It states (33:17) וּלְמִק ְ נֵהוּ בָּיִת לוֹ וַיִּבֶן ס ֻכֹּתָה נָסַע וְיַע ֲקֹב ס ֻכּוֹת הַמ ָּקוֹם שֵׁם קָרָא כֵּן עַל ס ֻכּוֹת עָשָׂה, "Yaakov traveled to Succos, and built himself a house, and for his livestock he made huts (ס ֻכּוֹת). He therefore called the name of the place Succos." It seems that it would make more sense for him to name the place בָּיִת, House, since a house was made for the people. Why was the place named ס ֻכּוֹת, for the huts which he made for his animals?
The answer is, he built the house for himself, as it states בָּיִת לוֹ וַיִּבֶן, "he built himself a house." He built the huts for others, for his animals, as it states ס ֻכֹּת עָשָׂה וּלְמִק ְ נֵהוּ. The most important deeds of a human being are those that he does for others. Therefore, the place was named ס ֻכּוֹת. (Shevet HaLevi, קטנתי ה"ד).
Yaakov was left alone when he returned to retrieve the קטנים פכים, small vessels he left behind, and then someone attacked him, as it states (32:25) עִמּוֹ אִישׁ וַיֵּאָבֵק לְב ַדּוֹ יַע ֲקֹב וַיִּוָּתֵר, "Yaakov was left alone, and a man wrestled with him." He became lame from this battle, as it states (32:26) עִמּוֹ בְּהֵא ָבְקוֹ יַע ֲקֹב יֶרֶ ךְ כַּף וַתֵּקַע יְר ֵכוֹ בְּכַף וַיִּגַּע, "He struck the socket of his hip, and Yaakov's hip-socket was dislocated as he wrestled with him."
The Torah writes (32:33) יִשְׂרָאֵל בְנֵי יֹאכְ לוּ לֹא כֵּן עַל יֶרֶ ךְ בְּכַף נָגַע כִּי ה ַזֶּה ה ַיּוֹם עַד ה ַיָּרֵ ךְ כַּף עַל ֶׁראֲש ֶׁהה ַנָּש גִּיד אֶת ֶׁהה ַנָּש בְּגִיד יַע ֲקֹב, "Therefore, Bnei Yisrael are not to eat the ֶׁהה ַנָּש גִּיד on the hip-socket to this day, because he struck Yaakov's hip-socket on the ֶׁהה ַנָּש גִיד ..." The Chizkuni writes, "Bnei Yisrael were commanded about this mitzvah to remember what happened to Yaakov Avinu when he was left alone... His sons didn't go with him, and therefore, he returned limping."
This is an essential lesson in chesed. We shouldn't allow our fellow man ever to feel alone. We must be prepared to help him in any way he needs. We should seek to say kind words to our fellow man. The Torah talks about the kind words the midwife said to Rachel when she was suffering a difficult labor while giving birth to Binyamin. It states ת ִּירְאִי אַל הַמ ְיַלֶּדֶת ּלָה וַת ֹּאמֶר ּבְּלִדְתָּה ּבְהַקְשֹׁתָה וַיְהִי בֵּן לָ ךְ זֶה גַם כִּי, "It was when she had difficulty in her labor that the midwife said to her "Have no fear, for this one, too, is a son for you." Why is this pasuk written in the Torah? Why do we have to know what the midwife said? It is teaching us that, in Hashem's eyes, it is precious and a great merit when one gives encouragement to his fellow man and helps him overcome his fears and worries.
It is likely that this time, the מילדת, midwife didn't accomplish anything with her encouraging words. Rachel certainly knew that she was giving birth to a son, since that was what she was praying for. Her tefillos were (30:24) אַחֵר בֵּן לִי 'ה יֹסֵף, that she should bear a son. Furthermore, the Imahos were nevios, so she certainly knew that she was bearing a son. Nevertheless, the מילדת kind words are written in the Torah, and we read them every year. About this, we can say the adage of Chazal, "There is a person who acquires Olam HaBa in a moment." With one kind word, see how much she earned!
It states in parashas Vayeitzei (29:10) ׁוַיִּגַּש אִמּוֹ אֲחִי לָבָן צֹאן אֶת ְוַיַּשְׁק ה ַבְּאֵר פִּי מֵעַל הָאֶבֶן אֶת וַיָּגֶל יַע ֲקֹב, "Yaakov came forward and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well and he watered the sheep of Lavan his mother's brother." The Torah (29:8, and Rashi) tells that all the shepherds had to gather and push the stone off the well together. It was a very heavy stone. But Yaakov easily took off the stone from the well. Rashi writes that he took off the large stone like someone removing a cork from a bottle. "This is to tell us that he was very strong."
In Tefilas Geshem, we pray that Hashem give us rain in Yaakov Avinu's merit. We say, מים תמנע אל בעבורו ,מים באר מפי אבן וגל לב יחד, "He united his heart, and he rolled the stone off the mouth of the well. In his merit, don't refrain from us water." Reb Chaim Shmuelevitz (Sichos Mussar Maamar 51) asks that since it was easy for Yaakov Avinu to remove the stone from the well, why is this merit discussed as a reason that Hashem should give us rain?
He answers that the stone was huge and heavy, even for Yaakov Avinu. But he לב יחד, united his heart. This means that he united his heart to the mission of helping his fellow man. His deepest wish, burning in his heart, was to help others. It gave him strength, and he was able to lift the stone easily. We are asking for rain in the merit of Yaakov Avinu's לב יחד, deep desire to help others.
Chesed and Spiritual Strength
We quote the words of Reb Chaim Shmuelevitz: "We have to explain that Yaakov Avinu's deed wasn't a supernatural act at all. Rather, when one has a strong desire to help others, that gives him the strength that he didn't have before. This is because a person's physical strength depends on his spiritual strength. When the spiritual strength is within the person, he can act far above his natural limits. Therefore, because of his לב יחד, that he united all of his strength to do chesed with others, we request מים תמנע אל, Hashem shouldn't withhold from us water."
A poor person came to the home of the rav of a city and showed him a hamlatzah (letter of recommendation) he received from the Divrei Chaim of Tzanz zt'l. (It was a rare letter because the Divrei Chaim was old at the time and had stopped writing such letters. The Divrei Chaim made an exception for this person because the man was very poor, and he was a person worthy of respect.) The letter meant a lot to the rav of this city because he was a chasid of the Divrei Chaim, and he handed him a very generous donation.
The poor man saw that the rav was going out of his way to help him, so he suggested, "Perhaps the rav can come with me to the homes of the wealthy people in the city? They don't know me. If the rav will accompany me, they will certainly give me more generously."
The rav declined, saying, "I gave you a large sum of money because of my rebbe’s hamlatzah. However, I can't go with you to people's homes. That would be bitul Torah for me."
That year, this rav traveled to the Divrei Chaim for Shavuos. After yom tov, he went to take leave of the Tzanzer Rav. The Tzanzer Rav told him, "The Torah writes איש in parashas Vayishlach (32:25) לְב ַדּוֹ יַע ֲקֹב וַיִּוָּתֵר ָׁחַרהַש עֲלוֹת עַד עִמּוֹ אִישׁ וַיֵּאָבֵק, "Yaakov was left alone and a man wrestled with him, until daybreak." Rashi writes that this איש was the עשו של שרו, Eisav's malach. איש is also written in parashas Vayeshev (37:15) ׁתְּבַק ֵּש מַה לֵאמֹר הָא ִישׁ וַיִּשְׁאָל ֵהוּ בַּשָּׂדֶה תֹעֶה וְה ִנֵּה אִישׁ וַיִּמְצָא ֵהוּ, "A man discovered him, and behold! – he was blundering in the field. The man asked him, saying, 'What do you seek?'" Chazal say that this איש was malach Gavriel. What is the difference between the two אישs? Why is one the holy malach Gavriel and the other the עשו של שרו, the malach of Eisav?
The difference is that in parashas Vayeishev, the איש was offering help. He asked, ׁתְּבַק ֵּש מַה, "What do you seek?" When one seeks to help his fellow man, he is malach Gavriel. In this week's parashah, the איש wasn't interested in helping Yaakov. In fact, he said (32:27) ָׁחַרהַש עָלָה כִּי שׁ ַלְּח ֵנִי, "Let me go for dawn has broken." Rashi writes that the malach wanted to leave because it was the morning, and it was his turn to sing Shirah to Hashem. When one doesn't want to help his fellow man, even if it is because of his devotion to other aspects of avodas Hashem, that is עשו של שרו, Eisav's malach.
With this vort, the Tzanzer Rav was offering a subtle rebuke to the rav, teaching him that his devotion to Torah shouldn’t get in the way of helping another Yid in need.
