a lot of ways Avraham is the true father to Yaakov, for he is the one Yaakov comes to emulate. Last Shabbat, David H. shared an amazing Torah on how Yaakov achieved his "Avraham-ness." Like any good son, he had lived his life emulating his biological father Yitzhak; inwardly focused on growing towards G-d, "dwelling in tents," and afraid to be too involved in the world of action lest he become a hairy hunter like his brother Esav. However, it was exactly Esav's avodah, his particular way of serving Hashem, which Yaakov needed to learn. Yitzchak and Rivkah presented Yaakov with a way to get the bracha (blessing) of the firstborn that involved some trickery. It involved Yaakov putting on the garb of Esav and doing "whatever it took" to achieve his goal. This wasn't how he had worked up until know, but it wasn't until Yaakov entered that world of asiyah (action/doing) that Yitzhak was confident that his son would be able to survive in the world. After all, Yaakov wouldn't be able to "dwell in tents" (stay in yeshiva) forever. Ideally, his path should be different from his father's, just as Yitchak's inward focus was a shift from Avraham's outgoing chesed (lovingkindness).
This new level of being active in the world is what recalls the characteristics of Avraham. But Yaakov takes it to a new level -- he actually gets a job and works under someone else, something neither of his fathers ever did. Yaakov's incredible triumph (says the Ishbitzer Rebbe) is in being able to find Hashem no matter where he is, awakening (as Daniel S. explained) to the G-d of the sheep pastures, the G-d of sweaty brows, the G-d of working 20 years towards a goal.
The highest lesson Yaakov takes from his father Avraham was revealed to me this week during a Torah "improv." In examining Avraham's prayer for Sodom we saw his Holy Chutzpah (a term I'm borrowing from the Holy Rav Shlomo Carlebach). We saw his assertion that he was in a relationship with G-d and was therefore entitled to challenge his partner (Would you destroy a city with 50 righteous people...what if I found 45…40?). "Listen," says Avraham, "if You want me to live up to my potential and not fall prey to whims of desire, then You have to live up to Your potential to show chesed wherever possible…even if an important lesson could be learned by dealing out harshness." Yaakov demands sustenance and protection from G-d as he's making his way to his uncle's house…only if those conditions were met, he says, will he continue the partnership.
Yaakov was the completion the world had been waiting for. Avraham and Yitzhak, by having missions that kept them from "digging in the dirt," could not bring about the same connection between G-d and the physical world. They each had one child who would continue on G-d's path and one who refused to grow towards G-d. But Yaakov, in the same way that the third leg of a table brings stability and permanence, brought twelve souls into the world that would establish the Jewish People. And that's us today! We've inherited Yaakov. From birth we receive the right to demand, to dialogue, to have chutzpah when dealing with God. It takes courage to use these rights, because once we demand, then we have to wait and hear the response. I bless us to be as daring as Yaakov the runaway and as patient as Yaakov the shepherd.