This week, Yaakov is on the run.  After Esav discovers that Yaakov has usurped the blessing of the first-born, he vows to kill his brother.  Yaakov steals away to Haran, the land of his mother’s family.  

When the parasha opens,it is nighttime in the desert.  As anyone who has travelled in the Negev knows, the heat of the day in the desert is deceptive — at night, it is freezing cold.  The parasha tells us that he has only a stone for a pillow.

And it is at this moment, in the dark and the cold, that Yaakov has an existential realization.

The Torah is sparing in its use of direct dialogue.  While we assume that our ancestors had many conversations as they went about their daily lives, only key conversations are shared with the reader.  Avraham’s final reported conversation takes place in this week’s parasha, Chayei Sarah.  Avraham has just tasked his most trusted servant, Eliezer, with returning to his homeland to find a wife for his son, Yitzchak.  Afraid that perhaps the chosen woman won't return to Canaan with him, Eliezer asks Avraham; if the woman won’t come back with me, should I bring Yitzchak to her in Haran?