The parashah begins with the words (32:4-6) עשיו אל לפניו מלאכים יעקב וישלח, "And Yaakov sent malachim before him to Eisav." Rashi writes, ממש מלאכים", that he sent real angels to Eisav. He told them, לעשו לאדני תאמרון כה, "So shall you say to my master to Eisav, עבדך אמר כה עתה עד ואחר גרתי לבן עם יעקב, 'Thus said your servant Yaakov, "I have lived with Lavan, and I have tarried until now."
Rashi gives two explanations for the word גרתי. One meaning for this word is גֵּר, a stranger. He was telling Eisav that he didn't become an officer or a dignitary. Yitzchak blessed him (27:29) לאחיך גביר הוה, "You shall be a master over your brothers," and he told Eisav that this brachah didn't transpire. He was still a very ordinary person, a stranger (גֵּר), and therefore Eisav didn't need to be jealous of him.
Rashi’s second explanation is if one looks at the letters of גרתי they are identical to those of ג"תרי, which refers to the number 613. He was saying that although he lived with Lavan, he kept all of the 613 mitzvos, and didn’t learn from Lavan's evil deeds.
בעיניך חן למצא לאדני להגיד ואשלחה ...וחמור שור לי ויהי, "I have acquired oxen and donkeys... I have sent to tell this to my master, to find favor in your eyes.' "
The Noam Elimelech asks the following questions:
- Why was it necessary for Yaakov to send actual malachim to Eisav? Why couldn’t he send human beings to Eisav?
- When Yaakov was giving over the message, Eisav wasn't present. Why did Yaakov say לעשו לאדני, "To my master, to Eisav"? Why did he refer to Eisav as "master”, when he wasn't around?
- Why did he tell the malachim, תאמר כה לעשו לאדני, with two ד"למs? "To my master, to Eisav." He could have said עשו לאדני, "To my master Eisav?"
- Rashi's second explanation for גרתי is that he kept the ג"תרי mitzvos. Why would he want to tell this to Eisav? It wouldn’t appease him. On the contrary, the implication is that he is telling Eisav that he isn't afraid of him because he kept the Torah. According to Rashi's first explanation, that he is a ger, a stranger, and he didn't become important, and the brachos weren't taking effect, we understand how this would placate Eisav, but how do we understand the appeasement according to the second explanation of Rashi?
- The Midrash Tanchuma says that לי ויהי וחמור שור refers to Yosef and Moshiach. Yosef is called שור (see Devarim 33:17), and חמור refers to Moshiach, as it states (Zecharyah 9:9) על ורוכב עני חמור, "humble, and riding a donkey." This explanation is also difficult because it seems he was warning Eisav that he isn’t afraid of him because he has the merits of Yosef and Moshiach on his side. How are such words בעיניך חן למצוא, to find favor in Eisav's eyes? How could such words appease him?
The Noam Elimelech explains that when tzaddikim speak, they can sometimes intend a prayer. Their words can have two meanings: one is the conversation they are holding with someone, and the other is a prayer to Hashem. This is what happened here. Yaakov had two intentions with his words. One intention was a message to give over to Eisav, and the second intention was a tefillah to Hashem.
This is the reason Yaakov said לעשו י"לאדנ, with two ד"למs. He was sending a message לעשו, to Eisav, and also י"לאדנ, he was davening to Hashem. When Yaakov said גרתי לבן עם to Hashem, Yaakov was saying that he kept the 613 mitzvos of the Torah, and he requested that this merit should protect him from Eisav. Likewise, when Yaakov said, ויהי וחמור שור לי, he was asking Hashem to save him in the merits of the tzaddikim Yosef and Moshiach who will descend from him. However, when these words were told to Eisav, there was a totally different intention. To Eisav, he implied that he remained an unimportant גר, and when he said that he has וחמור שור, it is as Rashi writes, "Father told me that I will receive ומשמני השמים מטל הארץ, the dew of the heavens and the fatness of the earth, but [I have animals, oxen, and donkeys] which are not from heaven and not from the earth." He was saying that the brachos didn’t come unto him, and there was no reason for Eisav to be jealous.
The Noam Elimelech explains that this is why Yaakov had to send actual malachim. He intended for the malachim to raise his tefillah and bring it before Hashem.
We can learn an important lesson from Yaakov Avinu's ways. Yaakov Avinu did hishtadlus; he tried to appease Eisav, but he combined this hishtadlus with tefillos because Yaakov Avinu knew well that his salvation was in Hashem's hands. It was in Hashem’s power to make peace between him and Eisav, as it states (Mishlei 16:7) 'ה ברצות אתו ישלם אויביו גם איש דרכי, "When Hashem accepts a person's ways, He will cause even his enemies to make peace with him." He knew that he wouldn't succeed on his own. All his kind words and the gift he sent to Eisav wouldn't have helped without Hashem's aid. Therefore, although he sent words of appeasement to Eisav, his primary intention was his prayer to heaven.
