In this episode, I walk with Yakov as he leaves Charan after twenty years of inner work in Lavan’s home. Everything he lived through becomes the preparation he needs to face Esav, not only the brother he once fled, but the part of himself he has not yet made room for. We look at Yakov’s threefold approach to danger, the crossing of the Yabok River, and why he refuses to leave behind even the small jugs. We sit with his long night of wrestling, the wound he carries from it, the name he receives, and how identity takes shape in the moments between what was and what is coming next.

In the second half, I turn to Dina. Her story is one of the hardest in the Torah, and I approach it with care and honesty. We explore her character, the strength she carries from Leah, what it means that she goes out to see the daughters of the land, and everything that follows. We face the harm done to her, the response of the city, and the choices her brothers make. The parsha asks us to stay with questions of dignity, vulnerability, and safety without turning away.

Dina’s rupture teaches us what it is to carry every part of our story toward healing, even the ones we would prefer not to hold.

Lea

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