| As we see throughout the book of Bereshith, if not indeed regarding all of the Torah generally, the Torah places utmost emphasis on the behavior that one exhibits towards other human beings. Not everyone can study for fourteen years in a yeshiva day and night. Yet everyone can care about others, can demand justice for the defenseless and can provide, to the best of one's abilities, to help those who so obviously need it. Though Yaakov, like the great figures and founders of our people that appear here in Bereshith, is unique in spiritual stature and blessed with Divine vision and revelation, he is also essentially everyman. His actions are meant to be a template of attitude and behavior for his descendants and the people who bear his name. The Torah, while making it clear that we can never personally be the equal of our ancestors in their exalted spiritual state and accomplishments, we can and should attempt to emulate their values and behavior. We can all help those in need to roll the rock off of their wells and thereby to nurture an environment where the Yaakov within all of us can grow and expand. Rabbi Berel Wein | 
