Esau has had enough of this brother who constantly gets in his way. Esau’s anger is so great that Jacob feels compelled to follow his mother Rebekah’s advice and leave home. She sends him to Haran, to her brother Laban. On the way there, Jacob stops to rest. He lies down to sleep and has a dream.

“And behold, a ladder was set up on the earth…”

The vow

Jacob is very excited about the dream in which he is promised peace, safety, protection, and blessings. But when he wakes up, he says to God:

“Jacob made a vow, saying: ‘If God will be with me and protect me on this journey I am taking, and give me bread to eat and clothes to wear, so that I return in peace to my father’s house, then the Lord shall be my God. And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that You give me, I will surely give a tenth...

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