Yaakov’s message to his brother Eisav was intended to calm Eisav’s anger against him for getting the blessings from their father Yitzchak through trickery. Though Eisav had sold and abandoned his birthright, and Rivka told Yaakov to do it, Eisav still seethed.
Rashi tells us this statement was intended to protect Yaakov in two ways. First of all, Yaakov was saying that he remained a ‘ger,’ a stranger, all the time he dwelled with Lavan. Thus, the blessing of their father had not come true that he be master over his brethren, and there was no reason to be angry.
Then, Rashi adds another thought. The word ‘garti,’ meaning “I sojourned,” is the numerical equivalent of Taryag/613, the number of mitzvos Jews are commanded. Yaakov told Eisav, “I guarded the 613 commandments and I did not learn from Lavan’s ways.”
The Sifsei Chachomim explains that Yaakov was warning Eisav that during his time with Lavan, he had not learned from Lavan’s wicked ways, but instead maintained his high levels of sanctity and guarded the Torah. Therefore, Eisav would not be able to overcome him.
However, this seems to be at odds with Rashi’s first explanation. Instead of calming Eisav, this should anger him more, even if he would be unable to act on his anger. But there’s another way of understanding Yaakov’s message which is an important message for us.
Yaakov told Eisav, “While I was there, I kept the mitzvos.” What is he adding by, “and I didn’t learn from the ways of Lavan”? Certainly, if he kept the Torah then he didn’t learn from Lavan. But there was another message here, intended to appease Eisav.
Yaakov’s blessings were to come to him when he kept the Torah properly. He told Eisav, “While with Lavan, I managed to keep the mitzvos, but I didn’t learn from him to serve G-d with the same enthusiasm that Lavan served his idols.” When Rachel stole her father’s idols, Lavan came chasing after Yaakov’s entourage. He searched high and low for the idols. He went through all their tents and didn’t spare any effort to find them. He even told Yaakov, “It’s bad enough that you stole my daughters, but you also took my gods?!” This was so important to him.
What Yaakov lamented to Eisav was that though he had kept the mitzvos, he hadn’t done them with as much dedication and joy as he’d seen Lavan do. He was telling him how far he was from the proper way to serve Hashem. Don’t be upset, because I haven’t yet earned the blessings and you are still the master.
What a profound lesson for us about how we should serve Hashem.
After the terrible attacks on September 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked planes and flew them into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, killing all on board and thousands of others, the world was in shock. R’ Chaim Stein z”l, Rosh Yeshiva of Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland, spoke to his students. “I am not praising them in any way,” he said. “But I wonder; if this is what they will do for their god, what would we do for ours?”
