A missing letter provides a clue to the survival of the Jewish people. In Parshat Toldot, we read how Yaakov deceived his father Yitzchak into thinking that he was his twin brother Eisav. Yitzchak declared, “הקל קול יעקב והידיים ידי עשיו - The voice is the voice of Yaakov but the hands are the hands of Eisav.”
From here the Midrash teaches as follows. As long as the voice of Yaakov is heard in houses of prayer and halls of study, the hands of Eisav will not be able to destroy the Jewish people. Now, many of our commentators ask how the Midrash derives this lesson from our Passuk. After all, Yitzchak exclaimed, “הקל קול יעקב - The voice is the voice of Yaakov,” indicating that the voice was heard, “והידיים ידי עשיו - and the hands are the hands of Eisav,” indicating that his hands were there and they were powerful.
The Vilna Gaon brilliantly explains that this has everything to do with ‘מלא וחסר’. What is ‘מלא וחסר’? The term literally means ‘complete and incomplete’, and it refers to a phenomenon that we sometimes see in the Torah, wherein some of the words are missing a vowel. Each time this happens, “זה אומר דרשני - the word cries out for an explanation.
I cannot think of a better example of this than in the verse that we have quoted. “הקל קול יעקב.” The word ‘קול’ is mentioned twice. On the first occasion the ‘קול’, the voice, is spelled ק-ל which is ‘חסר’, missing the letter vav (ו). On the second occasion just one word later, it’s spelled ק-ו-ל which is ‘מלא’ – complete – it has the letter vav (ו) in the middle of the word.
Thanks to the Vilna Gaon we can now understand the Midrash. Because the first word ‘קול’ is missing a vav, it is indicating that something is absent. The voice is not as loud as it might have been. Kol has become ‘קל’ – light. The power of the voice has gone. It is in such circumstances, Heaven forbid, that “הידיים ידי עשיו” – the hands of Eisav can be powerful.
What emerges from here is a timeless and powerful lesson for the Jewish people. Time and again we have needed to fight for our very survival on the battlefield, but in addition to doing that, there is another source of great Jewish strength. It lies in the “קול יעקב - the sound of Yaakov, our voices in our shuls and in our halls of study. It is the authentic Jewish voice of tradition, and the more it is heard the stronger we, as a nation, are. The better our Jewish education, the more we have a capacity to guarantee our survival.
Yes indeed, a missing letter of the Torah provides us with the key to Jewish survival. So let’s join together, let’s sound the sound of Yaakov and let’s pray with all our hearts, for the soldiers, police and medical professionals protecting us in Israel as well as around the world, and for those who need healing, shidduchim, children or parnassah and may we be blessed to have the most awesome, gorgeous, beautiful, peaceful, healthy, amazing, relaxed, spiritual and sweet Shabbat.
